(Toronto) The American screenwriters’ strike is also affecting Canadian productions, as many Hollywood shoots are being made in Canada, such as Prime Video’s The Boys in Toronto and Netflix’s A Personal Matter in Vancouver.
Last week, the Writers Guild of America called its strike, after negotiations with Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down over a myriad of complex issues, including compensation and staffing levels.
Patti Henderson, a costume designer in Vancouver, notes a precipitous drop in shoots that employ local crews.
Last week’s decision by the Writers Guild of America to drop their pens for the picket boards sparked immediate uncertainty over the status of current and upcoming US productions filming in Canada, with Henderson noting a precipitous drop in filming in Vancouver which employ local teams.
“There’s literally nothing on our list of upcoming productions, if you will. And that really hurts a lot of people here,” she said, noting that the situation is particularly difficult for young people starting their careers.
“Productions were slower and more cautious about greenlighting or triggering production, when production started, because they didn’t know whether or not they would be disrupted by the strike,” says Toronto Film Commissioner , Marguerite Pigott.
At least “one major production” has been put on hold since the May 2 walkout, she said, revealing nothing about the project except that it “has employed many, many people at over time”.
Vancouver Film Commissioner Geoff Teoli estimates permit applications over the past 90 days have dropped 40-50% from the same time last year.
He adds that the decline is not limited to Vancouver or solely due to the strike, suggesting it is part of a broader shift in the global market as broadcasters and producers rethink the way they create content. international.
He notices little impact in Vancouver so far, as most of the American productions already underway can continue with already completed scripts that do not require the work of a screenwriter. But “the longer the strike lasts, the greater the risk that they will run out of materials they need to continue.”
Victoria Shen of the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) says no production has stopped and Canadian guild members — many of whom have dual WGA and WGC memberships — have not the right to accept work covered by the strike. WGA members who reside in the United States are also not permitted to work on a Canadian show while the dispute continues.
Meanwhile, more labor disputes could soon arise, as the Directors Guild of America and the American performers’ union, known as SAG-AFTRA, both have contracts expiring on June 30.
An economic report from the Canadian Media Producers Association released last week found that productions from overseas — almost all of which originated in the United States — spent $6.7 billion on Canadian shoots and involved 141,140 jobs between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022.
