After a year of protracted negotiations between British film industry union, Equity, and film producers over pay, the union has ordered its members to strike. “We have today issued an instruction to members to say no to contracts for work on or after December 1, 2001,” said a spokesman for Equity which represents 36,000 British actors.
The ruling is likely to throw the UK’s film industry into chaos with numerous productions, including the latest James Bond movie starring Pierce Brosnan, being affected. It will bring the industry to a halt at the end of November, and put work on other high-profile projects in jeopardy.
The dispute centres around the fact that UK actors receive only an advance flat fee for TV, film, video and DVD sales of a production in which they appear. Their US counterparts, on the other hand, benefit from bonus payments should the film be a success. According to Equity, this means that a British actor working on a UK project such as Mission Impossible, for example, might receive just over £20, whereas American actors in the same film could end up tens of thousands of pounds better off.
The strike was called after Equity and the Producers Alliance For Cinema And Television (PACT) failed to settle the dispute. Ewan McGregor, Kenneth Brannagh and Helena Bonham Carter are key figures in the campaign, and messages of support from other thespians have been pouring in to the Equity website.
“For a production company to continue to make profit from a performance without paying the performer anything is theft,” states Tom Conti baldly, and EastEnders actress Wendy Richards summed up the sentiments many of her colleagues expressed on the site when she wrote, “About time too!”.
Ewan McGregor also used the website as a forum, saying: “This is of extreme importance as many actors rely on repeat fees in periods of unemployment and as the actors are the people the public pays to see, why should they be cut out of the deal. I am tired of making producers and distributors rich while I and my fellow actors are exploited.” And Oscar winning actress Julie Walters wrote: “Couldn’t agree more!” in response to the messages posted.
The sequel to the Harry Potter film may escape being affected as its maker, Warner Brothers, has already come to an agreement with the union after offering more favourable terms to its British stars who include Robbie Coltrane, Dame Maggie Smith and John Cleese.
Movies currently in production will not be disrupted. “Nobody is going to be walking off set. What we are saying is make yourself unavailable,” said a union spokesman.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
