Nicolas Cage will not be celebrating in Montreal this summer. The famous actor was to receive an award for his decades of career at the Fantasia festival, but the strike of screenwriters and actors in Hollywood changed his plans. The star withdrew out of solidarity and canceled her presence. In addition to disappointed moviegoers, the thousands of artisans of Quebec cinema are also beginning to suffer from the labor dispute in the United States.
First Nicolas Cage, then Eric Roberts, then Nick Stahl… Seven American actors in all have canceled their presence at the Fantasia festival which begins on Thursday. ” THE timing is really unfortunate,” laments Mitch Davis, artistic director of the festival. “At the same time, we would never ask any of our guests to be a scab. And for the strike itself, we fully support it. There are sacrifices to be made in the short term, but it is an existential question for the industry in the long term. »
Hollywood screenwriters went on strike last May. The actors joined them last week. The last joint walkout of these two cinema trades dates back to the 1960s. More than 160,000 actors, stuntmen, dancers and other professionals of the small and big screen, refuse these days of any activity to promote their productions, in person. or on social media.
They are protesting against the drop in their fees since the advent of online broadcasting. They also demand the obtaining of guarantees concerning the use of artificial intelligence in order to prohibit producers from automatically generating scripts or cloning their voices and faces.
No screening has been canceled at Fantasia, and moviegoers will still be able to appreciate the presence of international stars. “We are not going to give a price [à Nicolas Cage] in his absence. We’re going to do that in future years,” says Mitch Davis.
Action, cut!
The paralysis affecting Hollywood cut short the lucrative filming of our southern neighbor on Quebec soil. At least four major American productions have already canceled their filming this summer in Quebec. Six others threaten to do the same if the strike continues.
This penalizes about 2,000 of the 8,000 professionals represented by the Quebec Association of Image and Sound Technicians (AQTIS 514 IATSE). “We’re talking about machinists, we’re talking about camera jobs, lighting, even construction,” says its president, Christian Lemay.
“Some of them will find work in Quebec or Canadian productions. They can relocate. But […] there are many people who are available for the same number of jobs offered on the market. American production, what it offers our members, is really new jobs that weren’t in the production schedule. »
The Quebec dubbing industry will also suffer from these canceled American productions, although no clear statistics can be established.
Negotiations here too
The Quebec and Canadian film industry largely supports the demands of American union members. The Union des artistes (UDA), AQTIS 514 IATSE and the Directors Guild of Canada have all come out in support of the strikers.
“Basically,” their demands are the same as those of artisans here, notes Tania Kontoyanni, president of the UDA, who asserts that the industry “has deteriorated in the last 25 years.” According to her, the sum of income in “residual rights”, that is to say the share of profits paid to actors over reruns, has fallen from around 70% to 4% since the arrival of reading platforms. continuously. “The music community is tired of decrying what happened with online platforms. It reaches today the scriptwriters and the actors. »
Negotiations are underway at the moment between the UDA and the Quebec Association of Media Production for requests similar to those of American actors. “We are very far from the strike at the moment. It’s going well, with courtesy. There is listening, “said Mme Kontoyanni.