Toronto’s business community fears that strikes affecting entertainment workers in the United States will put a damper on the city’s upcoming film festival.
Several traders fear the strike by Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists workers, who walked off the job at midnight on Thursday, could spill over to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.
When SAG workers joined the Writers Guild of America on the picket line, it halted dozens of international productions and immediately halted the promotional work the actors were doing for films that had already been completed.
Julie Kwiecinski of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said continuing the strike would deprive many Toronto businesses of the annual spinoffs the festival provides.
She says that even if TIFF were presented without the presence of stars on the red carpets, the impacts on their traders’ income would be enormous.
Rodney’s Oyster House manager Julius Chapple says the venue doesn’t really benefit from TIFF, but nearby businesses are likely to be hit by the strike as several stars go there.
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