The most important Hollywood person at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend is not a director, actor, studio executive or high-powered agent: it is one unassuming labour expert who no one outside of the entertainment industry has likely ever heard of.
On Friday, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director and chief negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) arrived at TIFF to participate in a live discussion about the strikes tearing the industry apart. His attendance puts a spotlight on not only critical issues affecting entertainment workers in the United States but also Canada – he’ll be staging a joint rally with members of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television Radio Artists (ACTRA) on Saturday in solidarity with that union’s 500-plus-day battle with the Institute of Canadian Agencies.
Not impressed frankly, I think the writers and actors have lost to the studios.
If it lasts till the new year bet on a deal little better than what they currently have.
