“It is affecting people,” said North Island Film Commission production services manager Brandon Lepine.
But, Lepine points to an uptick in non-union independent features on the North Island that is helping keep local crews busy.The Screen Actors Guild has made waivers available, and smaller productions have begun on southern Vancouver Island.“[Now], if I get three or four auditions in a month that’s considered good,” said Tait from her Victoria Chinatown studio on Thursday.
Other Island actors are also feeling the pinch. Denis and Yolanda Corbett are background actors and haven’t worked since January. “This time of year we should be busy, busy, busy working on Christmas movies,” said Denis, a 30-year veteran of the industry. “Sometimes there are two or three of them in town and you’re busy jumping from one set to another.”Sign up for the CHEK Now daily email newsletter to get breaking news and the day's top stories sent to your email.“We have a number of productions that were looking at filming in spring and summer that have pushed to the fall,” she said.
Main issues between the major studios and the unions include revenue distribution from streaming services, and regulating the use of artificial intelligence.