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Productions outside the U.S. face new rules, regulations: blame Canada ... again.

Article Excerpt
As countries such as Canada, Australia and Ireland continue to lure American productions overseas with tax incentives and an increased number of locally trained crews, the fight over runaway production has taken a curious twist, with the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) now squaring off against movie and television producers. The showdown could be pivotal to a host of television and film productions, as rising costs have encouraged more and more productions to film outside the U.S., where producers are able to use non-union contracts for actors and crews to keep costs down.

The loggerhead between the actors' union and producers centers on a long-standing SAG regulation, called Global Rule One. The tension arose from new SAG president Melissa Gilbert's intention, beginning May 1, 2002, to actually enforce the rule, which has long been conveniently overlooked. In short, Global Rule One requires member actors to be covered by the same working conditions in overseas productions as members enjoy at home. In other words, all productions using U.S. talent are required to sign SAG signatory contracts, meaning they would also be required to contribute to a depleted pension fund. "Our insurance plan is in trouble," Gilbert said recently, "and it's costing and hurting our members, so we need productions...

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