ACTRA Maritimes Blog

ELLEN NOMINATED FOR OSCAR!

Maritimes member Ellen Page has been nominated for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Oscar for her work in Juno! She is the first ACTRA Maritimes member to ever receive this honour.

The film has also garnered noms for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay (Diabolo Cody) and Best Achievement in Directing (Jason Reitman). Twenty-year old Ellen will be up against seasoned screen vets in her category: Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Laura Linney (The Savages), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) and Julie Christie (Sarah Polley’s Away From Her).

And congratulations to ACTRA member Sarah Polley who received the nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay!

Well done, Ellen! We’re all proud of you!

The Honours Keep Rolling In For Ellen!

The honours for ACTRA Maritimes member Ellen Page continue to roll in. She has just been nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Leading Actress for her role in Juno. The BAFTA’s are presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

She is pitted against Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” veteran star Julie Christie as an Alzheimer’s sufferer in “Away from Her” and Marion Cotillard for her haunting portrayal of singer Edith Piaf in “La Vie En Rose”.

Amid fears that a writers’ strike could jeopardize this year’s Oscars ceremony, the red carpet BAFTA show at London’s Royal Opera House on Feb. 10 could attract plenty of Hollywood glamour.

Last weekend’s strike-plagued Golden Globe awards were stripped down to a bare-bones news conference lacking all the usual Hollywood razzmatazz. It was a big flop in telecast ratings. Ellen was nominated for a Golden Globe – for Best Actress in a Leading Role – Musical or Comedy, again for Juno, but lost out to Marion Cotillard. Julie Christie also took home a Golden Globe for her work in Sarah Polley’s Canadian feature “Away From Her”.

Ellen will be a guest on today’s Oprah show.

ACTRA NEGOTIATES NEW DEAL WITH THE NFB

Canadian performers represented by ACTRA have concluded negotiations and reached a tentative settlement on a new collective bargaining agreement with the National Film Board of Canada.

In addition to increasing minimum fees and fringes over a four-year term, ACTRA successfully negotiated provisions for production and use of NFB product in new media.
 
“We have an agreement in principle, and as ACTRA’s chief negotiator, I am pleased with this tentative deal,” said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s National Executive Director. “The deal we have reached with the NFB is subject to approval by our National Executive and our members who are eligible to vote.” More »

ACTRA Dues Increase Approved

December 20, 2007 – ACTRA members have voted to approve the dues change proposed in the most recent constitutional referendum. These changes will put our ACTRA branches in a more stable financial situation and allow ACTRA to build strength following the first strike in our 65 year history.

The dues change was approved by 66.1%.  A total of 13,521 ballots were mailed out to Full ACTRA members on November 21, 2007. In the Maritimes, 76.9% of ballots received were in favour of the increases. More »