Tentative Synthesis as of 3 July 2013

By Frédéric Sauvagnac, Production Manager, ADP (Production Manager Society)

La Lettre AFC n°233

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When it comes into effect on 1st October 2013, all of our Cinema-related professions will have a Collective Labour Agreement. Despite the bitterness of the negotiations, there were neither winners nor losers. Our profession must find a way to return to the harmony and serenity it has lost over the last weeks and months.

This new Convention sets common rules, some of which are derived from existing labour law. Others will change the way that filming, as we have known it for years, takes place.

  • Working time : all time spent on location will be taken into account. The daily limit will be set at 13 hours, including preparation, filming, clean up, transportation time, mealtime, and coffee breaks. The daily limits and overtime pay will be calculated on a weekly basis. This will have to be taken into account for shooting scheduling. If desired, shooting days might be rearranged to allow for more preparation time on some days and actual filming on others. The minimum amount of rest between two working days will now be 11 hours.
  • The European limit on working time is 48 hours a week. As in the past, it will still be possible to request official authorizations to go over that limit. In practice, experience has shown that these requests must be justified in writing and limited to only a part of the team, but that once these conditions have been met, such requests are not regularly denied. Furthermore, it is hoped that the existence of a collective labour agreement will facilitate the granting of such authorizations. Perhaps in the near future, the rules will be changed to allow a simple request to be made in order to automatically permit the 60 hours per week, as set forth in the new Agreement.
  • Special rules set forth that during periods of shooting, between 1-4 hours are not to be paid (in function of the job) when the employee is present from 45-47 hours a week. This exists to compensate for hours that are not actually worked, and similar rules exist in certain retail jobs where the employees don’t actually work continuously because of the nature of the job. It must be stated that :
    • In order for these rules to apply before 1st October 2013, the Government must issue an order to that effect ;
    • These special rules do not change the weekly limit (paid time and unpaid time), which must not exceed 48 hours per week, and maybe 60 hours per week at some point in the future. Furthermore, actual worked hours, beyond 45 or 47 hours, are to be paid at overtime rates.
  • Manual labourers and technicians are now covered by the same Collective Labour Agreement.
  • All technicians must be given a document detailing their effective worked hours, meal times, and transportation times. This document is to be given to the employee on the Monday following each week worked.

It is important that everyone read the text of this new Agreement that comes into effect on 1st October 2013. Over the next three months, the employees’ and employers’ representatives will still be able to negotiate Annexes II and III of the Agreement, which cover certain categories of underfunded films that, if they meet the criteria, will be able to derogate from the minimum wages set forth by the Agreement. It will also be necessary to define the applicability and implementation criteria of this Annex. Lastly, others are expecting special aid for such films to be included in the Agreement.

These three months will also be useful to adapt to the new Agreement by putting together the work schedules and budgets for currently planned films.

Lastly, the representatives came to an agreement over Title III of the Agreement as concerns Actors and Extras. It will be signed by the representatives in July. In order for it to be able to become a part of the Agreement, Title III will have to be approved by the Labour Bureau, as is the case already for Titles I and II, which were submitted to the Under-Commission for Conventions and Agreements composed of employees’ and employers’ representatives.

These new rules must not make us forget the problems of many films being produced abroad for cost reasons and the necessary restructuring of the way films are financed. Whenever a film is sent abroad, even though it is a way for some films to overcome their financing problems, is a loss for society as a whole, not just Cinema’s technicians, technical industries, and actors. This is why we must find financing methods that reflect the changes in film distribution and watching habits.

France is a land of cinema. The French love the cinema. For those of us who like numbers and enjoy comparing France to Germany, France’s 65 million inhabitants buy about 200 million movie tickets every year, whereas 82 million Germans buy less than 130 million tickets. Likewise, those who work on films love their profession, and usually become passionate about the films they make.

Nobody, not Producers, Directors, Screenwriters, Actors, Technicians or members of the Technical Industries, is forced to work in the cinema, even though sometimes they must make sacrifices to continue their work. So let us continue to work together, for it is together that we will find the solutions that allow films to continue to exist and to be seen.