FIA meetings

Read the FIA Congress magazines from ACTRA and CAEA

It is hard to believe that several months have passed since the FIA Congress 2012 was held in Toronto. Delegates have returned to their home countries, inspired by the many speakers and discussions that took place at the Congress, and now weave that inspiration into their daily work.

Canadian FIA members (and co-hosts of the Congress) ACTRA and CAEA have each published a special FIA Congress issue of their magazine, giving you the opportunity to further reflect on the benefits of international solidarity for performers around the world.

FIA Congress 2012 brought us clear and well-defined priorities that will be FIA’s road map for the next four years. Take a moment to check out these terrific publications and be inspired all over again!

Ferne Downey, President of both FIA and ACTRA

Follow the links below to read both publications and to print your own copy:

Download the FIA 20th World Congress Resolutions

The Toronto FIA Congress’s main aim was to define the political agenda of FIA for the four years to come. Input from FIA members and lively debates in Toronto have led the FIA 20th World Congress to adopt a set of 23 resolutions. Motions were indeed proposed by many FIA affiliates, eager to suggest efficient and updated ways for the federation and its Secretariat to defend performers’ rights around the world. Those motions were submitted to the whole FIA membership and discussed among delegates during the Congress meeting in Canada.

Debates and exchanges of views brought this FIA 20th World Congress to adopt what can be described as a FIA political roadmap for the next four years, covering all kinds of topics that are relevant for performers, like the defense of public funding for the arts and entertainment sector, artistic freedom, the development of a wider anti-discrimination agenda for FIA, the protection of child performers, the ratification of the WIPO Beijing Treaty on the protection of audiovisual performances, cultural diversity and the intrinsic value of the arts, core labour rights and decent working conditions, the right to collective representation, the rights of self-employed performers, international co-productions, health and safety standards, lifelong learning and professional training, cooperation with collecting societies, capacity building and union development, but also specific national problems identified by several performers’ organisations.

Four emergency resolutions on urgent national matters were also submitted – two by Spain, one by Madagascar and one by Portugal – and adopted by Congress.

You can download the set of resolutions adopted by the FIA 20th World Congress here below in English, French, Spanish and German.

Emergency Resolutions are also available in English, French, Spanish and German. (Photos by Christopher Blanchenot)

 

 

FIA 20th World Congress Resolutions Résolutions du 20ème Congrès mondial de la FIA Resoluciones del 20mo Congreso mundial de la FIA 20. Kongress des FIA - Entwurf der Anträge

Canadian actress Ferne Downey elected as new FIA president

Ferne Downey was elected new FIA president last week by the federation’s delegates, gathering in Toronto from all around the world. Stepping down as president, Norwegian actress Agnete Haaland welcomed Downey’s election and wished her to learn as much as she has over the past four years.

Ferne Downey happily thanked delegates from FIA for their trust and support and promised to do her best at keeping and strengthening the ties binding performers’ unions together in FIA. She noted that the pressure to constantly adapt was important for performers, even more so since the digital shift, therefore making global solidarity extremely relevant in our industries.

She also thanked Agnete Haaland, who was  offered a FIA honorary Award, and FIA General Secretary Dominick Luquer for their support, and insisted on how inspiring this 2012 Congress had been for her, mentioning among others the conversations on equality, inclusion and non-discrimination in the employment of performers, the numerous national campaign videos that had been shown throughout Congress, the discussion on the challenges ahead now that the Beijing Treaty has been signed, the courage of new and developing unions willing to learn as much as possible through the international platform provided by FIA, etc.

Downey also congratulated the newly elected Presidium members and Executive Committee members. Indeed, her election was followed by one for the six Vice-Presidents composing the Presidium with her. Those two were then followed by the completion of the new FIA Executive Committee, composed of the Presidium members’ countries and 8 other countries. The new composition of FIA Executive Committee is as follows:

Presidium Members:
President: Ferne Downey (ACTRA, Canada)
Vice-President: Catherine Alméras (SFA, France)
Vice-President: Jorge Bosso (FAEE, Spain)
Vice-President: Simon Burke (MEAA, Australia)
Vice-President: John McGuire (SAG-AFTRA, United States)
Vice-President: Christine Payne (Equity, United Kingdom)
Vice-President: Mikael Waldorff (DSF, Denmark)

Countries:
Brazil
Hungary
Japan
Morocco
Russia
Sweden
Switzerland
Uruguay

Download her 1st address as FIA President and have a look at some pictures from this key moment of the 2012 FIA Congress, taken by Jag Gundhu.

Ferne Downey 1st Address as FIA President

20th World FIA Congress starts in Toronto

Delegates coming from around the world have gathered in Toronto to bring the federation’s most important political body together. FIA president Agnete Haaland and Canadian hosts ACTRA, CAEA and UDA have welcomed all the delegates yesterday evening at the Mirvish Theatre in downtown Toronto, where they were joined by Ontario Lieutenant Governor David C Onley, who shared his enthusiasm for FIA’s gathering in his city.

 

 

 

FIA Congress about to kick off in Toronto

Canadian hosts ACTRA, CAEA and UDA are all set for the 20th FIA World Congress, to be held from September 27 to 30, as delegates from the federation are starting to arrive in Toronto.

FIA 2012 Congress will be held in Toronto from 27th to 30th September, 2012

The preparation of FIA’s 2012 Congress is well underway, with Canadian members ACTRA, CAEA and UDA already well-advanced in their hard work to host this major event of the Federation.

Meetings of the FIA regional groups, Executive and Presidium will take place on the 25th and 26th of September, with the opening of Congress on the 27th. As always, Congress will run for two days, followed by a free day for delegates on the 29th of September, before concluding with the final day of Congress and the outcome of the FIA elections on the 30th of September. Please follow this link for a detailed calendar.

This will be the opportunity for the FIA membership– some 100 performers’ trade unions, guilds and associations – to meet as a whole and take some important decisions for the four years to come and for FIA in general. Indeed, as the chief governing body of FIA, the Congress votes on the adoption of motions that guide the Secretariat’s work and the members’ involvement in FIA policy. It also elects the other governing bodies of FIA: the Executive Committee and the Presidium, which are charged with the monitoring of FIA’s work and a more flexible ability to carry out and oversee the implementation of some important decisions made during Congress.

Needless to say that, as major changes are observed in the industries employing performers, both in terms of new technologies creating new challenges and of growing casualisation and insecurity in the working conditions of performers, this will also be an important occasion to plan, to learn from one another, and to reinforce the strength of the worldwide performers’ community.

In order to prepare and to inform you of every necessary detail, Canadian member and host union ACTRA is has launched a microsite dedicated to the FIA Congress. Please follow this link to register and access all the documents that are already made available. The Secretariat has been issuing invitations, calls for nominations and calls for motions to all FIA members. Please make sure to read those and to send them back to us in due time. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to write or call us at the Secretariat for any question you might already have.

Link to the FIA 2012 Congress site

2011 Executive Committee Meeting in Sydney, April 16th and 17th

The 2011 FIA Executive Committee meeting took place in Sydney on April 16-17 and was hosted by the Actors Equity branch of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance in Australia. The meeting allowed members of the Executive to evaluate the work carried out by the federation’s Secretariat in light of the guiding motions adopted during the 2008 Marrakech Congress but also in prevision of its 2012 Toronto Congress. In addition, the meeting allowed the Executive Committee to discuss international trends, evolutions and situations regarding the protection of performers’ rights and their working conditions.

Numerous issues were covered, among which: new progress leading towards a future Treaty for the Protection of Audiovisual Performances at WIPO, the progressive use in all FIA activities of the achievements done by the European group in the field of Gender Equality, the Federation’s constitutional and organizational changes, reports from all FIA regional groups on their accomplishments and particular difficulties, how unions can deal with the increase of self-generated productions, intellectual property, etc. Two panel discussions also allowed members to reflect in depth on the day-to-day issue of “recruiting, organizing and membership retention” and the new challenges arising with “recordings of live performances”.

The meeting was also an opportunity for members of the Executive Committee to meet with Australian New South Wales Attorney General and Minister for the Arts Mr. Bob Debus, who kindly presented the Australian government’s position on developments at WIPO the possible adoption of a Treaty for the Protection of Audiovisual Performances.

FIA Executive Meeting Copenhagen, June 26-27

The next meeting of FIA's executive will take place on the 26-27 June 2010 in Copenhagen, hosted by our member unions DSF and DAF. A meeting of the FIA English-speaking group will take place the day before, on the 25th of June, all day.

All members of the Executive should now have received the registration forms for the meeting, which are to be returned by the 19th of April. Executive members who need financial assistance to facilitate their participation should take contact with the FIA secretariat as soon as possible.

The invitation and registration form are available to download below. Meeting documents will be circulated in advance of the meeting. We look forward to welcoming you to Copenhagen.

Invitation letter Hotel booking form

2009 Executive Committee Meeting in London, 12th and 13th of November

The annual FIA Executive Committee meeting was held on the 12^th and 13^th of November in London, where Equity UK kindly hosted the committee’s members. This meeting was the opportunity for the Secretariat to evaluate the work performed within FIA since the Marrakech Congress where the last Executive Committee meeting had been held, to take a look at what has been done in a year and what remains to be carried out. Indeed, the agenda was pretty heavy, and most matters were extensively discussed: progresses made at the WIPO; New Media Report made by FIANA/ESG technicians group; piracy, its dramatic consequences on our industry and the presentation of some national responses to the issue, such as the graduates response method recently implemented in France; … The meeting thus allowed the Executive Committee’s members to give the Secretariat some guidelines or to approve of its already taken positions in its defence of performers’ rights regarding all these issues.

The topic of Twinning Agreements was also brought on the table. After hearing positive and enthusiastic echoes from CAEA (Canda) and AEA (USA) concerning their respective experiences with ORUUANO (Namibia) and NATAAZ (Zambia), Equity UK reported on its newly established connection with GAG, Ghana’s union, which they had met with in Accra a few weeks earlier. The numerous advantages of the twinning practice were put forward by the Secretariat and by the unions already involved in such experiences, stressing notably on the importance of solidarity between performers’ unions around the world.

This meeting was also the occasion to evaluate FIA’s regional groups’ progresses. For instance, members of the Committee were pleased to hear about the AfroFIA meeting held in Accra, in Ghana, just a few weeks earlier. Reports from FIA’s Gerneral Secretary and President, both present in Accra, confirmed the energy and great potential to be found in this FIA regional group. A report on the FIA-NA/ESG October meeting, held in Los Angeles, was also presented and a EuroFIA meeting was held in London the very next days following the Executive Committee meeting. As for FIA-LA, our Latin American group, it is about to hold a meeting in Brazil during the first days of December. FIA is delighted to observe all this energy and activity. This kind of meetings is essential for FIA to be truly effective and it allows our members to establish ambitious working programs, for the three next years to come in some cases, thus strengthening the bounds existing between FIA affiliates and optimizing not only their work but the Secretariat’s too.

The Executive Committee was pleased to welcome British actor Alan Rickman during its meeting. He joined us to present and support IPAT (International Performers’ Aid Trust), an organisation for which he offices as President. IPAT’s objective is to help the most deprived artists, performers who struggle to make a living, struggle even to survive, while preserving their local cultures and bringing joy to others. IPAT thus proves to be an essential source of help in several countries, on all continents, participating to the preservation of cultures and to the battle against poverty.

A motion was also passed during the meeting to stress FIA’s help and support to MEAA. Indeed, the Australian affiliate of FIA is invested in a strike by Australian performers as a result to the termination of the ‘Offshore Commercials Agreement’ by the SPAA (Screen Producers Association of Australia) concerning remuneration for performance and broadcast and other rights for artists contracted in the production of international television and theatrical commercials produced in Australia or by an Australian party. Download this motion here below.

Support to MEAA regarding strike against SPAA

FIA XIX World Congress - Meeting Report and Resource Page

FIA’s 19th Congress recently took place in Marrakech from the 24-27 of October 2008. We were received in Marrakech by our host union SNPT, whose hard-working team, lead by El Hassan Neffali, contributed greatly to the success and smooth running of the event. Certainly the Congress in Marrakech was an unforgettable occasion, and an important moment in the life of the Federation. It was also an occasion that enjoyed a great deal of visibility in the Moroccan press, as well as the substantial support of local politicians and organisations. We were greatly honoured to receive the patronage of his Majesty Mohamed the 6^th for our 19^th Congress. His speech, which was relayed to the Congress members by his representatives, was a very valuable addition to the Congress proceedings and discussion.

The Congress was extremely well attended with some 96% of FIA’s membership present. This in turn made it a rich meeting with representatives from all continents coming together to share and exchange their varied, yet often parallel, experience. It was moment of solidarity and of renewal for the Federation. The debates that took place have served to re-orientate our work and set our priorities for the coming four years. They took in many of the traditional and ongoing concerns of the performance sector: such as health and safety, working terms and conditions, status of the artist, trade union development, training; equal opportunities and agents and managers; but also emerging and rapidly evolving themes: such as new media; intellectual property and cultural diversity.

Meeting Documents:
For a full overview of the motions adopted by the Congress you can download a complete version of the final amended motions and emergency motions below. Together, these constitute an important blue print for FIA’s work in the coming years. In addition, we are making speeches made at Congress available below. We do not yet have all of the speeches, but we will continue to add them as we receive them.

Statutory Business
The Congress also oversaw the important statutory business of FIA, including adoption of its accounts and election of its statutory bodies. As you will have seen on the homepage, FIA now has a new President Agnete Haaland, having bid a fond farewell to former President Tomas Bolme, who will remain in close contact with FIA, as its newly designated President Emeritus. For a complete breakdown of the new Presidium and Executive membership, please visit the Governance and Constitution page of the website.

Regional and Linguistic Meetings
A certain number of additional meetings also took place at the Congress. These included the regional groups EuroFIA, AfroFIA and FIA-LA, as well as the English and French speaking groups. These reports have been made available individually on the pages below. These are the reports drawn up by the groups themselves in order to inform the congress of their activities. Further information is available from group coordinators. Their contact details can be requested from the Secretariat.

Minutes of the Congress and the other meetings of the FIA statutory bodies are also being prepared. These will shortly be available on request from the Secretariat.

Photos from the Congress:
The picture below is a group photo of all of the Congress attendees with the Palais des Congrès in the background. We have made it and several other photos available for download below.

Final Motions as adopted - ENGLISH Final Motions as adopted - FRENCH Final Motions as adopted - SPANISH Emergency motions - ENGLISH Emergency Motions - FRENCH

All Congress Motions - Continued

Emergency Motions - SPANISH All Motions - RUSSIAN

A few Photos From the XIXth FIA Congress

Group Photo of Congress delegates Moroccan Team Newly Elected FIA Executive New President Agnete Haaland being interviewed

Speeches made at the FIA XIXth Congress in Marrakech October 2008

Welcome Speech by Tomas Bolme, Former President of FIA Presentation of the Secretary General Report - Dearbhal Murphy/Dominick Luquer Speech by Jim McKee of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity Speech by Paul Bronhorst of Paul Bronkhorst, Director of the Dancer Transition Resource Centre

October 21-23, 2005 - FIA Executive Committee meeting, Sydney

The 2005 annual meeting of the FIA Executive Committee was held in Sydney, Australia. Delegates extensively discussed institutional matters and, in particular, the revision of the FIA subscription system. This is a complex issue, as it is must balance the unequal revenues of our members with the need to grant an operational budget to the Federation. The Executive decided that further consultation on this matter is necessary, with the help of the Presidium. The Secretariat’s action priorities for 2006 shall be intellectual property and WIPO, training and development, communication as well as health and safety in the workplace. The Executive Committee also focused on Peer-to-Peer and supported a gradual approach to the issue, fostering – among other things – format harmonisation, consumers’ education, and the establishment of efficient legal distribution systems. In particular, the Committee did not express support to initiatives aiming to criminalise network users indiscriminately, nor to those aiming to legalise Peer-to-Peer networks on the basis of a legal licence. A motion in favour of Australian workers facing an unprecedented bash of industrial relations in the country led by Prime Minister John Howard was approved by acclaim. The next FIA Executive Committee will meet in Berlin, from 16 to 17 September 2006.

FIA Executive Committee motion

September 23-25, 2005 - EuroFIA meeting, Prague

The European group of FIA met in Prague to support the challenges of performers’ unions in the newly acceded EU countries and to review its policy in relation to recent European Commission’s initiatives of concern to the sector. Read more…

May 14-15, 2005 - FIANA meeting, Toronto

The North American group of FIA has met for the first time since 2004. Among the various issues discussed, were safety and health in the workplace, non-union productions, intellectual property and WIPO, the industrial action undertaken by ANDA dubbing artists in Mexico, as well as cultural diversity. The revision of the ACTRA/AFTRA/ANDA/SAG Pact of Friendship also progressed successfully. The Pact is expected to be finalised by the end of 2006. More information...

© 2005 FIA