These Canadians moved to Hollywood to write and act. Now they're on strike

Canadian actors and screenwriters who are part of historic dual labour strikes in Hollywood say they are fighting for the future of their industries -- on both sides of the border.

But the uncertainties around the bitter disputes that have darkened film and TV sets have left some of them with creeping financial and professional anxiety.

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Members of two unions -- the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists -- seek guarantees including improved compensation and protections from the use of artificial intelligence. The writers strike began in May and the actors joined mid-July.

Among affected members are many Canadian transplants who have joined the picket lines to demand a fair deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the big studios and streamers.

Here's a look at how homegrown actors and writers employed in the United States are coping.

Kristian Bruun, actor

Were it not for the SAG strike, Canadian actor Kristian Bruun says he'd be returning to the set of his Netflix series "The Recruit" this week. Instead, the SAG member says the year-and-a-half break between seasons has been extended indefinitely and he expects to rely on savings to survive.

Bruun says he's picked up small jobs since season 1 of "The Recruit" wrapped, but work really dried up as the labour dispute simmered throughout the year.

The former "Orphan Black" co-star says his 2023 income dropped so low he does not qualify for SAG's health insurance coverage, which requires an annual income of about US$26,500.

"Which as a Canadian is just insane to me because this has never been a stress in my life," Bruun says of losing health-care coverage.

Bruun moved to Los Angeles in 2017 after wrapping up "Orphan Black," the hit sci-fi Canadian series in which he played the husband of one of main characters, believing the show's global profile could propel him to more work in Hollywood.

But even with a regular role on a U.S. series such as "The Recruit" under his belt, he says being a working actor in L.A. is not as profitable as one might expect.

"I've gone further than I ever thought I would getting out of theatre school so it's all gravy at this point. But like, I own my car and I rent my apartment. I don't own property. I'm 43. You know, I thought things would be a little bit different," says Bruun, still a Canadian resident but in the process of getting a green card.

"The reality of the situation is we're not a bunch of millionaires. We are people who have taken a great risk to be part of something that we love to do."

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Thomas Pound, writer

Calgary-bred TV scribe Thomas Pound cut his teeth on big prime time Canadian series including CTV's crime drama "Motive" and CBC's mystery thriller "Bellevue" but "the dream and the goal was always still to go down to L.A."

Roughly eight years ago, the job that brought him to Los Angeles was CW's "The Flash," which just ended in February. Not long after, a writers strike was called May 2.

"I was ready to take a break, regardless, but what I didn't expect was the near immediate feeling of almost like an existential dread," says Pound, who is married with one child.

"My family and I were OK but so many others I know personally were not -- they were immediately in dire straits," he says.

"There's a lot of fear. No matter what, you cannot escape that sense of fear. This feels like it's a fight for something massive, a large systemic change."

Pound says he had planned to look for his next gig or pitch a new project when "The Flash" ended. That was put on hold with the writers strike, as were many other projects as studios seemed to grow wary of greenlighting anything that might stall because of labour unrest.

Fortunately, he says he and his wife planned for the possibility of a financial downturn, and when COVID-19 also shuttered sets, he became familiar with using the stock market to "keep things level."

Nevertheless, Pound says "the what-ifs are still very frightening."

"My three year old son is starting preschool and there's so many life things that are on the horizon that despite whatever financial situation we're in, there's still that nervousness, there's still that anxiety of well, what if it doesn't work?"

As for the future of the industry, he suspects there may be fewer dollars available for new shows whenever the strikes end.

"I think we may see a major contraction like that coming out of this," he says.

"But it's not going to change that writers are also producers. We know how to work within a budget. We know how to shift a narrative and shift the scale to still give the audience the complete emotional impact while staying on budget. And just me personally, I think that matters more to audiences than a big CG dragon. No offense to 'House of the Dragon."'

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Dustin Milligan, actor

L.A.-based actor Dustin Milligan says he tries to join a SAG picket line multiple times a week to show his solidarity to the cause, believing that many Canadian actors benefit from SAG protections, even if they're not members.

The "Schitt's Creek" star and dual citizen notes that a common career trajectory for many Canuck actors is to cut their teeth at home and then move to the United States to pursue higher profile, bigger-budget film and TV productions.

"It's not for everybody but for so many people the goal is to be able to do both -- to be a member of both unions, to be able to work in the States and in Canada at the same time," says Milligan, referring to Canada's performers' union ACTRA -- the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists.

"As an ACTRA member now, you may one day soon -- ideally sooner than later -- be on those contracts, too. So this benefits all of us in such a direct way."

Securing a strong SAG contract could also help Canadians obtain similar guarantees the next time ACTRA negotiates its contract, adds Milligan.

He says ACTRA tends to use whatever is negotiated by SAG as a model for its contract goals.

"If they're fortunate, they're able to actually get some of those benefits that SAG negotiates on their contracts. So that's the hope -- that even though this is SAG that's striking that there will be benefits to ACTRA actors, as well," he says.

"Unfortunately, before that happens, we're all going to be hurting. We're all going to be living in uncertainty and we're all going to ultimately struggle before we can get to the other side."

Milligan says he was lucky to complete a film just before the SAG strike started but doesn't have another job lined up.

"You just never know what's coming on the other side," he says.

"This is another reason why it's so important to really be examining the deals that are being presented to us."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2023.