Press article

TORONTO, Tuesday, April 2, 2002

ACTRA Toronto Performers and Starhunter 2300 Productions Inc. are pleased to announce that the sci-fi production series Starhunter will commence principal photography in Toronto (Mississauga) later this spring as a full party to ACTRA's collective agreement.

"We have spent some long hours talking carefully with ACTRA Toronto about our past and future relationship, and we believe this is the right time for Starhunter to sign the ACTRA agreement," said Anthony De Pasquale, Executive Producer of Starhunter 2300 Productions Ltd. and Chief Executive Officer of its corporate parent. He further stated, "Signing on to this collective agreement gives our production access to ACTRA's large and professional Toronto-based and Canadian talent pool; crystallizes rates and working conditions; and allows us to get to work shooting this show in Toronto in the same businesslike and stable labour environment that other producers enjoy here. This agreement is therefore very good for our production, and that's where our focus is."

ACTRA and the producers of Starhunter have had an untenable relationship in the past. Brian Topp, Executive Director of ACTRA Toronto, said the time has come to turn the page. "This group of companies is now developing into a Canadian leader in the area of independent, foreign co-financed co-productions."

"This production company is well-financed, bonded under our agreement, and committed to its terms. I'm confident that the production staff, management and investors in Starhunter 2300 Productions Inc. are professionals and are serious about building a new relationship with professional performers in Canada." said Topp.

Starhunter 2300 Productions Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Danforth Studios Ltd., founded by its current President - Dan D'Or, and by Phillip Jackson - President of Production Development. The company was recently reorganized, and has secured an international distribution agreement for 66 episodes with Toronto's City TV and a U.S. syndication deal with Western International Syndicators. The company plans to film 44 new episodes of Starhunter in its new Toronto studios over the next two years.

ACTRA Toronto Performers is the largest organization within ACTRA, with more than 13,000 members. As an advocate for Canadian culture since 1943, ACTRA is a member-driven organization that continues to secure the rights and respect for the work of Canada's English-speaking professional performers.