TN status for Film Producer

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Ben_Canada

New Member
Hello,

Is it possible for a Canadian citizen to get TN status if he is being paid by a film studio, distributor or production company to produce a feature film project in Los Angeles?

Thank you.
 
A TN might be appropriate for this work, under the MC category.

Surely the studio has lots of experience bringing foreign expertise on a film, so they would be in best position to advise -- an 'O' visa is more likely, however.

Besides -- as most actors and writers would lament -- do producers really do any work?;)
 
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I don't know if I am going to work with a studio, a distributor, a production company or something else. But I would like to be prepared, as apparently it can be hard even for studios or networks to get visas -- the producers of the Lost TV series had trouble getting the proper visa for Evangeline Lily (a Canadian citizen), and they finally got her an O-1 visa just days before shooting her scenes for the pilot, after principal photography had already begun.

I remember reading remarks somewhere to the effect that "Management Consultant" was an intentionally broad category, which could apparently include "independent producer".

The studio, when it pays an independent producer for his services (which are to bring together and manage outside material and talent - scripts, actors, directors - and to generally make a project happen), it is actually contracting the services of an independent individual. A producer is essentially an independent contractor, which is how NAFTA defines the "Management Consultant" TN occupation category. It is also temporary work (the contract only concerns one film) as opposed to a permanent employee, which is a requisite of TN status.

I would like to know for sure if that would in fact be accepted for TN status (if presented with the contract from the studio or production company of course).
 
I meant O visa above, thanks for the correction. It is pretty run-of-the-mill for actors, etc. Their lawyers probably just had a bad day, as her previous creds certainly merited O visa. It would be a slam-dunk now, of course.

MC *could* be a viable path for TN for producing.

As to your remark "It is also temporary work (the contract only concerns one film) as opposed to a permanent employee, which is a requisite of TN status." is not quite true.

In general TN positions need not be temporary, but the individual filling that position can only do so one year (now three years) at a time. Subtle difference.

However, applied narrowly to the MC category, this position should be supernumerary to the organization, and thus the temporary nature of being hired to work one only one project would remove any doubt that you were actually an internal part of the organization.


Who knows, maybe after a couple of TNs, you would even qualify for an O!
 
Ben_Canada said:
A producer is essentially an independent contractor, which is how NAFTA defines the "Management Consultant" TN occupation category. It is also temporary work (the contract only concerns one film) as opposed to a permanent employee, which is a requisite of TN status.
Click to expand...

While TN management consultants should be independent contractors, not all independent contractors are management consultants. The MC category has been hideously abused over the years and I'm not surprised that CBP has responded in their own fashion by shutting it down and making up restrictions far worse than NAFTA intended.

I don't see a producer as a management consultant. If you want to provide advise as to how to make their own producers more effective, sure. But to me a good rule of them is that you should not be performing the actual duties you are seeking to consult about. If you are, then you are NOT a management consultant.
 
I see. I don't want to give the impression that I am trying to abuse the system.

So I might as well forget about TN status. What are the options for a producer hired by a studio, is the O-1 visa the only possibility?
 
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