Cici Clancy and Celest Prodon
This edition of the Member Spotlight focuses on two CEIRP members who emigrated to Canada. First, we met with Cici Clancy of DGC Ontario who arrived from Ireland in 2017. And then we met with Celest Prodon of IATSE 856, who emigrated from Nigeria and settled in Winnipeg forty-four years ago.
In Ireland, Cici started in theatre and then transitioned into film. She earned a master’s degree in the craft and was interested in gaining more experience as an assistant director. While the Irish film industry has been growing in recent years, she decided that she would advance faster in Canada. After arriving, Cici learned that she would need permanent residency (PR) to become a DGC member and to work. She applied and then the pandemic hit. It was a difficult period, but she persevered, obtained her PR, joined DGC and became a CEIRP member.
Celest emigrated from Nigeria forty-four years ago and settled in Winnipeg. When she arrived, she wasn’t familiar with the Canadian entertainment industry. Her introduction to IATSE was a fluke. In fact, it was made over a pan of lasagna that she made for her kids and their friends. The kids’ mom was so impressed with Celest’s cooking that she asked her to make another one and offered to pay for it. Cooking was one of Celest’s favourite things and she never thought of it as a career. Soon after she joined IATSE 856 as a craft services member. It was kismet.
Compared to the previous interviews in the Member Showcase series, this edition’s participants are recent CEIRP members. We asked them about their experience so far in the plan and what their thoughts were about retirement. Like most Canadians, they had some understanding about RRSPs and how they help reduce your income taxes. But neither of them had a clear vision of what their lives in retirement would be like. They both considered this next stage to be a long way off in the future.
To finish our interview, we asked them what their pitch to another member would be to persuade then to join the plan. Both were enthusiastic and would encourage their colleague to join because, as Cici put it, “It’s money going directly into your account without you having to manage it and that’s a bonus. Especially in this industry because there are no guarantees. If you are working consistently, and there’s money going into your RRSP on top of what you’re already earning, that’s a pretty major selling point.”
