Irish Actors Equity is to seek legal advice to see if it can ballot members over withdrawing co-operation from Concorde Anois, the studios in Connemara owned by the American B-movie producer, Mr Roger Corman.
However, Equity emphasised that the action is motivated by industrial relations considerations only and has nothing to do with recent allegations that the studio is producing pornography or soft porn.
And the video chainstore, Xtra Vision, has said that its decision not to stock Mr Corman's films was a commercial one.
The controversy over Concorde Anois started when Criminal Affairs was inexplicably chosen to be shown at the Galway Film Fleadh. Mr Corman (71) has been making B-movies for years and no one should have been surprised at the story line and production values of Criminal Affairs.
His films are classic B-movies, made quickly on low budgets. As Hugh Linehan pointed out in this newspaper last Friday, the audience "might have been expected to know what was in store".
However, Film Ireland magazine questioned the funding of the Corman studios and this was picked up by the Sunday Times, under a headline, "Irish agency funding porn film".
Some reports following on this questioned whether his facilities in Ireland should have been grant-aided by the development agency, Udaras na Gaeltachta, or whether the films produced should have received tax relief under Section 35 of the Finance Act, designed to encourage film production in Ireland.
A spokesman for Equity said the request for a ballot came from members because the studios paid actors' rates below the Equity minimum and no agreement existed between the union and the studios.
It was up to individual actors what contracts they took. The question of film content was of no concern to the union.