These gentlemen weren't asking for the same level of incentive that Ontario and Quebec were providing: they simply wanted to work with government to find just enough additional incentive to attract Los Angeles filmmakers back to B.C. production facilities.
We all love movies, and when they are made right here in British Columbia - often with the talents of people we know - we feel even better. Movie making is big business, and I believe that for all kinds of reasons, economic being one of them, our provincial government should make a special effort to make sure the cameras keep rolling in talented, photogenic B.C.
Last summer, I received a number of letters from constituents who work in the film industry. Each of them was concerned that B.C.'s film and TV industry was no longer competitive with other provinces (and for that matter, states). Each writer had either lost their employment or was struggling with much reduced opportunity. In fact, a neighbour of mine actually sold his home and moved east to find work.
So I went downtown and met with Peter Leitch, chair of the Motion Picture Production Association, and Crawford Hawkins, executive director of the Directors Guild of Canada. It was clear the loss of a fair playing field was causing extreme concern to industry leaders.
These gentlemen weren't asking for the same level of incentive that Ontario and Quebec were providing: they simply wanted to work with government to find just enough additional incentive to attract Los Angeles filmmakers back to B.C. production facilities.
All things being even fairly equal, Los Angeles prefers to work in B.C. Our work force is excellent. Our production facilities are excellent. Technical services are abundant. Productivity is excellent. So are climate, proximity and environment.
The financial playing field does not have to be exactly level for the film industry to prefer B.C.
The industry had been in meetings with finance officials for months. Leitch and Crawford genuinely felt that something could be worked out, but were incredibly frustrated with the slow pace of discussions. When I asked what I could do to help, the answer was, "Please urge the government to speed up the discussions so that we can find a way to save the B.C. industry." They didn't want political noise or publicity, which I respected; they simply wanted government to listen and to act.
So on Aug. 27, 2012, I wrote to the finance minister. Three-and-a-half months later, on Dec. 14, I received a reply. The letter outlined the "full suite" of tax credits, and estimated the industry would receive the equivalent of $287 million in 2012/13.
The minister added that, "A variety of requests have been received from the film... industry... asking that we make B.C.'s tax credits more comparable to other jurisdictions.... I can assure you that... in the budget process, government takes into consideration the credits offered by other jurisdictions...." End of letter. In other words, too bad, so sad.
Now, $287 million is a lot of money (although I would also like to see the industry's calculations of the actual impact), but when government has worked to help create a thriving manufacturing sector (and that is what the film industry is) that has a highly trained workforce and hundreds of spin-off service companies, it is folly to watch that disappear without a undertaking a full cost benefit analysis of the value of further incentives.
That is all the industry has been asking for. Too bad it took an angry rally and an upcoming election to make the government react.
