BC’s film industry is expecting to maintain its ground this year, despite the challenges of a high Canadian dollar and the August 26 referendum rejection of the harmonized sales tax (HST).
“I think our value proposition in B.C. has been validated by the level of production we’re continuing to see,” BC Film commissioner Susan Croome said.
Thirty-five productions are currently shooting in B.C. or about to go to camera, compared with 34 a year ago and 25 in 2009.
“We’re up significantly over 2009, but we’re on par with 2010,” Croome said.
Current productions include:
•10 feature films;
•one DVD feature;
•10 movies of the week;
•14 TV series; and
•one mini/web series.
A year ago, there were:
•eight feature films;
•one DVD feature;
•seven movies of the week; and
•18 TV series.
Croome added that up to the end of June, the BC Film Commission had prepared 195 location packages for foreign and local film companies compared with 147 in 2010’s first six months. The packages detail film location options around the province.
Croome said the 25% spike in year-to-date activity in the commission’s production services department is a good sign, but added that there’s no clear “hit rate” predicting how many location packages will land productions.
Peter Leitch is chairman of the Motion Picture Production Association of B.C. and president of North Shore Studios and Mammoth Studios.
He said the service side of the industry, which supports U.S. productions filming in B.C., appears to be maintaining last year’s levels. He said that’s good news, given the high Canadian dollar.
“We’re really quite happy with where things are [on the service side].”
In 2010, according to commission statistics, $778 million was spent in B.C. on foreign productions.
Liz Shorten is the managing vice-president, operations and member services, for the B.C. branch of the Canadian Media Production Association. She said B.C.-based film and television producers are also seeing 2011 shape up like 2010.
“We haven’t returned to the B.C.-based levels of 2007 when we were at $400 million worth of production,” she said. “We’re probably holding our own from last year and that’s due to a number of our television series returning – The Haunting Hour, Mr. Young, Sanctuary.”
Commission stats show that B.C.-based producers’ total annual spending dropped to $366 million in 2008 and $218 million in 2009 before edging up to $244 million last year.
Shorten said documentaries and dramas have been hardest hit over the past few years.
But Shorten noted that B.C.-based producers are continuing to tap into a strong market for lifestyle shows. However, she added that lifestyle programming is lower budget and doesn’t provide the same number of jobs as a dramatic television series.
Croome said B.C.’s motion picture industry is disappointed by the HST being rejected in the August 26 referendum, but that the impacts of that decision are still a ways off.
Leitch concurred that the referendum’s effects won’t hit this fall.
“We expect it to be relatively status quo for the rest of this year,” he said, “but new projects that are being developed right now are going to really rethink whether they should be coming to B.C. or not because of the difference in cost.”
Croome expressed measured optimism for fall production levels. “We’re still confident, but some of our major clients in Los Angeles are looking at their slate of production going forward into the fall.” •
