B.C. now Canada's leading province for film and TV production: report
Harrison MooneyHARRISON MOONEY
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Susan LazarukSUSAN LAZARUK
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Published on: February 2, 2018 | Last Updated: February 2, 2018 9:08 PM PST
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B.C.’s film and television production industry exploded with growth of 40 per cent last fiscal year over the year before thanks largely to binge-watchers on internet streaming services.
For the first time, B.C. surpassed Ontario, which grew 10 per cent over the same period, to become Canada’s largest centre of film and television production, according to a new report from the Canadian Media Producers Association.
British Columbia’s industry grew to $2.9 billion in 2016/17 from $2.1 billion in 2015/16, bringing with it a 40 per cent cent surge in jobs, to 24,000 from 17,000, according to the report.
Driving the growth is an insatiable demand for content from Netflix and other internet streaming services to serve a growing viewership in the Indian subcontinent, Japan, China and South Korea as well as Europe, said Robert Wong, vice-president of Creative B.C.
“The global demand for content has increased significantly over the years, particularly high-end scripted television,” he said. “And Vancouver’s proximity to Los Angeles has definitely given it a big advantage for episodic TV production.”
A weaker Canadian dollar is also a draw for American production.
The “insatiable appetite for entertainment” globally and the move from the traditional television studio production system to the Netflix model has increased production in B.C. and elsewhere, and the local industry has to compete to stay on top, said Pete Mitchell, president of Vancouver Film Studios.
He said the biggest challenges the industry faces are facilities, labour and location.
B.C. has invested in studios, building five major facilities, while Ontario has one, and is now able to rent commercial space more easily compared to the past when commercial realtors were reluctant to lease space for less than 10 years.
Finding workers to meet the production surge in 2016 was a challenge. The industry recruited from Alberta’s cooling oilpatch and those workers needed training, he said.
Location remains a challenge because “it’s a finite resource” and the industry has to be careful not to repeatedly impose on the same neighbourhoods. That means moving outside of Vancouver and to smaller towns, such as Maple Ridge and Ladner.
“And Langley has seen a tremendous amount of activity in the last five years,” he said.
Sandi Swanigan, senior manager of film and special effects for the City of Vancouver, said the huge demand for permits in 2016 meant she had to turn down some requests, including the movie Skyscraper starring Dwayne Johnson that ended up filming in Surrey.
She said the productions created for the digital streaming market are being made much more quickly and with more elaborate and complex sets for series, such as the Man in the High Castle, a period piece “that was really more like shooting a movie of the week every week.”
But she said demand “definitely levelled off for 2017” and she expects by the end of this fiscal year, March 2018, the industry will “definitely be bigger than it was in 2015” but not as big as it was last year.
B.C.’s tax credit to the industry in 2016 was dropped to 28 per cent from 33 per cent.
Production companies say despite the burgeoning industry, the credit is necessary to compete with other cities.
The report also found that domestic production in Canada was down marginally from 2015; it has dropped 15 per cent since its peak of $493 million in 2012.
Mitchell said with a move away from the traditional television production model, it was difficult for private broadcasters to finance and produce local Canadian content.
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