Yesterday we wrote about the recent call out from the NDP and Shawn Williamson of Brightlight Pictures to the provincial government to do something to keep the BC Film industry competitive.
Today Finance Minister Colin Hansen announced a proposal to make that happen. If it’s approved by the legislature this would help to compete with the provinces, like Ontario, where their tax credits won over productions that were once aimed to come to BC.
Here are the specific proposals taken from their news release:
Subject to approval by the legislature, the planned tax measures include:
- New BC Interactive Digital Media tax credit for video game development of 17.5 per cent of qualifying B.C. labour costs.
- Production Services Tax Credit on labour costs for foreign productions increased to 33 per cent from 25 per cent.
- Digital Animation or Visual Effects tax credit bonus increased to 17.5 per cent from 15 per cent.
- Qualified B.C. labour expenditures cap increased to 60 per cent from 48 per cent of production costs.
If all goes as planned, film tax credits will be available for productions with the principal photography start date after Feb 28 2010. The BC Interactive Digital Media tax credit will being after Aug 31 2010.
So the question is… will this tax credit be enough to boost up our industry? I guess we’ll see.
Back in November members of Vancouver’s film industry gathered to discuss many of issues about the state of our local industry and the impact tax credits and the olympics would have (Read our coverage of the event). A few months later and the olympics around the corner means that many projects are hitting pause on their productions for a major portion of this month.
This past Sunday, MLAs of the BC NDP, including Carol James (leader) and Spencer Herbert (arts and tourism critic) along with Shawn Williamson of Brightlight Pictures got together to send a message that the provincial government needs to take action to help save the BC film industry from wasting away.
In the realm of tax credits, we’re competing with Ontario and Quebec. Both provinces increased and expanded their tax credit program. CTV reports:
While B.C. and Ontario offer the same 35 per cent basic labour expenditure tax credit, that’s where the bulk of benefits end for projects in the Pacific Province. But in Ontario productions can also write off studio rentals, sound equipment and more – and the difference could be a deal breaker.
Back during The Insiders event in November, Shawn Williamson of Brightlight Pictures expressed his thoughts on how Ontario and BC view our industry in a different light. Ontario approaches the Film/TV industry as revenue whereas BC seems to view it as subsidy.
The Province reported this week:
Shawn Williamson, a co-owner of Brightlight Pictures, called the situation “serious.” “For the last five years, we always beat Ontario [in attracting work],” said Williamson. “Now we’re seeing quite a significant loss over the last seven months,” he said. “We need a level playing field in some way.” Williamson acknowledged there have been discussions about the situation with the provincial government. “We’re told something is imminent but we’ve been told something is imminent for months,” said Williamson.
We won’t really know until March 2 what help the provincial government will provide to ensure our province can compete with others – that’s when the new budget will be unveiled. But we do know what the BC Finance Ministry is not willing to do: “we’re not prepared to match Ontario’s tax credit.”
Check out these links for coverage:
Straight – NDP and B.C. film industry call for better tax credits
The Province – NDP seeks more aid for film industry
CTV – (includes video) Film productions opting for Ontario over B.C.
