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Front Page, Industry News
Real Housewives pick up where B.C. film industry left off
Tuesday May 29th 2012VANCOUVER – B.C.’s feature film production sector has seen better days, but the television side’s looking up and The Real Housewives is a financial winner.
That’s how the province’s film industry insiders see things so far this year, as new television pilots shot in Vancouver are picked up while major films that B.C. had coveted head elsewhere. RoboCop is off to Toronto and Wolverine is going to Australia.
“I think the overall outlook is very good in TV,” said BC Film Commissioner Susan Croome. “A lot of pilots were picked up.
“It’s a bit early to tell, but we do have some concerns about feature film activity after the current features are wrapped. We don’t know yet what the future holds in the feature-film department.”
While year-to-date figures aren’t yet available, in March it was revealed that Ontario had overtaken B.C. as a film and television production centre in Canada for the first time in many years despite overall spending on the west coast increasing 16 per cent in 2011 to nearly $1.2 billion.
Although Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Ida Chong painted a rosy picture with B.C. production spending last year up $167 million over 2010, B.C.’s overall ranking as a North American production centre dropped from third to fourth place in 2011.
There was a cumulative total of 281 productions undertaken in B.C. in 2011, including contract work conducted here for films primarily produced elsewhere.
“It’s a cyclical business,” said Croome, who believes B.C. can regain its status as Canada’s main production centre.
“Some years you don’t get the big spenders. But B.C. has the best product and is second to none.”
Croome said a May 16 “snapshot picture” showed there were 15 projects shooting in the province, compared with 14 the same day last year. However, there were just three feature films underway compared with four last May 16.
She noted that four of nine television pilots shot in Vancouver this spring were picked up, six other series renewed, and three – Alcatraz, The Secret Circle and Sanctuary – cancelled.
Liz Shorten, managing vice-president of operations and member services, Canadian Media Production Association, B.C. producers’ branch, said there’s a continued downturn in the value of Canadian and B.C.-based productions.
“We’ve gone from $400 million in 2007 to about $200 million in 2011 (in B.C. productions).
“We’re seeing a real drain of talent, writers and actors to Ontario.”
However, Shorten noted that B.C. is moving ahead in lifestyle reality programming, including Real Housewives of Vancouver.
“(Real Housewives) is employing people and making an economic contribution to B.C. And the Canadian version of The Bachelor has just been tapped to be done here.”
Peter Leitch, chairman of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C. and president of North Shore Studios, is also concerned about the feature-film side of the industry.
“The number of feature films is down from what we expected.”
He said tax incentives elsewhere are hurting B.C., although a “race to the bottom of the tax base” isn’t the answer.
Chong said earlier that the government promotes B.C.’s film industry with nearly $200 million in tax credits and funding for the film commission, which is part of her ministry.
B.C.’s film and television production industry also wants the provincial government to classify it as a manufacturer to help mitigate the impact of the controversial HST’s demise next year.
On a positive note, industry insiders say Sea to Sky Entertainment, a recent partnership between Lionsgate Entertainment and Thunderbird Films, will not only create jobs in Vancouver and attract business investment.
Travis Doering, who is producing the television pilot Hacked, said if his reality show gets picked up, it will mean anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 per show for a 13-episode order.
“We show how a hacker can steal all of your personal information,” Doering said of the new series.
Source: Canada.com
Front Page, Industry News
Real Housewives pick up where B.C. film industry left off
Tuesday May 29th 2012VANCOUVER – B.C.’s feature film production sector has seen better days, but the television side’s looking up and The Real Housewives is a financial winner.
That’s how the province’s film industry insiders see things so far this year, as new television pilots shot in Vancouver are picked up while major films that B.C. had coveted head elsewhere. RoboCop is off to Toronto and Wolverine is going to Australia.
“I think the overall outlook is very good in TV,” said BC Film Commissioner Susan Croome. “A lot of pilots were picked up.
“It’s a bit early to tell, but we do have some concerns about feature film activity after the current features are wrapped. We don’t know yet what the future holds in the feature-film department.”
While year-to-date figures aren’t yet available, in March it was revealed that Ontario had overtaken B.C. as a film and television production centre in Canada for the first time in many years despite overall spending on the west coast increasing 16 per cent in 2011 to nearly $1.2 billion.
Although Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Ida Chong painted a rosy picture with B.C. production spending last year up $167 million over 2010, B.C.’s overall ranking as a North American production centre dropped from third to fourth place in 2011.
There was a cumulative total of 281 productions undertaken in B.C. in 2011, including contract work conducted here for films primarily produced elsewhere.
“It’s a cyclical business,” said Croome, who believes B.C. can regain its status as Canada’s main production centre.
“Some years you don’t get the big spenders. But B.C. has the best product and is second to none.”
Croome said a May 16 “snapshot picture” showed there were 15 projects shooting in the province, compared with 14 the same day last year. However, there were just three feature films underway compared with four last May 16.
She noted that four of nine television pilots shot in Vancouver this spring were picked up, six other series renewed, and three – Alcatraz, The Secret Circle and Sanctuary – cancelled.
Liz Shorten, managing vice-president of operations and member services, Canadian Media Production Association, B.C. producers’ branch, said there’s a continued downturn in the value of Canadian and B.C.-based productions.
“We’ve gone from $400 million in 2007 to about $200 million in 2011 (in B.C. productions).
“We’re seeing a real drain of talent, writers and actors to Ontario.”
However, Shorten noted that B.C. is moving ahead in lifestyle reality programming, including Real Housewives of Vancouver.
“(Real Housewives) is employing people and making an economic contribution to B.C. And the Canadian version of The Bachelor has just been tapped to be done here.”
Peter Leitch, chairman of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C. and president of North Shore Studios, is also concerned about the feature-film side of the industry.
“The number of feature films is down from what we expected.”
He said tax incentives elsewhere are hurting B.C., although a “race to the bottom of the tax base” isn’t the answer.
Chong said earlier that the government promotes B.C.’s film industry with nearly $200 million in tax credits and funding for the film commission, which is part of her ministry.
B.C.’s film and television production industry also wants the provincial government to classify it as a manufacturer to help mitigate the impact of the controversial HST’s demise next year.
On a positive note, industry insiders say Sea to Sky Entertainment, a recent partnership between Lionsgate Entertainment and Thunderbird Films, will not only create jobs in Vancouver and attract business investment.
Travis Doering, who is producing the television pilot Hacked, said if his reality show gets picked up, it will mean anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 per show for a 13-episode order.
“We show how a hacker can steal all of your personal information,” Doering said of the new series.
Source: Canada.com
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Front Page, Industry News
Real Housewives pick up where B.C. film industry left off
Tuesday May 29th 2012VANCOUVER – B.C.’s feature film production sector has seen better days, but the television side’s looking up and The Real Housewives is a financial winner.
That’s how the province’s film industry insiders see things so far this year, as new television pilots shot in Vancouver are picked up while major films that B.C. had coveted head elsewhere. RoboCop is off to Toronto and Wolverine is going to Australia.
“I think the overall outlook is very good in TV,” said BC Film Commissioner Susan Croome. “A lot of pilots were picked up.
“It’s a bit early to tell, but we do have some concerns about feature film activity after the current features are wrapped. We don’t know yet what the future holds in the feature-film department.”
While year-to-date figures aren’t yet available, in March it was revealed that Ontario had overtaken B.C. as a film and television production centre in Canada for the first time in many years despite overall spending on the west coast increasing 16 per cent in 2011 to nearly $1.2 billion.
Although Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Ida Chong painted a rosy picture with B.C. production spending last year up $167 million over 2010, B.C.’s overall ranking as a North American production centre dropped from third to fourth place in 2011.
There was a cumulative total of 281 productions undertaken in B.C. in 2011, including contract work conducted here for films primarily produced elsewhere.
“It’s a cyclical business,” said Croome, who believes B.C. can regain its status as Canada’s main production centre.
“Some years you don’t get the big spenders. But B.C. has the best product and is second to none.”
Croome said a May 16 “snapshot picture” showed there were 15 projects shooting in the province, compared with 14 the same day last year. However, there were just three feature films underway compared with four last May 16.
She noted that four of nine television pilots shot in Vancouver this spring were picked up, six other series renewed, and three – Alcatraz, The Secret Circle and Sanctuary – cancelled.
Liz Shorten, managing vice-president of operations and member services, Canadian Media Production Association, B.C. producers’ branch, said there’s a continued downturn in the value of Canadian and B.C.-based productions.
“We’ve gone from $400 million in 2007 to about $200 million in 2011 (in B.C. productions).
“We’re seeing a real drain of talent, writers and actors to Ontario.”
However, Shorten noted that B.C. is moving ahead in lifestyle reality programming, including Real Housewives of Vancouver.
“(Real Housewives) is employing people and making an economic contribution to B.C. And the Canadian version of The Bachelor has just been tapped to be done here.”
Peter Leitch, chairman of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C. and president of North Shore Studios, is also concerned about the feature-film side of the industry.
“The number of feature films is down from what we expected.”
He said tax incentives elsewhere are hurting B.C., although a “race to the bottom of the tax base” isn’t the answer.
Chong said earlier that the government promotes B.C.’s film industry with nearly $200 million in tax credits and funding for the film commission, which is part of her ministry.
B.C.’s film and television production industry also wants the provincial government to classify it as a manufacturer to help mitigate the impact of the controversial HST’s demise next year.
On a positive note, industry insiders say Sea to Sky Entertainment, a recent partnership between Lionsgate Entertainment and Thunderbird Films, will not only create jobs in Vancouver and attract business investment.
Travis Doering, who is producing the television pilot Hacked, said if his reality show gets picked up, it will mean anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 per show for a 13-episode order.
“We show how a hacker can steal all of your personal information,” Doering said of the new series.
Source: Canada.com
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