Mar 28, 2024
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Front Page, Industry News

Tax credits help B.C. pinch film projects from Seattle

Give us your Microsoft, Seattle, your Starbucks and, while you’re at it, your film industry.

Seattle’s pain is Vancouver’s gain when it comes to the film industry, thanks to B.C.’s tax credits, according to folks in the business.

Take the new series Intruders, for example.

The eight-episode TV series is set entirely in Seattle, yet except for a few establishing shots, the whole thing was filmed in Vancouver.

BBC America, the producer, said the reason was simple: Economics.

While B.C. spends about $285 million a year on tax credits for the industry, Washington state caps out at $3.5 million, which was used up by May.

“Tax credit essentially,” Jane Tranter, executive producer of Intruders told the Seattle Times this week when asked about shooting in Vancouver. “We felt Vancouver is a natural, organically, exact eco-match for Seattle.

“It has an exceptionally well-organized film community and it was a natural decision to go there.”

Other series set in Washington but filmed in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island include the cable show Cedar Cove, based on author/producer Debbie Macomber’s summer home in Port Orchard but shot in Vancouver and the Island, as well as Netflix’s The Killing, shot in Vancouver and Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam.

“You have to think what’s the most practical place to film, where are we going to get the maximum value for the money on screen, which includes the way it looks but also all the other benefits you can get,” Tranter said. “We just got more bang for our buck going to Vancouver because of the tax breaks.”

That’s a far cry from the sky-is-falling fears of a couple years ago when Ontario made its tax incentives for the film industry more attractive than B.C.’s.

But after a rough patch, things did not go that too badly for B.C.’s film industry.

“We just finished a good year in 2013,” said Jim Nesbitt, a vice-president with Larco Investments, which owns Bridge Studios in Burnaby. “And, for us anyway, we’ve got full production in 2014.”

Bridge is just one of the studios in Burnaby, which has about two-thirds of the studio space available in the Lower Mainland.

The Burnaby NewsLeader, quoting a 2013 City Hall report, said $408 million was injected into the city’s economy by the film industry in 2012, that it employed almost 2,500 people and that their salaries totalled $33 million.

There are 28 films or TV series in production or having just wrapped filming in the Lower Mainland, while provincewide the industry contributes about $1.5 billion to the economy, according to provincial figures.

TV and film projects have been credited with creating as many as 85,000 jobs provincewide.

“The business has been strong all year,” said Richard Brownley, president and CEO of Creative B.C., the provincial agency responsible for the development of film and TV production, administering tax credits and marketing B.C.-made films overseas.

“And it remains strong in domestic service work, visual effects, animation, all across the board,” he said.

There aren’t as many feature-length films in production in the Lower Mainland as there traditionally have been, perhaps, but studios are busy.

“I find (the film industry) more choppy than it used to be,” said Peter Leitch, president of North Shore Studios and chairman of the Motion Picture Production Association. “But certainly business is relatively good for the most part here.”

Tax incentives for the film industry didn’t exist in North America until they were introduced in Canada in the late 1990s.

Louisiana and Georgia offer the most lucrative tax breaks in the U.S., according to the tax-credit brokerage Film Production Capital of New Orleans.

Neither state has a cap on their tax-credit programs.

Yet many film producers keep choosing B.C.

“We’re optimistic,” North Shore’s Leitch said. “We’ve been in business a long time, I think we have good products to offer here.

“I just want it to be used a little more.”

Source: The Province

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Front Page, Industry News

Tax credits help B.C. pinch film projects from Seattle

Give us your Microsoft, Seattle, your Starbucks and, while you’re at it, your film industry.

Seattle’s pain is Vancouver’s gain when it comes to the film industry, thanks to B.C.’s tax credits, according to folks in the business.

Take the new series Intruders, for example.

The eight-episode TV series is set entirely in Seattle, yet except for a few establishing shots, the whole thing was filmed in Vancouver.

BBC America, the producer, said the reason was simple: Economics.

While B.C. spends about $285 million a year on tax credits for the industry, Washington state caps out at $3.5 million, which was used up by May.

“Tax credit essentially,” Jane Tranter, executive producer of Intruders told the Seattle Times this week when asked about shooting in Vancouver. “We felt Vancouver is a natural, organically, exact eco-match for Seattle.

“It has an exceptionally well-organized film community and it was a natural decision to go there.”

Other series set in Washington but filmed in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island include the cable show Cedar Cove, based on author/producer Debbie Macomber’s summer home in Port Orchard but shot in Vancouver and the Island, as well as Netflix’s The Killing, shot in Vancouver and Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam.

“You have to think what’s the most practical place to film, where are we going to get the maximum value for the money on screen, which includes the way it looks but also all the other benefits you can get,” Tranter said. “We just got more bang for our buck going to Vancouver because of the tax breaks.”

That’s a far cry from the sky-is-falling fears of a couple years ago when Ontario made its tax incentives for the film industry more attractive than B.C.’s.

But after a rough patch, things did not go that too badly for B.C.’s film industry.

“We just finished a good year in 2013,” said Jim Nesbitt, a vice-president with Larco Investments, which owns Bridge Studios in Burnaby. “And, for us anyway, we’ve got full production in 2014.”

Bridge is just one of the studios in Burnaby, which has about two-thirds of the studio space available in the Lower Mainland.

The Burnaby NewsLeader, quoting a 2013 City Hall report, said $408 million was injected into the city’s economy by the film industry in 2012, that it employed almost 2,500 people and that their salaries totalled $33 million.

There are 28 films or TV series in production or having just wrapped filming in the Lower Mainland, while provincewide the industry contributes about $1.5 billion to the economy, according to provincial figures.

TV and film projects have been credited with creating as many as 85,000 jobs provincewide.

“The business has been strong all year,” said Richard Brownley, president and CEO of Creative B.C., the provincial agency responsible for the development of film and TV production, administering tax credits and marketing B.C.-made films overseas.

“And it remains strong in domestic service work, visual effects, animation, all across the board,” he said.

There aren’t as many feature-length films in production in the Lower Mainland as there traditionally have been, perhaps, but studios are busy.

“I find (the film industry) more choppy than it used to be,” said Peter Leitch, president of North Shore Studios and chairman of the Motion Picture Production Association. “But certainly business is relatively good for the most part here.”

Tax incentives for the film industry didn’t exist in North America until they were introduced in Canada in the late 1990s.

Louisiana and Georgia offer the most lucrative tax breaks in the U.S., according to the tax-credit brokerage Film Production Capital of New Orleans.

Neither state has a cap on their tax-credit programs.

Yet many film producers keep choosing B.C.

“We’re optimistic,” North Shore’s Leitch said. “We’ve been in business a long time, I think we have good products to offer here.

“I just want it to be used a little more.”

Source: The Province

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Front Page, Industry News

Tax credits help B.C. pinch film projects from Seattle

Give us your Microsoft, Seattle, your Starbucks and, while you’re at it, your film industry.

Seattle’s pain is Vancouver’s gain when it comes to the film industry, thanks to B.C.’s tax credits, according to folks in the business.

Take the new series Intruders, for example.

The eight-episode TV series is set entirely in Seattle, yet except for a few establishing shots, the whole thing was filmed in Vancouver.

BBC America, the producer, said the reason was simple: Economics.

While B.C. spends about $285 million a year on tax credits for the industry, Washington state caps out at $3.5 million, which was used up by May.

“Tax credit essentially,” Jane Tranter, executive producer of Intruders told the Seattle Times this week when asked about shooting in Vancouver. “We felt Vancouver is a natural, organically, exact eco-match for Seattle.

“It has an exceptionally well-organized film community and it was a natural decision to go there.”

Other series set in Washington but filmed in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island include the cable show Cedar Cove, based on author/producer Debbie Macomber’s summer home in Port Orchard but shot in Vancouver and the Island, as well as Netflix’s The Killing, shot in Vancouver and Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam.

“You have to think what’s the most practical place to film, where are we going to get the maximum value for the money on screen, which includes the way it looks but also all the other benefits you can get,” Tranter said. “We just got more bang for our buck going to Vancouver because of the tax breaks.”

That’s a far cry from the sky-is-falling fears of a couple years ago when Ontario made its tax incentives for the film industry more attractive than B.C.’s.

But after a rough patch, things did not go that too badly for B.C.’s film industry.

“We just finished a good year in 2013,” said Jim Nesbitt, a vice-president with Larco Investments, which owns Bridge Studios in Burnaby. “And, for us anyway, we’ve got full production in 2014.”

Bridge is just one of the studios in Burnaby, which has about two-thirds of the studio space available in the Lower Mainland.

The Burnaby NewsLeader, quoting a 2013 City Hall report, said $408 million was injected into the city’s economy by the film industry in 2012, that it employed almost 2,500 people and that their salaries totalled $33 million.

There are 28 films or TV series in production or having just wrapped filming in the Lower Mainland, while provincewide the industry contributes about $1.5 billion to the economy, according to provincial figures.

TV and film projects have been credited with creating as many as 85,000 jobs provincewide.

“The business has been strong all year,” said Richard Brownley, president and CEO of Creative B.C., the provincial agency responsible for the development of film and TV production, administering tax credits and marketing B.C.-made films overseas.

“And it remains strong in domestic service work, visual effects, animation, all across the board,” he said.

There aren’t as many feature-length films in production in the Lower Mainland as there traditionally have been, perhaps, but studios are busy.

“I find (the film industry) more choppy than it used to be,” said Peter Leitch, president of North Shore Studios and chairman of the Motion Picture Production Association. “But certainly business is relatively good for the most part here.”

Tax incentives for the film industry didn’t exist in North America until they were introduced in Canada in the late 1990s.

Louisiana and Georgia offer the most lucrative tax breaks in the U.S., according to the tax-credit brokerage Film Production Capital of New Orleans.

Neither state has a cap on their tax-credit programs.

Yet many film producers keep choosing B.C.

“We’re optimistic,” North Shore’s Leitch said. “We’ve been in business a long time, I think we have good products to offer here.

“I just want it to be used a little more.”

Source: The Province

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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