Vancouver: It’s taken six years to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, but the Canada-British Columbia Agreement on Communications and Cultural Industries is finally a reality.

The two-year agreement, announced late last month, will provide up to $9 million over two years to the communications and cultural sectors (including film and video production) and aims at creating new domestic and international markets for their products and services. Funding will also be made available for training, marketing and research and development initiatives.

Jointly administered

The agreement, part of an innovative program aimed at assisting regional economic diversification in Western Canada, will be jointly administered by the federal and b.c. governments. Each will contribute up to $4.5 million over the two-year term.

At a March 30 press conference announcing the agreement, Bill Barlee, b.c. minister of small business, tourism and culture, said the agreement is part of a ‘long-term strategy’ for the communications and cultural industries. He admitted ‘the amount of the agreement might not meet the expectations of the cultural community, but we have made some significant gains this year and can expect more in the future.’

Federal Minister of Canadian Heritage Michel Dupuy added that ‘financial resources are not the only important element; policies are also important because they provide a framework for creating incentives for the industry.’

Shrinkage

Members of the local film and television industry are encouraged by the government’s vote of financial support, but are disappointed by the shrinkage in the dollar figures since talks on the agreement began in 1988. And what is available, they point out, will have to be divided among the various cultural and communication industries such as book and magazine publishing, sound recording, film and video production, electronic manufacturing, systems and software and data processing equipment.

How this money will be divvied up has also not been decided.

‘More than we had’

Wayne Sterloff, president and ceo of British Columbia Film, agrees $9 million over two years is not a ‘huge amount of money.’ But, he adds, ‘it’s a lot more money than we had available yesterday. The important issue is that now we have an agreement and framework in place. If it is successful, both governments could use it again to fund projects at a higher level.’

Even though the agreement will not be up and running for another month, Sterloff says he is happy to see two areas – training and marketing – specifically mentioned.

Markets

And the language of the document, he says, clearly makes mention of ‘demonstration projects,’ which means attending international markets could be included under the agreement.

Sterloff says it is also important to note that the agreement requires the ‘participation of the industry.’ Therefore, programs requesting assistance from the government will have to be initiated and partially funded by the industry itself. ‘The government cannot be expected to put up 100% of a program’s cost,’ he says.

Little impact

Harold Tichenor, president of Crescent Entertainment in Vancouver and a member of the board of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, says he doesn’t see how an agreement with only $9 million over two years divided among so many different industries can possibly have a major impact on the film and television production industry which ‘sucks up millions of dollars like it has nothing else to do.’

However, he adds, it may be able to assist in developing some kind of infrastructure for the distribution industry in Western Canada, ‘and that we need more than anything.’