Vancouver: The final tally is in, and the better-than-expected result is that the value of the West Coast film industry continued to grow last year, despite worries that b.c.’s long-buoyant film business was beginning to flag.

British Columbia logged a record-setting $432 million in direct film-related spending in 1995 – a 7% increase over the previous year. Direct spending by film crews has more than doubled since 1992, when the total was $211 million.

Total production budgets, meanwhile, reached $677 million in 1995, a 4% improvement from a year earlier. In all, 95 productions went before cameras in 1995, 10 more than in 1994.

‘We were not expecting this,’ admits b.c. film commissioner Pete Mitchell. ‘We’re quite surpised that we had exceeded last year’s performance.’

Anxieties began last year when big-ticket feature films from the u.s. began to drop off because of b.c.’s difficult labor climate. There were actually more features shot in 1995 than 1994 – 35 compared to 32 – but the value of the features were down considerably.

Mitchell can’t put a figure on the decline in value, but says there weren’t as many films shooting here last year in the budget-ranges of Little Women, which shot here in 1994.

‘The increase in series work made up for the reduction in large budget features,’ he explains. ‘Hopefully, this year we’ll get the features back and set new records.’

There were three more series shot in Vancouver over the year bringing the total to 18. A single series that shoots for an entire season can contribute $20 million to the b.c. economy, says Mitchell.

Canadian production’s smaller budgets remained flat in 1995, the Commission reports, but they are becoming harder to count.

‘The distinction between Canadian and u.s. productions is beginning to blur,’ says Mitchell, explaining that shows like The Outer Limits – which are considered Canadian because they qualify as Cancon productions – are funded by u.s. companies.