Vancouver: The b.c. film industry is facing the loss of at least half of its Canadian-content production now that Ontario has a provincial tax credit harmonized with the federal rebate scheme, says a senior b.c. film bureaucrat.

Wayne Sterloff, president of funding agency British Columbia Film, predicts Ontario’s 15% tax credit could cost the b.c. economy between $60 million and $90 million in its first year because b.c. doesn’t offer the same incentive. Canadian-content production paid about $117 million into the provincial economy here in 1995.

‘It’s important to realize that when Ontario switches to a harmonized tax credit system, it will expose all Canadian-content programming in b.c.,’ says Sterloff. ‘It’s going to be quite a blow.’

Single projects

And because the Ontario tax credit has a $2 million corporate cap, it will stimulate Ontario’s small and medium-sized film companies and threaten the single-project initiatives active in b.c., Sterloff adds. Foreign production will not be affected, he predicts.

When the Mike Harris government froze ofip in June of last year, b.c. filmmakers breathed a sigh of relief hoping there would finally be a level playing field between the two rival jurisdictions. The ofip advantage cost the b.c. economy $20 million to $30 million per year, says Sterloff.

But ofip was fully funded when it was frozen and the Ontario tax credit comes on stream seamlessly for Ontario producers in July so little, if any, production has migrated to b.c.

At the same time, the year of uncertainty about its competitor’s film initiatives means the b.c. film community’s effort to spark a film incentive program here has lost a lot of steam.

The b.c. branch of the cftpa has abandoned its campaign to woo legislators into launching a bcfip and has been, instead, organizing a plan to introduce a B.C. Tax Credit.

‘We cannot compete,’ says local cftpa representative Julia Keatley. She says the lack of a bctc means b.c. producers have more problems attracting money from federal programs like Telefilm Canada and the Cable Production Fund.

Keatley adds that the provincial government is more supportive of offshore production than indigenous production, pointing to the $5 million investment in April in new facilities at Burnaby’s Bridge Studios as an example.

Helena Cynamon, a partner at Forefront Entertainment Group in Vancouver, puts a brighter face on the new Ontario advantage, saying it will give b.c. lobbyists more ammunition to persuade politicians in Victoria to offer a bctc.

She adds that Ontario producers will pull less money from Telefilm’s envelope allowing for more money to be spread around other provinces.

However, she notes, Ontario producers who once looked to b.c. filmmakers as potential coventure partners because of the loss of ofip might now be able to work independently because of the Ontario tax credit.

In spite of some effort by local filmmakers, the film incentive issue is not likely to make any headway during the campaign leading to the May 28 provincial election. Sterloff says the community lacks the necessary votes to have any sway and politicians are resistant to new programs during a period of fiscal restraint.