Vancouver: British Columbia’s indigenous film industry came up short again last year in the annual race for Licence Fee Program money collected from Canada’s cable companies.

In its inaugural year in 1995, the Canada Television and Cable Production Fund’s first-come-first-served lfp (formerly the Cable Production Fund) paid out 4% of its $42-million fund to b.c. filmmakers, even though 15% of all cable subscribers reside in b.c.

That sparked a litany of complaints from b.c. that the West Coast was subsidizing the large Ontario and Quebec production companies that claim the greatest shares of the fund.

A sneak peak at tallies for 1996, announced at a Vancouver industry event March 25, suggest last year’s proportional numbers will improve only marginally to 5.5% of the revamped $80-million fund.

Corrie Coe, acting executive director of the lfp, says the b.c. numbers were surprising and discouraging. Earlier estimates of 11% to 12% of the fund going to b.c. were sliced in half when a series decided not to go ahead in the 1996 year.

But while the proportional payouts are small, the number of files from b.c. have increased, pushed by a record number of documentaries and a strong animation sector here. Coe expects that with the ctcpf’s new regional bonuses, Baton Broadcasting’s western-based production kitty and the expected British Columbia Tax Credit, b.c.’s proportion of the fund will increase.

‘The climate is changing [in b.c.] and, if we don’t see a change, we’ll have to go back and start over,’ says Coe.

The cable fund is expected to release all its year-end numbers in the next couple of weeks.

According to Coe, the 1995 and 1996 fund totals are comparable even though last year’s cable fund was restructured to include money from the Ministry of Heritage.