After a long-running lobby effort for provincial tax credits, agency representatives and producers in Alberta and Saskatchewan say new labor incentives for film and television production are in sight.

Saskfilm gm Mark Prasuhn says a Saskatchewan tax credit is expected to be tabled in the mid-March provincial budget.

According to Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association president Margaret Mardirossian, a labor incentive covering all Alberta knowledge-based industries has been endorsed by Premier Ralph Klein and Minister of Science, Research and Information Technology Lorne Taylor. The next hurdle is to convince the Treasury Department’s tax review commission, which will make its recommendation April 30.

Tax credit announcements will change the bleak provincial production profiles in the respective provinces.

In Alberta, film and tv production fell 66% in 1997 to $50 million, down from $150 million the previous year. Saskatchewan-based production for ’97 was $22.5 million compared to $26.4 million the previous year.

ampia, in a collaborative effort with the science, research and development sector, is pitching a 30% tax incentive applying to Alberta-based companies with intellectual properties as an asset, which would include all film and tv, animation and new media projects.

The aim is to have the tax credit retroactive to January 1998.

ampia teamed up with the Alberta Science and Research Authority on a cross-sector proposal in December after realizing its 18-month lobby for a tax credit was at a stalemate because the government was unwilling to show favor to specific industries.

The combined proposal ‘covers enough ground and is generic enough that it found warm bodies in the political sector,’ says ampia vp Dale Phillips.

Some Alberta producers say the Alberta government will likely approve an incentive of 25% of eligible labor, capped at 50%.

Great North’s Andy Thomson says even if the tax credit proves to be lower than other jurisdictions, Alberta holds a competitive edge over regions such as Vancouver and Toronto because of the added benefits of no provincial sales tax, lower cost of living and corporate taxes, and overall reduced costs of mounting a production.

‘We need an incentive to get us to the point where those other advantages kick in,’ says Thomson. ‘Right now producers are missing the 15% required to finance shows in Alberta.’

A second phase of the Alberta knowledge-based industries’ proposal includes a venture capital tax credit to stimulate the creation of private venture capital pools.

‘But the primary focus for now is the tax credit,’ says Mardirossian, adding that the second tier of the proposal is still in the preliminary stage.

‘We have the A Channel drama fund and the cfcn fund providing development and equity financing, but without a tax credit it just doesn’t make economic sense to produce in Alberta.’

The proposal put forward by the Saskatchewan Film Producers Association recommends a 35% labor rebate, with bonuses for rural production, and an additional incentive to keep post-production in the province to spur the development of a high-tech, special effects and computer graphics infrastructure.

sfpa president Kevin DeWalt says the lobby group has asked for the credit to apply to both indigenous and foreign productions.

Prasuhn suggests the Saskatchewan government will approve a credit of 30%, capped at 50%, with the additional bonuses.

Saskfilm’s three-year term is up next month and Prasuhn says it is likely that in the upcoming budget the film agency will be renewed by the Saskatchewan government for an additional three years with an allotment of $1.5 million to $2 million per year (the provincial expenditure was $5.5 million over the past three years).

The equity investment fund administered by Saskfilm has averaged $1.7 million to 1.8 million per year (earnings from interest and recoupment put the total Saskfilm budget at $7 million). With the expected tax credit to fuel production, Prasuhn says more of Saskfilm’s funds will likely be allotted for script and project development, market assistance programs, and training and professional development initiatives to grow the crew and talent base.