Vancouver: B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, already spearheading a Core Services Review, announced late last month that the cost of government will be cut by an average 35% by 2005 – a prospect that has industries across the province bracing for layoffs, service reductions and program eliminations.

In practice, it means that all government ministries, except for those overseeing health and education, must cut spending by 20% and 50% over the next three years.

For the domestic film and television industry specifically, the budget-slashing means that funding agency B.C. Film, marketer B.C. Film Commission, the domestic tax credit, the production services tax credit, Bridge Studios, the B.C. Arts Council, sponsorships for programs such as the Vancouver International Film Festival, the talent agent registry, apprenticeships, occupational health and safety programs, training and the Knowledge Network, among other relevant spending initiatives are in question.

The most pessimistic observers openly speculate that funding agency B.C. Film will be eliminated like the former Ontario Film Development Corporation and the Alberta Motion Picture Development Corporation. Senior insiders say that while the film industry will not emerge from the review unscathed, the outlook is a bit less bleak.

Michael Francis, chair of both B.C. Film and VIFF, says every element of the local industry has been, at one time or another during the Core Services Review, on the chopping block, but that momentum seems now to have swung to the industry’s favor. Evaluated in terms of competitiveness, economic benefits, and its ability to leverage federal government money, the domestic industry scores well and should survive the cuts, albeit in reduced capacities, he says.

For instance, B.C. Film may get out of the equity investment and production financing business and focus more on developing emerging talent and properties, says Francis.

Optimism stems from the government’s stated position that the B.C. film and television industry is a vital business for the provincial economy.

Rick Thorpe, the minister of competition, science and enterprise, oversees most of the domestic film industry and, separately, initiatives to deregulate government and reduce business subsidies such as those that keep funder B.C. Film in business.

Thorpe’s ministry website states: ‘Film and television production has grown dramatically in British Columbia over the last decade to become one of the province’s most important industries, employing 35,000 people and providing widespread economic benefits.’

And then there are the lessons learned by Alberta and Ontario, which cut their film programs in the 1990s to see their domestic industries shrink and business leave for more film-friendly jurisdictions.

In 1996, the value of domestic production in Alberta was $30 million. In 1997, the year after the AMPDC was eliminated, production dropped to $9 million. In 1998, production was only $8 million when the Alberta Film Development Program was created. In 1999, production returned to $36 million.

In Ontario, domestic production in 1994 was $359 million. In 1995, when the OFDC and the Ontario Film Investment Program were cut, production dropped to $339 million and, in 1996, to $277 million, when the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit was created. Production in 1997 was $414 million.

Still, at a time when the debt and deficit are the priorities, B.C. Film costs government $3.26 million per year, the B.C. Film Commission costs $1.4 million per year and the domestic and production services tax credits cost about $30 million each.

The B.C. office of the CFTPA will host BC Film & Television Summit 2001 in Vancouver Oct. 30 and 31. The invitiation-only event will have 50 to 70 participants, many from the three levels of government, who will ‘roll up their sleeves’ to explore the benefits and the potential of growing the domestic industry, says Leanore Copeland, VP external relations and operations.

‘We want to create an industry-led strategic plan for growth,’ she says, adding that the timing of the event is designed to keep the merits of the domestic industry forefront in the minds of decision-makers. ‘We’re not going to roll over and die. We’re not going to assume the worst-case scenario. We’re not jumping to conclusions [about potential cuts]. We are hoping government will take into consideration the summit’s recommendations.’

Adds Copeland: ‘I know the government has targeted film as a key industry, an industry for growth. We will explore what is real and what is sustainable. Deregulation and the elimination of red tape is an underlying theme of the summit. Maybe cutting red tape is all we need to do.’

The Core Services Review began in August and will be complete in time for the minister of finance to create a new budget beginning April 1, 2002.