Vancouver: B.C.’s new government, awash in cost-cutting initiatives, has challenged the domestic film and television production community to grow to $2 billion by 2004 from $1.2 billion last year.

Rick Thorpe, B.C.’s minister of competition, science and enterprise and the politician in charge of the film industry, offered the challenge as part of his address to the 70 delegates at the B.C. Film & Television Summit 2001 that took place Oct. 30-31.

The event was hosted by the B.C. office of the CFTPA and designed to create a strategic plan for growing the B.C. industry at a time when funder British Columbia Film, the BC Film Commission, tax credits and other government-sponsored programs are the subject of a core review. The new government is cutting provincial spending by an average 35%.

Delegate Pete Mitchell, GM of Vancouver Film Studios, calls the summit a success in that it set out clear priorities and brought the diverse local industry together.

He says the summit looked at six areas: federal financial policy, provincial financial policy, financial and facilities infrastructure, technology, labor skills and management, and non-fiscal public policy. The latter point, he says, refers to federal and provincial ministries such as highways, parks and Aboriginal affairs whose policies can impede production and therefore growth.

There are as yet no details about the final report that will be presented to government in December, prior to final budget planning for 2002/03. However, it is expected the industry will call for the government to maintain or enhance current programs.