Vancouver: Brightlight Pictures, one of the busiest service producers on the West Coast, is threatening to move almost US$100 million in feature productions to Ontario over the next few months because of that province’s newly improved tax credits.

The US$50-million videogame-turned-thriller Dungeon Siege, in the works for Boll KG of Germany, could save ‘hundreds of thousands’ by going east, says Brightlight partner Shawn Williamson. Also in doubt are the US$20-million New Line feature Wickerman, scheduled for May, and two features for Gold Circle Films – the US$13.5-million Whisper, set to go in April, and the US$14-million Cold Hand, set for June.

On Dec. 21, Ontario hiked its tax break on service shoots to 18%, compared to 11% in B.C. Quebec has since raised its services credit from 11% to 20%, putting the B.C. Liberals under pressure for a similar move. Brightlight is a former member of the most vocal lobby group, the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of British Columbia.

Williamson warns that his clients won’t wait long before shifting production from Vancouver – calling the situation a reality check for B.C.’s new finance minister, Colin Hansen.

‘We hope the B.C. government matches or beats Ontario,’ he says. ‘If they are not competitive [with Ontario], Vancouver will become a wasteland. There will be a mass exodus. For anyone budgeting Canada, they can’t compare Ontario and B.C.’

Prep on Siege is already underway in Vancouver, but production is not scheduled until July, giving the production ample time to move.

B.C.’s budget for 2005, an election year, won’t come out until Feb. 15, although a source at the Ministry of Finance, speaking on condition of anonymity, says there is a chance that tax changes will be announced sooner.

If the shows go east, Brightlight will likely open a satellite office in Toronto, Williamson says.

The production tax-credit issue has pushed other local concerns, such as the rising Canadian dollar and the elimination of the provincial sales tax for film producers, off the table, says entertainment lawyer Arthur Evrensel, a partner in the Vancouver office of Heenan Blaikie.

‘Before the tsunami, what was your priority?’ he asks. ‘After, what’s your priority? We have to deal with the tsunami. It’s crisis time and if the government doesn’t understand that, what can we do? There will be no industry here.’

White Noise, a Canada/U.K. coproduction from Brightlight and Gold Circle Films, earned US$24-million in its Jan. 7 opening weekend at the box office, creating Brightlight’s biggest payday.

-www.brightlightpictures.com