Vancouver: Any notions that the government-owned The Bridge Studios will provide ongoing revenues to British Columbia’s underfunded domestic producers is moot now that the profitable facility is on the block.

The B.C. government has issued a request for proposals, due Aug. 21, to transfer the 15-year-old Bridge Studios to the private sector.

Among the likely suitors are Vancouver Film Studios, Lions Gate Film Studios, MGM (which is Bridge Studios’ biggest customer), real estate developers, equipment suppliers such as William F. White and perhaps a consortium of B.C.’s film-sector unions. While the government wants Bridge Studios to support the film industry, the bid process is open to proposals from outside the industry.

The 15-acre property is assessed at $13 million, but the facility’s $2 million in annual profits means bids should come in at closer to $20 million, say industry insiders. In 2003, revenues are projected to be $3.6 million.

A one-time site of heavy industry (actual bridge construction), Bridge Studios features North America’s largest effects stage at 40,400 square feet and six other soundstages ranging from 9,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet. The property comprises two lots: the main area of operation that is able to accommodate one more soundstage in future expansion and a undeveloped area that requires about $3 million in soil remediation before construction of new stages can commence.

‘The film industry is a vibrant, growing part of the province’s economy, and we believe the private sector is better suited than government to manage and operate this film studio,’ says Rick Thorpe, B.C.’s minister of competition, science and enterprise.

The decision to divest comes after an extensive core review of government assets, says Thorpe, and the provincial government continues to review options to create other efficiencies in the local film scene – specifically the blending of funding society British Columbia Film and the marketing-minded BC Film Commission.

That oft-delayed decision is now due in the fall, he says.

The goal, says Thorpe, is to set up an environment where the film business can grow without direct government ownership, and that means competitive tax policies rather than government handouts.

Among the groups displeased by the Bridge Studios RFP is the BC Council of Film Unions.

‘We want it maintained for film use,’ says executive director Tom Adair. ‘But who knows?’

The council expressed its concerns back in February, says Adair, questioning why a stable, profitable, job-creating facility should be sold. He also fears the openness of Bridge Studios to outside suppliers such as equipment suppliers, for example, may be compromised. Private-sector studios in B.C. have preferred supplier relationships that make it difficult for smaller operators to do business on those sites.

Also, the huge Bridge Studios effects stage, which is difficult to rent because of its size, draws producers to Vancouver shopping for space and the region would lose a business-attracting calling card in a sale, not to mention positive proof that the government believes in the local industry.

Bridge Studios figured prominently in a suggested scheme to reorganize B.C.’s film assets.

The Motion Picture Production Industry Association of British Columbia, the formalized association formerly known as the Community Marketing Group, proposed that the studio’s annual profits augment the funding for domestic production at B.C. Film, which has had its annual government allowance slashed and has opted out of television production funding altogether.

However, without Bridge Studios, the commission and the funding society are again reliant on government handouts at a time when government is trying to unload subsidy obligations.

Alternatively, the industry may have to implement some kind of tithe on productions working in B.C., perhaps shaving some pennies from tax rebates or charging some kind of production ‘head tax.’

Bid packages cost $125. More information is available at www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca.

-www.bridgestudios.com

Ian Edwards