Vancouver: With the creation of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of British Columbia April 25, the stage is set for the B.C. government to restructure how the film industry works on the West Coast.

Essentially the formalization of the long-standing ad hoc Community Marketing Group that unofficially led the local industry for years, MPPIABC is a registered society representing nearly 100% of the B.C. industry.

The 26 charter members include the U.S.-based Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, every local union, domestic producers, post-production companies, sound companies, equipment suppliers, studio facilities and professional services firms. Each member organization gets a representative on the MPPIABC board, which numbers 27 with the addition of affiliate member Jim Westwell, a veteran of the local scene.

‘It became more and more obvious that we needed a formal structure,’ says board member Tom Adair, executive director of the B.C. Council of Film Unions. As illustration, he points to recent issues such as the federal tax changes for foreign actors or threats to production services tax credits that forced the local industry to mobilize and raise money and resources to lobby the federal government.

The current challenge, however, is the provincial government’s dilemma about what to do with funder British Columbia Film, the B.C. Film Commission and the government-owned The Bridge Studios at a time when the government is slashing budgets.

Since February, Adair and other MPPIABC members have met twice with the Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise to propose a new structure that can meet Minister Rick Thorpe’s challenge to double the local industry to $2 billion by 2004 but won’t be negatively impacted by the overall ministry shrinking its role, funding and people by 60% over the same period.

While Thorpe could not be reached to comment on the coming changes, it is expected that the MPPIABC will get what it wants, with confirmation as early as the end of this month.

‘The government’s agenda is less government and more industry running things,’ says Adair. ‘B.C. Film, the Commission and The Bridge Studios are important assets to the industry and if the government is not going to fund them, then we have to figure out how to do it.’

Under the new structure that creates some economies of scale, The Bridge Studios will be merged with the B.C. Film Commission and B.C. Film and overseen by the MPPIABC or another special operating agency created, possibly, through an act of legislation.

Government support would decrease and the estimated $2 million in annual profits from The Bridge Studios will go toward paying the bill for the Commission and the funder, which currently operate with aggregate annual budgets of about $4.5 million.

Membership dues will contribute to the MPPIABC’s revenues and there is a proposal to divert a portion of the tax credits repaid to productions. B.C. Film oversees the tax credits system. The society would be eligible for federal grants and other cultural incentives.

With the government’s green light, the transition can begin in June, with the fully integrated film organization operating as early as September.

The end result, however, is that the industry will have its hand on the steering wheel and will be able to implement strategic plans that will benefit both the industry and the province, says Adair. Marketing, training, funding and perhaps a film industry foundation (that has long been an unfulfilled good intention) will be the main thrusts of the new organization, he adds.

The MPPIABC is the first official industry organization for the B.C. industry since the B.C. Motion Picture Association dissolved in 1996.