New Brunswick’s scrapping of its provincial film tax credit has the province’s producers fearing local shoots and jobs will go away.

“The 40% tax credit made the province competitive with other jurisdictions in Canada, but with the phasing out of these tax credits, the local industry will be at a severe disadvantage now,” Tony Merzetti, executive director of the Fredericton-based New Brunswick Filmmakers’ Co-operative, representing 250 members province-wide, told Playback Daily.

That warning follows minister of finance Blair Higgs of the Conservatives on Tuesday unveiling a provincial budget that indicated New Brunswick will phase out its film tax credit in 2011-2012.

The Canadian Media Production Association, representing major indie producers, said it hopes the province intends to introduce “an alternate form of financing” to continue supporting the New Brunswick production sector.

The previous Liberal government in 2009 renewed the labour-based 40% film tax credit for 10 years, and sweetened the production incentive to include a 10% bonus for rural film and TV shoots.

“They [the Government of New Brunswick] have reneged on that promise,” Maurice Aubin, president of Media NB and director of Mozus Productions said in a statement Wednesday.

“There will be more than 30 companies here that will be affected. Most will be forced to move to other provinces that support media and they will bring their productions with them,” he added.

Recent New Brunswick film and TV credits include Shore Road Pictures’ A Dark Radius and Dream Street Pictures’ documentary Canada Russia ’72.

New Brunswick producers have called an April 8 crisis meeting in Fredericton to discuss their next moves.

“Without a tax credit, there is no industry,” said Frank Savoie of Moncton-based Connections Productions, echoing other producers in warning that ditching the tax incentive will drive production to other provinces.

That lost production could mean less of a push for provincial production support companies, film co-ops, colleges and technicians that depend on film and TV shoots to sustain the local industry.