B.C. Ranking as TV Production Hub Drops

B.C. TV Industry | BCBusiness
Vancouver’s title of “Hollywood North” is in jeopardy as Ontario ousts B.C. as the top TV production centre in Canada.

Despite a significant hike in spending in 2011, B.C. fell behind Ontario as a desirable television production centre in North America for the first time since 1997.

Vancouver is the only place I’ve ever lived where I’ve accidentally stumbled onto a movie set while wandering through downtown. The “Hollywood North” title lends Vancouver a great deal of appeal as a tourist destination and an interesting place to live. But recently, Ontario has ousted the province as the top TV production centre in Canada.
 
For the first time since 1997, Ontario beat B.C.’s ranking as a North American hub. Vancouver slipped from third to fourth in 2011, even though the province increased its spending 16 per cent to nearly $1.2 billion.
 
The slip in rankings also follows on the heels of Capilano University opening its new $31-million Nat and Flora Bosa Centre for Film and Animation. The state-of-the-art centre was touted as a way to spark further investment in the province’s film industry and draw talent from all over the world to work on films in the Lower Mainland.
 
Industry experts attribute the dip in rankings to a competitive Ontario tax credit. The problem is that movies are big business in B.C. The industry employs 20,000 people directly and the province hosted 281 productions alone in 2011.
 
A little more aggression on the part of the province could help keep those valuable film industry dollars from trickling across the country into Ontario.