World Class Film Centre? Try Provincial.

When it comes to championing our film industry, we’re more Hastings Street than Hollywood Boulevard.

We like to think in BC that we have a world class film and television production industry. We tout it constantly to everyone (and ourselves) with breathless stories about Hollywood productions that are shot in BC, movie stars in local restaurants, etc.

I mean, who doesn’t want to spend time amidst the glamour of film and TV production, hob-nobbing with celebrities, gabbing about agents and scandals, gossiping about  who said (or did) what to whom and so will never work in this town again?
 
But if we’re so good at glam, how come the winners of this year’s BC film and television awards had to pay for their own trophies?

Yes folks, about 100 winners of this year’s Leo Awards, which honour the “best” in BC film and television production, got to clutch their crystal glass lion-head trophies for only a few minutes.

They received, were whisked back stage for a photo, and then relieved of their trophy, which was handed out to the next winner.

If they wanted one of their own for the mantelplace, they had to cough up five hundred bucks. If they didn’t have the $500, they got a certificate, just like your kid at high school grad.

Instead of a trophy for posterity, they got a kick in the posterior because the big broadcasters and government agencies have become pretty chintzy about sponsoring the awards.Seems five or six key sponsors pulled back during the last two years, and that was the $50,000 cost of the trophies.

So, let me get this straight. Our hot-shot industry is so cheap that it can’t come up with 50 grand for trophies that honour its best and brightest?

I know there was a (sort of) recession on but that doesn’t sound very big time and world class to me. Actually, it sounds downright provincial.
 
Which may be a much more accurate reality based show.