Save BC Film; Actress Bruns Speaks With Ackcity About Challenges in The Movie Industry
Category: Entertainment News
Unless you’ve been living under a rock in BC, you have probably heard about the #SaveBCFilm Campaign. The campaign started as a grass roots movement when a few film industry insiders noticed that comments from film folk were being deleted by the hundred from BC premier Christy Clark’s official Facebook page, despite her encouragement to leave comments about concerns. The original team behind #SaveBCFilm started a facebook page of the same name to give film industry workers a place to let their concerns be heard, with out being deleted.
Subsequently the concept of #SaveBCFilm spread like wild fire with people hash-tagging on twitter and facebook thousands of times per day. An online petition was started and within days it acquired close to 30,000 signatures. When asked what their goal is with #SaveBCFilm the insiders simply state that they wish to educate the BC public and government on how valuable the industry is to BC economy. The BC tax credit system that started the uproar is lower than that of competing provinces in Canada, which could cause work in the industry to head east, leaving over 30,000 BC film workers unemployed.
As part of the movement to help the BC public support the film industry a handful of PSA’s were filmed at North Vancouver’s North Shore Studios. The studios donated their facilities and insurance to the project, while local unions waived fees so that all industry workers could be involved in the filming of these PSA’s. Scarlett Bruns a local actress and producer, cast and co-produced the PSA’s. She says over 100 well know actors came out to support the project and appear in the PSA, resulting in enough footage for 10 PSA’s. These PSA’s will be released in early March, though it is still unclear if their have the necessary licensing to appear on television. Among the notable appearances are Mackenzie Gray (Smallville), Jodelle Ferland (Twilight Saga, Silent Hill) also a handful of child actors and even animal actors like the dog the played Marly in Marly & Me: the Puppy Years which was shot in Vancouver.
A few film industry workers have taken things into their own hands by creating their own PSA’s most notably the PSA filmed by Chelah Horsdale known for her work in Stargate SG - 1, The L Word and more recently in the kids comedy series Level Up.
The few well known faces in the Vancouver film scene that did not appear in the PSA’s are the lucky ones that currently have work. The 8 TV shows, and 9 feature films currently scheduled to shoot in BC this year are a far cry from what the industry and it’s workers are used. In 2010 there were 147 productions, 19 of which were Feature films, 45 TV series and 29 TV Movies. In 2005 there were 246 productions, among which there were 69 feature films, 43 TV series and 43 TV movies and Mini were series. With the start of the year, during what the industry calls Pilot Season (Feb - April) Vancouver only has 6 pilots scheduled. Pilot episodes of shows are filmed with the intention of being pitched to networks to be picked up for a full season.
In hopes to spread the word to the film industry and to create an action plan North Shore Studios hosted a meeting in late January for film industry workers to bring everyone up to speed on what’s happening and what’s being done to change it. Having anticipated a few thousand people North Shore Studios had to quickly set up a second sound stage to accommodate an overflow of people. The second stage had a live feed of the meeting. In total it is estimated that there were over 5000 people in attendance, stretching from well know actors and crew members, to student filmmakers concerned over their future in BC to local business owners who rely on the film industry to make a profit. Bruns says all sorts of business are affected, from local grocery chains, lumber suppliers to everyday coffee shop owners. Not too long ago a production was shooting out in Langley and they had a wedding scene. The art department from that shoot spent over $25,000 on flowers in one small local shop, the shop owner made more profit in one day then they usually do in a year. Other stories that were re-told include the intercity basketball court that was built in a Vancouver neighborhood. A show was filming and had to build a temporary basketball court for filming, after realizing how much the kids in the neighborhood would love a real court the production shelled out several thousands of dollars of extra money to build a permanent court to benefit the community, at zero cost to the government. It’s stories like these that really show the true colours of the BC Film Industry and why it’s so valuable to our community. Aside from the positive contributions the industry makes, they also bring new money into BC (from international film production companies), money that is spent locally to the tune of $1.2 Billion annually.
One of the biggest hurdles the #SaveBCFilm team has encountered is having people understand the difference between a tax credit and a tax incentive says Bruns. A tax incentive is a government hand out; that's here take this money and make your project, that is NOT what the BC film industry is asking for. They are asking the BC provincial government to increase the tax credits to equal those in Ontario and Quebec to stay competitive Bruns explains. In order to use a tax credit money first needs to be spent. Let’s do the math with simple numbers; Imagine a film spends $100 million in BC, if there was a 25% tax break on all monies spent in the province the production company gets $25 million back. That is still $75 million of new money coming into BC and being spent here. The current alternative? That $75 million is being spent back east, with BC making zero profit and having to support over 30,000 unemployed film industry professionals.
Additional filming for the PSA’s is scheduled for the first week of March and PSA’s will be available to the public in mid-March. The initial plan was to release one PSA as soon as possible, and additional PSA’s in the weeks leading up to the provincial election on May 14th 2013.
So can BC really afford to loose their film industry? Film workers say no, definitely not, account for the fact that the $1.2 Billion will not come into BC coupled with over 30,000 newly unemployed residents. The BC government best think twice before dismissing the idea of additional tax credits.
#SaveBCFilm representatives ask that you visit www.savebcfilm.com for more information and to get in touch if you want to help. The campaigners are actively taking turns holding signs in high traffic areas, handing our bumper stickers and other goodies, as well as passing out poster to local business that benefit from the film industry.
As part of the movement to help the BC public support the film industry a handful of PSA’s were filmed at North Vancouver’s North Shore Studios. The studios donated their facilities and insurance to the project, while local unions waived fees so that all industry workers could be involved in the filming of these PSA’s. Scarlett Bruns a local actress and producer, cast and co-produced the PSA’s. She says over 100 well know actors came out to support the project and appear in the PSA, resulting in enough footage for 10 PSA’s. These PSA’s will be released in early March, though it is still unclear if their have the necessary licensing to appear on television. Among the notable appearances are Mackenzie Gray (Smallville), Jodelle Ferland (Twilight Saga, Silent Hill) also a handful of child actors and even animal actors like the dog the played Marly in Marly & Me: the Puppy Years which was shot in Vancouver.
A few film industry workers have taken things into their own hands by creating their own PSA’s most notably the PSA filmed by Chelah Horsdale known for her work in Stargate SG - 1, The L Word and more recently in the kids comedy series Level Up.
The few well known faces in the Vancouver film scene that did not appear in the PSA’s are the lucky ones that currently have work. The 8 TV shows, and 9 feature films currently scheduled to shoot in BC this year are a far cry from what the industry and it’s workers are used. In 2010 there were 147 productions, 19 of which were Feature films, 45 TV series and 29 TV Movies. In 2005 there were 246 productions, among which there were 69 feature films, 43 TV series and 43 TV movies and Mini were series. With the start of the year, during what the industry calls Pilot Season (Feb - April) Vancouver only has 6 pilots scheduled. Pilot episodes of shows are filmed with the intention of being pitched to networks to be picked up for a full season.
In hopes to spread the word to the film industry and to create an action plan North Shore Studios hosted a meeting in late January for film industry workers to bring everyone up to speed on what’s happening and what’s being done to change it. Having anticipated a few thousand people North Shore Studios had to quickly set up a second sound stage to accommodate an overflow of people. The second stage had a live feed of the meeting. In total it is estimated that there were over 5000 people in attendance, stretching from well know actors and crew members, to student filmmakers concerned over their future in BC to local business owners who rely on the film industry to make a profit. Bruns says all sorts of business are affected, from local grocery chains, lumber suppliers to everyday coffee shop owners. Not too long ago a production was shooting out in Langley and they had a wedding scene. The art department from that shoot spent over $25,000 on flowers in one small local shop, the shop owner made more profit in one day then they usually do in a year. Other stories that were re-told include the intercity basketball court that was built in a Vancouver neighborhood. A show was filming and had to build a temporary basketball court for filming, after realizing how much the kids in the neighborhood would love a real court the production shelled out several thousands of dollars of extra money to build a permanent court to benefit the community, at zero cost to the government. It’s stories like these that really show the true colours of the BC Film Industry and why it’s so valuable to our community. Aside from the positive contributions the industry makes, they also bring new money into BC (from international film production companies), money that is spent locally to the tune of $1.2 Billion annually.
One of the biggest hurdles the #SaveBCFilm team has encountered is having people understand the difference between a tax credit and a tax incentive says Bruns. A tax incentive is a government hand out; that's here take this money and make your project, that is NOT what the BC film industry is asking for. They are asking the BC provincial government to increase the tax credits to equal those in Ontario and Quebec to stay competitive Bruns explains. In order to use a tax credit money first needs to be spent. Let’s do the math with simple numbers; Imagine a film spends $100 million in BC, if there was a 25% tax break on all monies spent in the province the production company gets $25 million back. That is still $75 million of new money coming into BC and being spent here. The current alternative? That $75 million is being spent back east, with BC making zero profit and having to support over 30,000 unemployed film industry professionals.
Additional filming for the PSA’s is scheduled for the first week of March and PSA’s will be available to the public in mid-March. The initial plan was to release one PSA as soon as possible, and additional PSA’s in the weeks leading up to the provincial election on May 14th 2013.
So can BC really afford to loose their film industry? Film workers say no, definitely not, account for the fact that the $1.2 Billion will not come into BC coupled with over 30,000 newly unemployed residents. The BC government best think twice before dismissing the idea of additional tax credits.
#SaveBCFilm representatives ask that you visit www.savebcfilm.com for more information and to get in touch if you want to help. The campaigners are actively taking turns holding signs in high traffic areas, handing our bumper stickers and other goodies, as well as passing out poster to local business that benefit from the film industry.
If you want to lend a hand it’s as simple as donating an hour of your time to hand out info, or simply holding up a sign that says #SaveBCFilm taking a photo and posting it on social media, being sure to hashtag it with #SaveBCFilm.
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