This season could be the busiest in a long time for motion picture productions shot in B.C., including in Squamish, according to Gordon Hardwick of Creative BC.
Hardwick made a presentation to council on the state of the motion picture industry in the province at the public services standing committee Tuesday morning.
Squamish is at the top of a location library provided by the not-for-profit Creative BC to productions around the world.
The extra six per cent tax credit for being beyond Lions Bay helps draw productions to Squamish, he said.
“That drives a lot of activity up here from the B.C.-based producers side of the business, and you’ll see a lot domestic producers organizing their productions for up here,” Hardwick said.
“This year is ramping up to be the busiest season of production that B.C. has ever had.”
Hardwick said for movies alone, more than $2 million in wages was paid to Squamish residents who live in the V8B postal code in 2014.
“There are salaries being paid to individuals on the project basis… these are just the films,” he said.
Those people may work in films outside of the district but live in Squamish, he said.
Hardwick referenced the recent 10-day shoot for The Plum Pudding Mystery, which saw at least one Squamish business owner disgruntled at the inconvenience of crews outside his store.
“[It] is a series of movies, actually, a series of books being turned into movies where Squamish could benefit from other movies of the same series,” he said, “and that was a Christmas movie, which is a relatively high impact type of design.” Hardwick said the other movies in the series wouldn’t have as much of an impact in terms of decorations on display.
Langley, Maple Ridge, Steveston and Ladner are all in competition with Squamish for the town look for productions, according to Hardwick.
“I urge you to continue to support the movie industry up here, I urge you to consider the processes that other local governments have done in order to support it. Areas like the Township of Langley and Maple Ridge have seen a massive boom of activity and have found very considerate ways to continue to accommodate the activity,” he said.
One of the things that helps municipalities compete is a clear, high-level location area policy, something District of Squamish staff said is in the works to come before council this year.
“Having that core policy statement from council, ‘We understand the value of the industry, we need to balance the needs of community and production,’ and have that as a sort of holistic statement from council has really benefitted other municipalities and benefits staff in their delivery of service,” Hardwick said.
The district would also benefit from guidelines for community amenities from film productions, Hardwick said.
“[Production companies] would opt for that for the greater good of the community, as opposed to just paying everybody out,” he said.
Councillor Susan Chapelle asked staff to look into establishing an amenity contribution guideline.
Mayor Patricia Heintzman said that there has been some interest in studio space in Squamish.
Hardwick said productions would come to Squamish for creative reasons, it is a good look for the movie or TV show, but said studio space would be a value added to the district.
“There is a belief in some communities that you have to build it for them to come, and you haven’t had to build it for them to come here,” he said. “The challenge up here is that weather is a factor and having access to a facility where they could build what is called a swing set, something that they could run to in case the weather turns sideways.”
Councillor Peter Kent, who was in the TV and film business for 35 years, said he is impressed how the industry is handled in Squamish.
“I have talked to a lot of people who have shot here and I have always come away with nothing but praise for how the district has handled it, pretty much,” he said. “I mean you can’t please everybody all the time, but I have seen how the crews have been set up here and when the base camps have gone, and the impact is minimized as much as it can be.”
