For 14 years, Laurie Pavon Solis has scouted acting talent in the Sea to Sky Corridor.
While the Britannia Beach resident is still busy with Canadian productions, she finds that something's amiss.
"[Business] has certainly dried up," she said.
High-end productions from Hollywood are going east, Pavon Solis said. Quebec and Ontario got in ballgame, introducing film rebates of 25 per cent of the production's total expenses.
It's time B.C. kicked back, Pavon Solis said. She wants to know how B.C. MLA hopefuls will tackle the issue before she heads to the polls on Tuesday (May 14).
Currently, B.C. allows for a 33 per cent tax credit on international productions' labour costs and a 35 per cent credit for domestic productions' labour bills.
During the provincial election campaign, the New Democratic Party (NDP) has courted the film industry as leader Adrian Dix visited Vancouver Film Studios last month. At the gathering, Dix promised to increase film-labour tax credits by up to seven per cent, equating to 40 per cent for foreign and domestic productions.
NDP officials estimate the increase would draw approximately $45 million annual from taxpayers wallets, but would return $93 million in revenue.
It's not a long-term solution, West Vancouver-Sea to Sky NDP candidate Ana Santos said. But at this point, with the film industry employing 25,000 British Columbians, plus a multitude of spinoff jobs, the playing field needs to be levelled, she said.
"It helps communities, like ours with small business," Santos said.
Santos said she'd like to have a collective meeting with other provinces to discuss the film industry. There may be ways different jurisdictions can work to together to bring about mutual benefits, she said.
B.C. Liberal Party officials say the NDP's numbers don't add up. Cultural Development Minister Bill Bennett said a seven per sent tax credit increase on labour costs would cost closer to $75 million.
In January, Bennett unveiled B.C. Creatives Future, a $6.25-million plan to spur growth of the province's creative economy, including films, TV and digital media.
The film industry employees 6,000 on the North Shore alone, West Vancouver-Sea to Sky Liberal candidate Jordan Sturdy said. The tax shift from the Harmonized Sale Tax (HST) back to the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) hurts B.C.'s film sector, he said. The PST adds three per cent on production costs in the province, compared to rates under the HST, Sturdy noted.
Liberal officials are looking at reclassifying the film industry so that it may be exempted from the PST, he said.
"That is something that needs to be examined," Sturdy said.
Government officials and stakeholders need to get a gauge on the dollar figures and protocol to measure the industry, he added. That would provide insight into the industry's health, Sturdy said.
The film industry is a billion-dollar industry, Green Party candidate Richard Warrington said. B.C. is known as Hollywood of the North, a title officials should work to keep, he said. The province currently subsidizes the industry to the tune of $285 million, Warrington noted.
"I am not sure if throwing money at the issue is the answer," he said.
Warrington said he doesn't believe the industry will vanish because of the incentives offered by Ontario and Quebec. The province's proximity to L.A. and its diverse geography helps land productions, he said.
The government needs to lower taxes for all business in B.C., Conservative candidate Ian McLeod said. Responsible government spending would allow for officials to hand the film industry more tax incentives, he said.
"There are a lot of spinoff jobs related to the film industry," McLeod said.
Independent candidate Jon Johnson works in the film industry as vice-president and general manager of the Vancouver office of Clairmont Camera Film and Digital. British Columbians need to become more aware of the spinoff revenue generated by the industry, he said.
Johnson said he wants to make the province more attractive to producers, but wouldn't comment on what that would look like. Instead, Johnston directed voters to film industry's campaign called Save B.C. Film, www.savebcfilm.ca.
