| Despite the phenomenal recent success of Alberta’s film industry with films such as Brokeback Mountain and Steven Spielberg’s Into the West miniseries that were shot here, industry leaders say the industry is in a critical state and will wither without more government incentives and support.
In a September 5 letter to the provincial government, several prominent film industry organizations argue that the province has lost $43 million in potential TV and film revenue just in the last few months because film and TV producers have decided to take their projects to more competitive jurisdictions such as Saskatchewan, Manitoba and B.C. The letter also points out that Alberta is starting to lose its own film industry professionals to those jurisdictions as well.
The province has the Alberta Film Development Program (AFDP), which gives out money to film and TV productions that shoot in Alberta and hire Alberta film professionals. However, the fund has been over-allocated and film producers can wait up to two years to receive their funding. There’s also a cap on the amount of money projects can receive regardless of what portion is being spent in Alberta. Other jurisdictions have started to offer other incentives such as labour tax credits. Manitoba’s offers a 55 per cent tax credit on labour costs.
Damian Petti, president of the Calgary chapter of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.), says the province’s incentives have to be updated to ensure that Alberta can compete.
Petti says Alberta’s film industry has many selling points including the beautiful, diverse locations films can be shot in, the long hours of sunlight and "incredible crew depth."
He points out that Alberta film personnel have recently won both Oscars and Emmys, but now the province is in danger of losing such talent.
He says the AFDP was very progressive when it was first developed and it’s something other jurisdictions have copied, but he believes the government has been "very remiss in not keeping up" with other jurisdictions.
Sue Bristow, an independent film producer in Calgary, says 15 years ago Alberta had more film business than B.C. but she says those days are long gone.
"We’ve put no effort into growing the industry," she says. "I think there actually needs to be a real desire by government to embrace this industry to grow and be legitimately engaged in what we can do to make this an alternative industry in this province."
Bristow says Alberta needs to support the growth of new film infrastructure such as a film studio in Calgary to attract film producers. She adds that the government should get rid of the cap on funding available under the AFDP and should also implement tax incentives to attract film producers. There also has to be more support for local filmmakers.
"I think, quite frankly, independent filmmakers who stay in the province are insane because it works against us to a certain extent, certainly now with the fund being tapped out," she says.
Alberta’s rapidly rising cost of living also needs to be addressed.
"Alberta’s biggest selling point was that you could live here relatively cheaply and still have a good quality of life. Now that’s Saskatchewan," she says. "The flight of the creative class is really happening in Calgary right now."
Without some new support and incentives, Bristow predicts Alberta will "become a very limited production centre."
"We were one of the first areas in Canada to have a film industry… to turn our backs on it and just say time has moved on and we should just look forward to an oil and gas future is the highest form of ignorance," she says.
Clint Dunford, Alberta’s Minister of Economic Development, the department that oversees film, says he knows change is required.
"We know that other jurisdictions have become more aggressive so we need to respond," he says.
Dunford says his first priority is to pay film and TV producers the money they’ve been promised under the AFDP, but first he needs budgetary approval from his government.
Dunford says he’s not a "big fan" of tax credits.
"Those kind of programs there’s no question that they work but… a government can’t change its personality just to fit one industrial sector like film," says Dunford. "We have a policy of not talking about tax credits across the board so we don’t want to start talking about tax credits in the film industry. I believe there’s other ways that we can skin the cat."
Dunford says he wants to see the film industry thrive.
"We see it as more than a cultural activity, but as an economic development tool, especially for rural Alberta," he says. |
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