BC Tourism and Culture. Image credit: Unsplash/Filipe Freitas
A delegation from British Columbia (BC) is reported to arrive in Los Angeles to highlight the advantages of partnering with the film and TV industry on Canada’s West Coast and to explore the benefits of staging productions in B.C.
“We want to bring the biggest productions we can to B.C….to find good work with a good paycheque…bring opportunities for skilled workers and businesses that strengthen our economy,” Spencer Chandra Herbert, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport has said.
Included in this Screen-BC led mission will be Chandra Herbert, Nina Krieger, Parliamentary Secretary for Arts and Film, and Brenda Bailey, Minister of Finance.
With an opportunity to highlight B.C.’s commitment to working with the motion-picture sector the mission would try to position the province as a top location for film and television production.
“B.C.’s film industry is essential to our economy and our communities,” Bailey said. “We are getting to work right away to ensure the film industry continues to choose B.C. as a leading destination for filmmakers worldwide.”
Providing studio decision-makers with the critical information about the value of filming in B.C., the timing of this visit is crucial for their production planning, enabling the province to look for ways to enhance B.C. ‘s competitiveness, such as through available tax incentives.
The province’s highly skilled crews combined with its extensive infrastructure and natural scenery, B.C. wants to maintain competitiveness in attracting high-profile productions which were filmed in dozens of locations throughout B.C. such as The Last of Us Season 2 and Shōgun Season 1 to create economic benefits for workers and local economies.
British Columbia being one of North America’s largest motion-picture hubs, according to studies commissioned by the sector, the industry is supporting more than 47,500 jobs and contributed $3.3 billion to B.C.’s total GDP in 2022. With approximately 80% of production activity in B.C. being foreign service work, strong international relationships are vital to sustaining and growing the film and TV industry.
