At the Vancouver Sun (Vancouver, BC, Canada):
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The B.C. film and television production industry has flourished in the past three decades
By Marke Andrews, Vancouver Sun
December 26, 2008
In the 1979 horror film Prophecy, a scientist and his pregnant wife bring the cub of a giant, mutated grizzly bear into camp, unleashing a firestorm of action.
As art, Prophecy was a stinker. But as metaphor, the movie is classic. That's because Prophecy, shot on Vancouver Island, was one of the first American films lured here by the brand spanking new Film Promotion Office (later named the B.C. Film Commission), and it did, indeed, unleash action which may be termed a firestorm in Los Angeles, but in an industry north of the border.
Prophecy made Paramount Pictures $18 million in box office and home video revenues, not a fortune, but profitable given how much the studio saved on labour and other costs filming in Canada.
That last point has become a mantra over the last 30 years, ever since the film commission began. Not only could Los Angeles producers get great scenery and tax breaks, they could do business in their own time zone and save money on a Canadian dollar that ranged anywhere from 10- to 35-per-cent below the greenback.
And all the time it made service productions for American studios, the industry created an infrastructure that enabled British Columbians to make their own films and television shows.
... Panorama Film Studios in North Vancouver, now defunct, housed productions in the early days. American TV producer Stephen J. Cannell shifted his series Stingray here in 1986, and stayed to produce 21 Jump Street, Wiseguy and Scene of the Crime. In 1989, he built North Shore Studios to house his productions, and that studio, setting up shop two years after the provincial government opened the Bridge Studios in Burnaby, began a trend to either convert existing buildings into studios, or construct new purpose-built studios.
After the Bridge and North Shore, Mammoth Studios, Canadian Motion Picture Park and Eagle Creek began operations in Burnaby, and Vancouver Film Studios opened in the city, just blocks away from the Bridge.
American service productions basically grew the industry. Tradespeople learned their craft through unions and guilds, which included the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (Locals 891 and 669, the latter for camera crew), ACFC West, Union of B.C. Performers, Directors Guild of Canada and the Teamsters.
... So with the infrastructure in place, where is the industry headed? Will we see the B.C. Film Commission celebrate a 50-year anniversary?
Brightlight's Williamson believes Vancouver will always be a major production centre, but will become less reliant on service work, as more companies finance and make their own productions.
"The industry will now increase with more sophisticated producers locally who can finance projects in different ways to increase our ability to generate our own work," says Williamson. "That's the future of the industry here."
GREAT MOMENTS IN B.C. FILM
A chronology of pivotal events and productions over the past 30 years in British Columbia's film and television industry
1978
- After much discussion, the provincial government creates the Film Promotion Office, an organization meant to promote the province as a place to shoot films and TV productions. The Film Promotion Office, which will be renamed the B.C. Film Commission, gets union leaders, heads of associations and members of government to travel regularly to Los Angeles to spread the word about the province's growing industry.
... 1985-92
- MacGyver. Every Monday night for seven years, viewers could tune into ABC to watch this series about a secret agent who was the antithesis of James Bond, making the most of low-tech gadgets. American star Richard Dean Anderson became an industry icon, later taking a lead role in the locally shot sci-fi series Stargate SG-1.
1987
- The Bridge Studios. An old bridge construction site in Burnaby converts into a movie studio. The TV series MacGyver and the feature film Stakeout are its early tenants.
... 1997-present
- The Stargate franchise. Following the 1994 movie Stargate, Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner decide to make a TV series based on the film. Stargate SG-1, starring Richard Dean Anderson and Amanda Tapping, enjoys a 10-year run shooting out of the Bridge Studios. Spinoff series Stargate Atlantis (2004-08) runs for five years, and a third series, Stargate Universe, is in the works. The original series also spun off two straight-to-DVD movies, with a third planned.
... 2008
- Farewell Atlantis. Although Sony has never disclosed its production budget, this futuristic feature directed by Ronald Emmerich and starring John Cusack is rumoured to cost $200 million, making it the biggest movie shot in not only the province, but the country. It will be released in 2009.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
(Please follow the link for the complete article.)
The B.C. film and television production industry has flourished in the past three decades
By Marke Andrews, Vancouver Sun
December 26, 2008
In the 1979 horror film Prophecy, a scientist and his pregnant wife bring the cub of a giant, mutated grizzly bear into camp, unleashing a firestorm of action.
As art, Prophecy was a stinker. But as metaphor, the movie is classic. That's because Prophecy, shot on Vancouver Island, was one of the first American films lured here by the brand spanking new Film Promotion Office (later named the B.C. Film Commission), and it did, indeed, unleash action which may be termed a firestorm in Los Angeles, but in an industry north of the border.
Prophecy made Paramount Pictures $18 million in box office and home video revenues, not a fortune, but profitable given how much the studio saved on labour and other costs filming in Canada.
That last point has become a mantra over the last 30 years, ever since the film commission began. Not only could Los Angeles producers get great scenery and tax breaks, they could do business in their own time zone and save money on a Canadian dollar that ranged anywhere from 10- to 35-per-cent below the greenback.
And all the time it made service productions for American studios, the industry created an infrastructure that enabled British Columbians to make their own films and television shows.
... Panorama Film Studios in North Vancouver, now defunct, housed productions in the early days. American TV producer Stephen J. Cannell shifted his series Stingray here in 1986, and stayed to produce 21 Jump Street, Wiseguy and Scene of the Crime. In 1989, he built North Shore Studios to house his productions, and that studio, setting up shop two years after the provincial government opened the Bridge Studios in Burnaby, began a trend to either convert existing buildings into studios, or construct new purpose-built studios.
After the Bridge and North Shore, Mammoth Studios, Canadian Motion Picture Park and Eagle Creek began operations in Burnaby, and Vancouver Film Studios opened in the city, just blocks away from the Bridge.
American service productions basically grew the industry. Tradespeople learned their craft through unions and guilds, which included the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (Locals 891 and 669, the latter for camera crew), ACFC West, Union of B.C. Performers, Directors Guild of Canada and the Teamsters.
... So with the infrastructure in place, where is the industry headed? Will we see the B.C. Film Commission celebrate a 50-year anniversary?
Brightlight's Williamson believes Vancouver will always be a major production centre, but will become less reliant on service work, as more companies finance and make their own productions.
"The industry will now increase with more sophisticated producers locally who can finance projects in different ways to increase our ability to generate our own work," says Williamson. "That's the future of the industry here."
GREAT MOMENTS IN B.C. FILM
A chronology of pivotal events and productions over the past 30 years in British Columbia's film and television industry
1978
- After much discussion, the provincial government creates the Film Promotion Office, an organization meant to promote the province as a place to shoot films and TV productions. The Film Promotion Office, which will be renamed the B.C. Film Commission, gets union leaders, heads of associations and members of government to travel regularly to Los Angeles to spread the word about the province's growing industry.
... 1985-92
- MacGyver. Every Monday night for seven years, viewers could tune into ABC to watch this series about a secret agent who was the antithesis of James Bond, making the most of low-tech gadgets. American star Richard Dean Anderson became an industry icon, later taking a lead role in the locally shot sci-fi series Stargate SG-1.
1987
- The Bridge Studios. An old bridge construction site in Burnaby converts into a movie studio. The TV series MacGyver and the feature film Stakeout are its early tenants.
... 1997-present
- The Stargate franchise. Following the 1994 movie Stargate, Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner decide to make a TV series based on the film. Stargate SG-1, starring Richard Dean Anderson and Amanda Tapping, enjoys a 10-year run shooting out of the Bridge Studios. Spinoff series Stargate Atlantis (2004-08) runs for five years, and a third series, Stargate Universe, is in the works. The original series also spun off two straight-to-DVD movies, with a third planned.
... 2008
- Farewell Atlantis. Although Sony has never disclosed its production budget, this futuristic feature directed by Ronald Emmerich and starring John Cusack is rumoured to cost $200 million, making it the biggest movie shot in not only the province, but the country. It will be released in 2009.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
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