Victoria – B.C. creators and producers will receive help to get projects off the ground, with new government funding targeted for the motion picture industry as it restarts.
“The past few months have shown us how quickly the motion picture industry can change,” said Premier John Horgan. “This new fund will help B.C.’s domestic film industry create new content so it can recover faster and get thousands of skilled workers involved in film and TV production back on set.”
As part of the COVID-19 Action Plan relief funding, the Province is investing $2 million to launch the new Domestic Motion Picture Fund. This is the first dedicated funding since 2003 to support the production phase of content creation in B.C.’s domestic motion picture sector.
B.C. production companies can apply for support to turn their ideas into finished products, such as feature films, TV shows, series, documentaries and animated content. The fund will help local production companies attract investment and leverage federal funding.
The Domestic Motion Picture Fund will support:
- development – activities, such as research, concept development and scriptwriting; and
- production – production costs, such as hiring crew, renting equipment and securing locations.
Reel Focus BC
Through Creative BC, the B.C. government will offer more than $4 million this year to the domestic motion picture industry through:
- Reel Focus BC supports for development and production activities. Reel Focus BC will provide more than $3 million to the creation of made-in-B.C. motion picture content in 2020-21:
- The new Domestic Motion Picture Fund, providing $2 million in development and production funding.
- The annual Project Development Fund will provide more than $1 million in Creative BC support, with an additional $475,000 from partnerships as follows:
- $760,000 General Project Development Fund to support development-stage funding for B.C.-owned and controlled intellectual property creators that have attracted market investment.
- $400,000 Rogers + Creative BC Documentary and Factual Development Fund to support the development of motion picture projects in documentary series and factual series formats ($200,000 via Creative BC).
- $400,000 Access 2020, a collaboration between Creative BC, Canadian Media Producers AssociationBC producers branch and the Canada Media Fund to support early stage development of B.C.-based children’s and scripted drama projects ($125,000 via Creative BC).
- General Creative Industries Funding programs deliver an estimated $1.075 million to the domestic motion picture sector through Creative BC, including:
- domestic industry initiatives;
- international industry initiatives; and
- Passport to Markets Fund – digital edition.
