8/25/2023 0 Comments Brian hamilton writerThat was another tool in our multi-pronged approach. We also funded the reopening of the Story Department Internship at Creative BC, a program that allows screenwriters to work directly with mentors on a Canadian show. Meanwhile, we kept working on getting that change to the tax credits. Shorten: A screenwriting program felt like the best solution, because of successful models not only in Canada, but in Los Angeles and elsewhere. A screenwriting program is integral to complement this excellent addition to the FIBC incentive. In 2018, the provincial government announced a change to the Film Incentive BC program, which supports Canadian productions, to include screenwriters as eligible labour for tax-credit purposes. We knew the answer was to commit to BC’s screenwriting community. Robert Wong, Vice President, Creative BC: Creative BC has been a part of the process from the beginning, when the program was the seed of an idea, discussing how to drive more IP creation and Canadian productions in BC. The steering committee included amazing writers and producers like Dennis Heaton, Simon Barry, Daegan Fryklind, Rob Cooper. We’d been discussing it for years, maybe even a decade. Hamilton: It was really a community effort. Key senior writers and producers in the BC industry were approaching us, were approaching Creative BC, to ask, “What are we going to do collectively to address this issue?” And a steering committee was formed, with about a dozen producers and WGC members and government representatives. Shorten: Some of us in the industry started to meet about this initiative in early to mid-2017. I decided that kicking this initiative into gear would be a challenge I could take on. I know I can’t stay in Vancouver, so I’m going to Toronto.” And it just hit home for me that an intelligent, ambitious writer couldn’t even consider Vancouver as a place to make her career. Hamilton: The impetus for me was when a young writer, who was working as my manager of development at the time, said to me, “I’ve decided I’m going to make the leap and pursue my screenwriting career. Not everyone can afford to drop their lives and move to Toronto for a year. Parker: Writers in BC are definitely at a geographic disadvantage in terms of training and work opportunities. Hamilton: Producers would go to industry events and hear, “So-and-so has just left Vancouver to make a career elsewhere.” And we’d think, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could offer training opportunities to people so they wouldn’t need to leave their hometown? Sarah Dodd, PSP Showrunner: One of the things that happens, of course, is we have these incredibly talented writers and they don’t see how they’re going to break in BC. This means that Canadian writers are the only talent pool that’s left out of the service production business. Maureen Parker, Executive Director, Writers Guild of Canada: Scripts are written by American screenwriters before they’re shot up here. We need to increase the amount of independent production here in order to engage our creative talents. Liz Shorten, Senior Vice-President, Operations & Member Services, CMPA-BC: Vancouver in particular has always been a service town, and especially a television town, but right now the percentage between service work and domestic work is 90 per cent to 10 per cent. The writers’ rooms are typically not here. But most of that production is service production-the ideas are owned by companies outside of Canada. Brian Hamilton, Principal, Omnifilm Entertainment: It’s well known that BC is one of the largest centres of production in the country.
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