It’s easy to see why filmmakers refer to Vancouver as Hollywood North, as British Columbia (BC) gets the lion’s share of all production in Western Canada, a large portion of that coming from the U.S. But the high Canadian dollar and writers strike may take a toll in the months ahead. According to the BC Film Commission, production in 2007, “has been steady” with a shift to more TV series production, more digital straight-to-DVD features, but fewer big budget feature films. The visual effects side has also been “very active,” in part because of BC’s digital animation and visual effects tax credits, which apply even if the production isn’t shot in BC as long as the effects work is done there. The region is an increasingly strong center for digital animation, and various big gaming companies are now based there. The writer’s strike has impacted BC, with many TV series wrapping (at press time) due to lack of new scripts, although some are still in production. BC has also seen a rise in Canadian jobs. Current movie production includes The Day the Earth Stood Still for Fox, The Watchman for Warners, and Tale of Two Sisters.

 BC offers various tax breaks for foreign producers, including 18 percent of qualified BC labor expenditures for the production services tax credit. On top of that, there’s a regional tax credit of 6 percent if you shoot outside the studio zone in Vancouver; and the digital animation and visual effects tax credit of 15 percent. Tax credits are also to be extended till 2013 once legislation is complete.

Philip Rose, a veteran producer of hundreds of commercials, has shot often in Vancouver, “mainly because of the exchange rate,” and has high praise for the local crews and infrastructure. “The crews there were trained by American TV and they’re just great,” he says. “I tend to fly in with a couple of key people, such as the DP and production designer, as they’re the visionaries who can deliver exactly what your director wants. But then the rest are all local, and it’s always been a really good experience.”