Government Money for Filmmakers Draws to a Close in BC

British Columbia filmmakers expressed outrage Wednesday as the province's BC Film, which contributed financing to locally produced feature films, doled out its last dollars before shutting down, a victim of government cutbacks. In an interview with the Toronto Globe and Mail, producer Harry Sutherland remarked, "This government is just pathetic. For a government that is supposedly based on business, they completely fail to understand how business operates. It just amazes me." He noted that he received a $75,000 grant from BC Film for a feature that he plans to shoot in May. The amount, he said, represents less than 10 percent of the total budget," Sutherland observed, "but it's a crucial 10 percent." He noted that a government investment can also trigger investments from private sources. The Globe and Mail cited statistics from BC Film indicating that for every dollar it has put into a film, an additional $7.62 is contributed by the federal government and $6.81 from private investors.
2004-04-20 23:07:49