British Columbia has given Hollywood producers an early Christmas present by boosting the foreign film tax credit for major studios and streamers that shoot locally.
The latest provincial budget has raised the production services tax credit for foreign projects shot locally from 28 percent to 36 percent from Jan. 1, 2025. And tentpole projects with local expenditures exceeding $200 million will receive an additional two percent bonus.
The film tax credit boost follows B.C., which depends heavily on Hollywood film and TV production produced locally, feeling the impact of industry shutdowns during the pandemic and last year’s dual Los Angeles strikes. “Our province is home to one of the busiest film and TV production centers in North America,” B.C. premier David Eby said in a statement as Los Angeles productions increasingly opt to shoot outside of California in rival locales, including Canada.
“But film production in B.C. has taken a big hit over the last few years, responding to significant impacts from the pandemic, multiple labor disruptions and changes to industry practices. We’re boosting tax incentives – and our competitive advantage – to ensure that our province remains a destination of choice for filmmakers in Canada and around the world, employing skilled British Columbian crews,” he added.
The western-most Canadian province is currently hosting shoots for the latest seasons of The CW’s Wild Cards, CBS’ Tracker and Fire Country series and SyFy’s Resident Alien.
B.C.’s provincial film tax credit boost follows California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Oct. 2024 moving to vastly increase the cap on production tax credits from $330 million to $750 million a year. The initiative is meant to curb productions increasingly opting to shoot outside of California and in other states and countries that offer more tax credits.
Other states and countries are similarly beefing up their tax incentive programs. In June, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill allowing game, national talk and contest-based shows, among other reality TV, to receive tax credits for shooting in the state. That followed Japan unveiling an incentive scheme offering reimbursement of up to 50 percent of qualifying expenditures in the country.
B.C., while remaining the biggest destination for Los Angeles producers shooting in Canada, last year saw foreign location and service production falling in value by 36.5 percent to $1.68 billion in the year to March 31, 2024, according to the latest survey from the Canadian Media Producers Association, representing local indie producers.
Foreign, mostly Hollywood production in B.C. represents over 80 percent of total production spending in the province as Los Angeles producers also look to take advantage of generous currency savings as the value of the Canadian dollar continues to fall in value against the American greenback.
That sector was undercut last year by Hollywood strike action that largely shuttered the industry for over six months and a continuing fall in global production activity amid an industry contraction.