Canada is planning on taking the Film and TV industry away from Georgia and Louisiana.
Georgia and Louisiana have quickly become the go to location for any TV show or feature film. However, studio operators are looking into providing rich tax breaks to help Toronto and Vancouver in order to compete with Atlanta and New Orleans.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Canadian production players see the sudden collapse of their dollar against the American greenback helping them draw projects from Georgia and Louisiana.
The Canadian loonie (one-dollar coin) on Tuesday plunged to below US$0.86 cents amid an oil bust. The extra currency savings for Hollywood film and TV projects shooting in Canada has local studio operators and equipment rental suppliers feeling more assured as they combat the lure of Atlanta and New Orleans.
Both locales offer incentives of up to 30 percent that cover eight-figure actor salaries and other above-the-line spending. “They can save 15 percent above the line. It’s not 30 percent like in Atlanta and Louisiana, but it’s putting Canada closer and closer to parity with our two main competitors, Atlanta and Louisiana,” Paul Bronfman, chairman of Pinewood Toronto Studios and equipment supplier Comweb Group, told The Hollywood Reporter.
According to reports, in the 1990s and early 200s, film tax credits in Canada allowed for major studios to make movies and TV shows in Canada. But, the value of the loonie increased in 2007, which allosed for many U.S. states outside of California to take a ton of business away from Canada. Ontario and Quebec currently offer 25% tax credit on all spends, and Britich Columbia offers the film industry a 33% tax break on labor costs to keep Vancouver the go to location for movies interested in recreating Toronto, New York City and Chicago.
Now, with the Canadian dollar at 85 cents and change, studio operators report more phone calls and scouting by Los Angeles producers eyeing locations that depict Harlem or the Magnificent Mile. “I’m sure its going to be a busier year for U.S. production in Toronto in 2015,”Ken Ferguson, executive director of Toronto studio Revival 629, predicted.
If the exchange rate continues to increase, then Hollywood to pick up their bags and head toward the Northern Lights.
Here are a list of all of the movies expected to film in Canada in 2015:
- Warner Bros. Suicide Squad
- Pacific Rim 2
- The BFG
- Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Expect this list to grow in the next few months…
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