Source : Vancouver Sun

Congressman says California's better for movie-making than 'Hongcouver'

VICTORIA -- Arnold Schwarzenegger may have terminated the governor of California, but he could find B.C.'s film industry a little harder to take down.

The actor-turned politician, who was elected on the same ballot that Californians used to recall Governor Gray Davis, has too many troubles at home to be much of a threat, industry watchers here said Wednesday.

And he may find a supporter's apparent attempt to belittle Vancouver by calling it "Hongcouver" will backfire.

Darrell Issa, the U.S. congressman who put $1.6 million into the recall campaign, told reporter Samantha Shatzky of BCTV News on Global that now that Schwarzenegger is in charge, California will start fighting again for film production work that has been such a boon to B.C.

"Vancouver, or as we call it down here, Hongcouver, they can fight for those jobs, but may the best province win.

"We think California's a better place to produce films and we're going to do everything we can to make it a more business-friendly environment, 'cause after all, people didn't go to Canada because you're nice, or you say 'eh' a lot, they went to Canada because you were able to offer them a good value," Issa said.

Patrick Wong, the MLA for Vancouver-Kensington, said the Republican congressman was doing Vancouver a favour by calling attention to the multicultural nature of society here.

"In addition to its beautiful scenery, multicultural diversity is one of B.C.'s strengths in the film industry," said Wong, a chartered accountant who immigrated to Vancouver from Hong Kong 29 years ago.

"I should thank him for advertising B.C. for us as one of the best locations of choice."

Wong said the term is really out of date, since it referred to a time several years ago when there was a surge of immigration from Hong Kong in advance of Britain handing over the then colony to China.

It is not clear that the term was used as a slur or that it is perceived that way.

It is currently used on MSN's online travel guide to describe Vancouver, which it calls a vibrant, cosmopolitan city.

It was also used by the CBS current affairs show 60 Minutes in a glowing tribute to the city it has emerged as a multicultural city that works.

Meanwhile, Premier Gordon Campbell says that while he is "pumped" at the prospect of meeting the action hero, he doesn't think the governor-elect will have time next week when he and Alberta Premier Ralph Klein visit the state in an attempt to drum up even more business.

"They're an important trading partner for British Columbia and they will be for Alberta. We will talk with our customers in California, not just about our emerging technology industries in our two provinces, but also about the energy opportunities that we have," Campbell said in a joint news conference with Klein in Calgary.

Campbell and several members of his cabinet met with their Alberta counterparts Wednesday before signing a number of co-operation agreements.

Jock Finlayson, the chief economist with the B.C. Business Council, said Schwarzenegger may be inclined to launch an assault on the B.C. film industry, but he won't have much of an arsenal.

The state is facing a large budget deficit, so there is little room for tax incentives to attract the industry, which will continue making decisions based on where it can make a profit and find the locations it needs.

"California is a very expensive place to do business."

Finlayson noted also that while Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has successfully stormed the statehouse, Democrats still control the California House and Senate.

Susan Croome, head of the B.C. Film Commission, said other than pulling his own film out of B.C., Schwarzenegger has not said how he would attract film production back to California.

"It's very hard to say whether this is something we should be concerned about until we actually see a plan," she said.

The increase in the value of the dollar over the past nine months is a greater concern, although the impact has not shown up yet, she said.

Mike Kaerne, owner of Hollynorth Production Supplies Ltd. (which operates a film art-supply store in Burnaby and another in Toronto) said the only people who are concerned about Schwarzenegger's election are those who are not adequately informed.

"I don't think it's going to have a huge effect," Kaerne said. "I don't think Arnold is going to mandate all films are going to stay in California -- he doesn't own all of the studios."

According to Kaerne, Schwarzenegger's biggest problem when it comes to beefing up the California film industry is not B.C., but other states in the U.S. that are actively campaigning to draw productions out of Hollywood.

Acme Prop Shop owner Joan Swirhun insists the relative weakness of the Canadian dollar is enough to keep U.S. productions in this province.

"What's he going to do to us?" Swirhun asked. "Our dollar keeps them coming."

For Nicole Steeves, owner of Unique Events Inc. ( a prop shop in Vancouver), optimism is relatively easy to achieve. Steeves, like Swirhun, looks at the Canadian dollar as a major draw for U.S. productions and says there is a strong foothold here because of the financial considerations and the tremendous variety of shooting locales B.C. has to offer.

"Our dollar is still good. This is still such a great location. I'm being optimistic," Steeves said.

However, actor William H. Macy, who is in New Brunswick this week to shoot the television movie Reversible Errors for CBS, said he is impressed with the growth of an Atlantic Canadian film industry fuelled by a favourable tax and exchange climate.

Under Schwarzenegger's economic recovery plan "California could take a page out of your book," Macy said.

"If it becomes aggressive with tax breaks, that might have an impact on the industry in Canada."

The film and television industry spent $994 million in B.C. in 2002, creating an economic impact of $2.5 billion. On average, more than 90 per cent of production crews are British Columbians and about 50,000 British Columbians make their livings in the industry.

More than 200 film and television productions were shot here last year, including 37 feature films, 38 movies-of-the-week/pilots/mini-series, 19 TV series, 20 animation projects, and 91 other/documentaries/shorts/broadcast singles.

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