Victoria council urged to restore film-commission funding

Two Victoria councillors are hoping to see funding restored to the Vancouver Island South Film and Media Commission.

Councillors Marianne Alto and Jeremy Loveday put forward a motion calling for another $25,000 to be awarded to the film commission.

The two note that for years the city gave the commission $45,000 annually as a fee-for-service grant. But that changed in 2016 when the city eliminated fee-forservice grants and instead, put all grant applicants into a strategic plan grant pool.

Those grants, determined by a third-party committee, saw the commission awarded $20,000.

Since the change, the film commission funding from the city has been “unstable and decreasing,” Loveday said, adding that in 2016, he was forced to bring forward a motion that saw the funding restored to $45,000.

Last year, the grant-allocation process was delegated to a third party, which has recommended lower grants for the film commission.

“But in my opinion, because it is a fee-for-service that they are offering, we should take them out of that category and create an exemption just like we have for other organizations like the Coalition to End Homelessness so they can have stable and predictable funding so they can continue to market our city,” Loveday said.

Loveday and Alto, who are recommending city staff be directed to look at future funding options for the commission, say the commission operates on a “modest” budget of $200,000. By comparison, Saanich awards the commission $25,000 and Oak Bay gives $10,000.

“When you’re an organization that is operating on a modest budget of $200,000 a year and you have a cut of one-tenth of your budget unexpectedly, that’s going to have negative impacts,” Loveday said.

“In my opinion, we should be supporting the film industry. It brings in $10 million to $14 million a year into our local economy and the money we’re investing in the film commission comes back to our city exponentially.”

Film Commissioner Kathleen Gilbert called the reduction in city funding over the past few years “disconcerting” and said her organization has been forced to dig into reserves. She hopes council will agree to restore the funding.

Gilbert said that up until 2004, the city granted the commission $50,000 a year when it was reduced to $45,000. Last year funding was reduced to $35,000 and this year it dropped a further $15,000.

“So even if you just look at the last three years, they’ve gone from $45,000 to $20,000 in support for us at a time when the industry is growing immensely in Vancouver and they are looking for over-flow options,” she said.

“So we’re really set up probably better than any other region in B.C. to accept that overflow and to be the next big production centre in B.C.”

Gilbert hopes the city will look at a different funding model.

“For a while, we were at feefor-service. So we provided a service to the city and they paid us and we had to report to them what the return on their investment was every year,” she said.

“We’re an economic development office. In 2015, we brought in almost $20 million of direct spend into this city. That’s no multiplier. So I think a $45,000 investment to get that kind of money back is a pretty darn good investment,” Gilbert said

Film Commissioner Kathleen Gilbert called the reduction in city funding over the past few years “disconcerting” and said her organization has been forced to dig into reserves.