Seth Rogen film partly paid for by B. C. taxpayers
Shot in Vancouver, The Interview, a comedy about a plot to assassinate North Korea’s leader, stirred cyber attack in U. S.
The Interview, the Seth Rogen comedy that may have triggered a cyber attack by North Korea against a Japanese company on U. S. soil, had part of its $ 44 million production budget paid for by Canadian taxpayers.
The Sony Corp. film was shot last year in Vancouver, according to a budget released by hackers yesterday. The film is listed as having received tax credits on the website of Creative BC, the film office for British Columbia.
In The Interview, Vancouver and nearby B. C. locales stand in as locations in North Korea, including the country’s capital Pyongyang.
Vancouver’s contribution underscores the growing global nature of the film business and the potential risk that states and countries take in subsidizing controversial works of art. Subsidies have become a routine part of the film and TV industry as local governments try to lure and keep well- paying local jobs.
The comedy from Culver City, Calif.- based Sony Pictures is about a plot to assassinate North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un. Sony investigators have linked the attack to a group associated with the country, a person familiar with the matter has said. Hackers released thousands of pages of internal company documents and made five films available for free on the Web.
North Korea has denied being behind the attack, according to a report by Voice of America. An unnamed North Korean diplomat in New York said his country had nothing to do with it, according to the report.
British Columbia extends tax credits to filmmakers, starting at 33 per cent of spending on eligible local labour, according to Creative BC’s website. A federal program can supplement that with a 16 per cent credit.
Richard Brownsey, president of Creative BC, said he couldn’t discuss specifics of The Interview. The salaries of stars, directors and other top earners often don’t qualify for subsidies because they aren’t Canadian citizens, he said.
Sony Pictures, part of Tokyobased Sony Corp., declined to comment.
Rogen, the co- writer, director and star of The Interview, was born in Vancouver, according to Imdb. com, the movie information website. So was Evan Goldberg, the film’s co- writer, producer and director. The B. C.- bred pair have also collaborated on comedy hits Superbad and This Is The End.
Rogen was paid more than $ 8.4 million for his multiple jobs on The Interview, according to documents released by the hackers. Goldberg made almost $ 1.8 million.
Matthew Labov, a spokesman for Rogen, declined to comment.