Canada Successful at Luring Productions

Producers continued to flock to Canada to make films in 1999, with the country luring 63% of the TV movies filmed in North America and 37% of feature films requiring six weeks or more of production, according to a survey to be released today. The numbers support concerns that Canada has been increasingly successful at luring productions, say survey authors, the think tank ECO200. Canada’s main appeal is a dollar that is much weaker than the U.S. dollar, which makes it much cheaper for producers to film there. Canada also has been aggressive in offering producers financial and tax incentives. The survey said that 34% of the feature films with production periods of six weeks or more were shot in California. It added that 32% fewer feature films with that lengthy a production period were shot in the U.S. in 1999. About 25% of the feature films with production periods of five weeks or less--largely independent films--were shot in Canada, the survey concludes. Labor groups, local film officials and some legislators have become increasingly alarmed by the amount of production work done in Canada, warning that so-called runaway production threatens one of California’s biggest industries.