Creative BC is working closely with provincial
and federal partners to understand the
potential impact of proposed film tariffs.
While there is still uncertainty, we are
committed to keeping B.C.'s motion picture
industry informed and supported.
Our multibillion-dollar film industry
took a beating during COVID and then
the Writers Guild of America and
Screen Actors Guild strikes. How is
recovery going?
The uptick has not been as quick as we
would like. We're fortunate that the
provincial government increased the tax
incentives, so that's attracting more interest.
It's not been an easy time—we fully recognize
that—but we're optimistic that people are
very interested in B.C. and we're getting
calls daily from people looking to bring
something here or people here already who
are looking to get a show up and running.
Motion pictures and TV series are
down, project-wise, from previous
years in B.C.
There's been a general contraction in
global content production. It's becoming
more expensive, and everybody's bottom
lines are changing. Back in the day, a TV
series could be 26 episodes. Now there's
10. So instead of working for X number of
months you might be working for a shorter
period. So it's been slower.
Just named one of the most powerful
women in Canadian entertainment
by The Hollywood Reporter, Prem Gill
has a monumental task: selling B.C.
to Tinseltown. As the CEO of Creative
BC, the organization tasked with
growing our creative sector—including
movies, music, digital media
and magazine and book
publishing—Gill has a goal
of expanding our creative
economy, which supports tens
of thousands of jobs. As she
celebrates her 10th anniversary
at the helm of Creative BC this
fall, we sat down and chatted
all things entertainment.
By Darcy Matheson
Donald Trump recently
threatened to put
a 100 percent tariff
on films created
outside the U.S. How
does B.C. brace and
respond to that kind
of threat?
P r e m Gill
