Canadian film industry shrank in 2001-04: StatsCan
Is Hollywood North heading south?
The number of movies made in Canada was down and production revenue fell in the period from 2001 to 2004, according to a report from Statistics Canada.
In 2004, 688 films were made in Canada, down from 728 in 2001 and production revenue over the three years fell 10.6 per cent to $1.49 billion, the agency reported on Tuesday.
However, total revenue for film and video production rose 10.9 per cent to $2.9 billion because of growth in non-production activities such as broadcasting and film distribution.
The growth of low-cost reality programming has cut into the amount of film and video production, and there was a sharp decline in domestic demand for Canadian-made shows.
Film and video producers reported television sales valued at $1 billion in 2004, down 10 per cent from 2001.
Large production houses closed, consolidated and scaled back production during the year, Statistics Canada said.
Productions also seemed to be beginning a geographic shift in 2004, from Ontario and Quebec, where most of the production had been centred in the past รณ to British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Film producers headquartered in British Columbia earned $268 million in 2004, a 29.4 per cent increase.
Saskatchewan, while still a small portion of overall filming in Canada, saw growth of 67.2 per cent in production revenues to $15 million in 2004.
Production was down 19 per cent in Ontario and 4.2 per cent in Quebec, however Ontario still accounted for half of all production in the country.
The statistics are based on a 2004 census of film, video and audio-visual producers in Canada.
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