Never has so much money been spent as last year in the film and television industry in Quebec, in particular thanks to the phenomenal growth of the animation sector. The only downside: the number of foreign shoots is down, as the competition for hosting American blockbusters is increasingly fierce elsewhere in Canada and internationally.
This is the finding of the Office of Cinema and Television of Quebec (BCTQ), which published its results for the year 2022 on Tuesday. $.6 billion last year, an increase of 4% from 2021, and 75% since 2017.
” This is good news. And there is no reason that this growth should not continue. I think that the share of audiovisual in Quebec’s GDP can continue to increase. That said, governments must continue to provide incentives and tax credits to support our industry,” says Christine Maestracci, president and CEO of the organization.
The encouraging figures for this year can be partly explained by the exponential growth of the world of animation intended for foreign productions. In just one year, this sector has almost doubled in volume, going from $171 million in expenses incurred in 2021 to $329 million last year.
Halftone results
Foreign shoots, for their part, brought in $526 million in 2022, an increase of 12%. This indicator must however be put into perspective, as several filmings which actually took place in 2021 were accounted for in this exercise, as their tax credit was granted in 2022. This is particularly the case for the series Three Pines and blockbuster Transformers: Rise of the Beastswhose filming dates back almost two years.
In fact, 20 foreign productions, mainly American, were filmed in Quebec in 2022, one less than in 2021. . The expenses for the series are lower, but it is an interesting model, because if the series is successful, it is renewed. It is therefore structuring for our industry”, underlines Mr.me Maestracci, who also hopes that Amazon will soon renew Three Pines.
She also has in mind the arrival in Quebec of another television production, but indicates that it is still too early to reveal anything.
The fact remains that the BCTQ, a large part of whose mandate is to attract foreign productions to Quebec, foresees a year 2023 which will resemble the previous one. It is therefore expected that spending in Quebec by foreign film crews will be down next year. “For several years, we have always been within a range of 20 to 25 shoots. There, we are in a hollow. It is because we are much less competitive than before for tax credits. We talk a lot about Toronto and Vancouver, but there are also Calgary and Winnipeg. There is great competition from other places in the world, which have become more attractive than us,” laments the CEO of the BCTQ.
Do more with less
Mme Maestracci, on the other hand, is delighted with local production. In 2022, $996 million was invested in local series and films. This is slightly less than in 2021, a record year in which several shoots that had been delayed in 2020 due to the pandemic were able to begin.
The expenses for the series are lower, but it is an interesting model, because if the series is successful, it is renewed
However, the volume of Quebec productions remains much higher than it was in 2019, when expenditures amounted to $732 million. In question: the arrival of Bell in the market and the advent of streaming platforms, which are pushing broadcasters to produce more content.
The Quebec Association of Media Production, however, calls for a careful analysis of these figures. Certainly, there is more money on the table, but the number of productions has increased. On the net, budgets have melted, notes its CEO, Hélène Messier. “We always do more with less. We want to be competitive with foreign productions, we want to attract young people, we want to keep our audiences… But at some point, we will have to invest”, she proclaims, calling on governments.