It is well established that superheroes live amongst us here in B.C. Supergirl and Batwoman help keep the streets safe. The Flash and Arrow avert looming crises on our doorsteps. Long-term residents Superman and Lois have recently returned to the area with their sons… It’s true that B.C. hosts Walt Disney Studios (Disney | ABC Television), Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Netflix Studios, Universal City Studios (NBCUniversal | Universal Cable Productions), Warner Bros. Entertainment, local production companies like Brightlight Pictures, Lark Productions, and Screen Siren Productions, and the racehorse superhero winning our hearts in B.C. includes our independent filmmaker.
B.C.’s established production companies produce more than 150 projects a year. Local producers prove the ability to captivate audiences around the world with distinctive voices in independent film, television, and animated production. British Columbia is bold and confident in challenging global markets, to push boundaries with rich subject matter. They are trusted for powerful storytelling that entertains, informs and impacts social change. These productions–no matter how small or big, round out film festival programs and complete the lineup for a TV night, bringing us unique and diverse stories for B.C. and beyond on both the big and small screens.
Together, domestic and international production have established our provincial talent, which abounds in B.C. More than 60,000 traditional FT equivalent jobs, and up to 108,000 people work as artists, craftspeople, scouts, technicians, designers, and engineers support over 400 productions across the entire province each year. The province offers over 120 sound stages representing over 2.5 million square feet, including purpose-built stages and conversions, more than 131 animation, VFX and post-production companies, as well as an estimated 250 expert industry supply companies. From live-action and physical production to animation, VFX and post-production, they make B.C. a full-service global production hub–Canada’s largest and North America’s third-largest after New York and L.A. Creators of intellectual property are also at work writing and producing stories with the CMPA-BC Producer’s Branch representing more than 130 independent producers, with up to 200 in the province. Whether their production companies are large or small creating TV series or impactful documentaries, they are shaping content for a worldwide audience as producers, writers and directors.
Projects don’t make it onto the big or small screen overnight. It can sometimes take anywhere from five to seven years to get from concept to screen. Independent filmmakers apply for early-stage funding with sometimes just the initial concept of an idea, whether narrative or documentary to bring those inchoate notions and help turn it into a living, breathing production.
Many of these producers, independent filmmakers, writers and directors at every stage of their careers are working from their home offices, crafting content to educate, entertain and inform. Whoever coined the phrase that not all superheroes wear capes was right. Sometimes all they have is an idea and some imagination. And that is more than enough.
Learn more about animation and VFX from DigiBC, The Creative Technology Association of B.C.
