Let’s Work Together For a Prosperous 2013: Introducing ‘We Create BC’

In the final quarter of 2012, MPPIA made more progress moving its strategic plan forward than we did in the first three quarters of the year. Some of the credit for the movement in our plans must be attributed to the Transmit BC conference that many of us attended in September. Transmit BC was a two day workshop that brought together a cross section of stakeholders from across BC’s creative industries to identify our collective value proposition and to envision our future.

Although a two day workshop cannot tackle the more challenging steps that need to be taken to move forward, done right it can shake up the status quo and get people thinking differently. I think Transmit BC did accomplish this and inspired the BC production industry to take more aggressive steps towards a self determined and prosperous future.

To that end, MPPIA itself is reexamining its own structure and exploring options to make us stronger as a member based industry Association. We will have more to report on the direction this is taking by the end of March 2013.

In the meantime, the last quarter of 2012 was productive, with Los Angeles marketing of particular note. Our annual November ‘team mission’ to Los Angeles was well received and we were able to host our clients and colleagues in LA at the Canadian Consul General’s residence, which is always a special event done in the ‘Friends of BC’ format started by the BC Film Commission some years ago. We also successfully launched a BC market ‘fam tour’ initiative to bring potential clients to BC and familiarize them with our industry resources — which has already resulted in two projects coming to BC of the four groups hosted.

The message to BC from our friends in LA remains positive in terms of the quality that our clients continually experience here in BC — in our crews, talent, facilities, suppliers. However, one question that cannot be ignored is the one about our bottom line competitiveness, or lack thereof, particularly compared to our primary competition in Ontario and Quebec. This is a challenge that all of BC’s industry stakeholders must grapple with together as we envision the future our industry in BC — as an important contributor to the Province’s clean, green knowledge-based economic mix.

In an effort to work on this together, MPPIA is taking the lead on an industry communications movement under the banner We Create BC. We Create BC is intended to help the BC motion picture production industry identify itself as a creative force in BC’s economic mix: the people, jobs, employers, businesses, students, educators — coming together to celebrate three decades of achievement, and to plan for future opportunities and continued success.

We Create BC will launch in social media in the new year at www.facebook.com/wecreatebc and we’ll provide more information about our activities going forward at that time. 2013 marks the beginning of new movement to celebrate and support BC’s creative economy. I look forward to working together on this. Until then — happy holidays.

Peter Leitch, Chair