Everyone talks about economic development and the need to generate revenue locally, but no one wants to pay for it.
Once again, the Regional District of North Okanagan is providing an annual grant ($33,000) to the Okanagan Film Commission. But the reality is that the only participating members in the function are Coldstream, Armstrong and Vernon. Enderby provides funding on its own, but the remaining two municipalities and five electoral areas simply sit on their wallets.
The situation is generating frustration among those who foot the bill.
“Our taxpayers would prefer probably not to pay either,” said director Juliette Cunningham of her Vernon constituents.
“A lot of the movies are not done in Vernon.”
And that’s certainly the case with Anthony Hopkins’ Go With Me, which did some work in Vernon, but was predominantly shot in Enderby and Lumby. That resulted in steady business for restaurants and shops in Enderby as the crew and cast toured around, and, of course, local politicians got their photographs taken with the stars.
The OFC has a $199,000 budget, with funds also coming from the two other regional districts in the Okanagan and the provincial government. The return investment is about $15 million, including from animation studios, feature films, TV shows and commercials.
Increasingly, there are many local residents dependent on the film sector to make a living, and those paycheques are spent right here at home.
It’s time for the free ride to end and for all communities to work together to bolster the economy and particularly the North Okanagan’s film industry.