Members of B.C.'s beleaguered film industry are angry after the government announced new funding to help the creative economy, but didn't address their concerns over job losses.

B.C. Liberal MLA Bill Bennett, the minister responsible for community, sport and cultural development, said the government is launching a three-part plan called BC Creative Futures to drive long-term success in the creative sector.

The plan includes $6.25 million for new and expanded programs for artists and students, as well as a new body called Creative BC, which would work with film and TV, digital media, music, publishing and other areas to identify opportunities for the future.

But a couple of people stormed out of the Vancouver Art Gallery where Bennett made the announcement Thursday, upset that there was no immediate help offered to the industry.

"There's 25,000 plus people in this industry out of work and this announcement does nothing to help," said Patrick Stark, 45, who has worked in the film industry for more than 20 years.

He said it does no good to fund students in the arts without addressing the problem of film productions and video game companies leaving for Ontario where there are more attractive tax incentives.

"I'm all about education and the arts but you are going to create a lot of diplomas and degrees and these kids are come out of school with no jobs," he said.

"The whole point is that we need to match incentives with Ontario," he said. "If there's no carrot there, there's not going to be a business here."

He said Thursday's announcement shows that the government does not take the industry seriously, adding that he fears a that a once thriving film and television sector here will be run into the ground.

"These people are my friends and family are not going to have work for this entire year and that announcement doesn't help."

The government needs to do an economic impact study to determine how much this industry does contribute to the province overall, said Wayne Bennett, a member of the Director's Guild of Canada union.

"Funding for arts is fantastic in the West because we don't have a lot of it but all these kids, if they can't earn a living in a province that we as taxpayers are all funding to help them gain a career then they will all go to Ontario or Quebec or other parts of the world," he said.

Bill Bennett said he sympathized with the film industry, but that he doesn't believe offering companies tax credits is the answer to the problem.

"I don't think frankly that we in government that we are fully capturing all the revenue or tracking all the revenue that comes from the film industry s that's the piece that we are going to work harder at and figure out how we can help the industry."

NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert said the government should have done a study on the film industry years ago when the problem started.

"This is not a brand new issue. We've lost 50 per cent of the domestic film industry since 2008," he said.

"Now the minister says we're going to do some research and look at the numbers, well that excuse gets pretty stale when the government has had the resources and the staff to do the research for the last three years."

British Columbia offers the film industry a 33-per-cent tax rebate on labour costs, as compared to 25 per cent in credits on all costs involved in productions in Ontario and Quebec.

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