When Rod Hardy became Victoria's film commissioner, he didn't realized he would be sent to Middle Earth.
As bizarre as it that might sound, it made perfect sense for Hardy and film commissioners from more than 20 countries around the world to converge in Wellington, New Zealand, last week for the Association of Film Commissioners International's Cineposium 08, to exchange ideas on the future of global filmmaking.
This is the land, after all, that played a vital role in such screen epics as The Last Samurai and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, a place where such cinematic feats were made possible by film commissions and government support of the film industry.
"It was great to get a good feeling about what's going on globally," Hardy said. "We had a lot of great meetings with studio people out of L.A."
Sessions focused on new trends in the entertainment industry and their impact on production communities such as ours. Delegates heard from LOTR creators how they benefited from local talent and unique locations in New Zealand, with director Peter Jackson praising Wellington, where he lives and works, as "a terrific environment for filmmaking and filmmakers."
There were sessions on how to deal with a multitude of different cultures; the film-induced tourism that has reinvented New Zealand's tourism industry; pitching your jurisdiction; and international co-production opportunities.
Hardy and his peers, including Vancouver Island North Film Commission's Joan Miller, the conference chairwoman, also studied opportunities presented by the booming video-game industry, which generated $9.5 billion in the U.S. alone last year.
One thing that stood out for Hardy was a heightened emphasis by producers on economic perks. "The first question was 'Have you got these locations?' and then came 'What have you got in the way of tax incentives?' "
He described New Zealand as very similar to the Vancouver Island market in terms of film industry building.
"They're more removed than us but they've managed to make it work," Hardy said.
He was awestruck during a visit to Weta Digital, Jackson's Oscar-winning visual effects facility. There are only three other such facilities in the world that still do miniatures: Modelling of tiny cityscapes, vehicles, etc., for stop-motion cinematography.
"Maybe we should try and make it five," Hardy said.
Victoria's appeal would "just become huge" if we were to stack existing B.C. tax credits, Hardy said. They include labour-based and regional tax credits (for production outside Vancouver); "distant" tax incentives (for locations such as Kamloops) that Victoria is ineligible for; and the DAVE credit that promotes B.C.'s digital-animation and visual-effects industries.
He said an ideal location for such productions would be a 16,000-square-foot soundstage being built in Sooke by Kevin Wenstaub, an enterprising sawmill operator and former logger looking to turn his seven-acre site into a film industry zone.
Hardy and his staff have also been fielding a steady stream of calls from filmmakers with their eyes on Victoria -- most recently Deepa Mehta (Heaven and Earth), whose production designer has been checking out locations for a period piece. "She was scouting for a 1918 historical film that takes place in Vancouver harbour," he said.
Meanwhile, the last project filmed here -- the sci-fi series Impact -- has been picked up by ABC-TV for broadcast next year.
A Stately Pleasure Dome Decreed
Life at the Empire Capitol 6 lately has been as action-packed as some of the movies playing there.
The exterior of the Blanshard Street multiplex -- surrounded by scaffolding dotted with bright lights since September -- has been looking more like a movie set than a cinema as crews work on restoration of its glass dome.
"It's been pretty exciting around here," manager John Turcotte said. He has had to have computers and desks in his upstairs office covered at times as workers painstakingly replace hundreds of panes of glass. It's part of a plan by Empire Theatres, which bought the theatre in 2005, to make the multiplex a more competitive entertainment destination.
"It's been a long process," Turcotte said, adding work should be completed by Christmas.
Crews are tackling the delicate task of replacing every pane in the 1,800-seat six-plex's dome, as well as its smaller dome and street-level glass. The dome has taken a lot of weather abuse since the old Capitol's $4-million upgrade in 1981, and it looked unkempt. Failed panes and broken seals had allowed moisture in.
The profile will look different, since modern safety features dictate a wider space between panes, Turcotte said.
He wouldn't say how much the renovations would cost but joked that he will have "the most expensive window in the company."
The upgrades dispel rumours that have been around sine the 1970s, that the multiplex would be sold or turned into a condo tower.
"We're here to stay," Turcotte said. "Moviegoing is still pretty inexpensive compared to a lot of things."
