2023 a year to forget for B.C. film industry

The final numbers have yet to be released, but as members of B.C.’s film industry will tell you, they likely won’t be pretty.

According to the Vancouver Economic Commission, 2022 saw a record $4.9 billion in production spending, a strong rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the industry.

However, this year has been a different story, as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes brought many productions to a halt.

"For the industry overall, 2023, I think, was a brutal year,” said Shawn Williamson, the president of Brightlight Pictures.

“The strikes completely shut things down, or effectively shut things down, a few things were able to keep going but 95 per cent of what we typically shoot in Vancouver was on hold."

Back in April, the provincial government gave $15.9 million to the struggling industry.

For Frank Devine, a digital imaging technician, it was a year of sitting and waiting.

"It's been kind of catastrophic,” he said.

He says he didn’t have any work for nine months, a wait with significant financial implications.

"For me, personally, I went through all of my savings and then dipped into my retirement savings just to stay a float,” said Devine.

Williamson says he’s optimistic that things will pick back up in 2024, but says the strikes may have caused some permanent changes.

"Really, (it) has given the studios the chance to really look internally at where they make money, how they make money, and the number of shows they're going to greenlight going forward,” he said.

As for Devine, he and his fiancée will soon be welcoming a child, and while the industry may come with its ups and downs, he has no plans to leave.

"It’s like a twisted love of self-punishment and creating movies,” he said. “I’ve met some of the biggest actors in the world, and as a kid you can only dream of that.”