There's nothing fantastic about the major loss in revenue and potential local spin-off when a Marvel franchise pulled out of Mammoth Studios recently.
The Human Torch and his team will be spotted in Louisiana - instead of Burnaby and Vancouver - as the Fantastic Four reboot left the local studio for better weather and incentives, according to Burnaby's Mammoth Studios and North Shore Studios president Peter Leitch.
The crew behind the Marvel movie had set up in the studio's space temporarily, but when script rewrites came in the production company found a better deal down south.
"If it was shot here it would have gone right through until springtime 2014," Leitch told the Burnaby NOW. "This is a big blow to us in terms of employment and the number of jobs it creates."
Around the time the Marvel reboot movie was coming back from its script rewrites, the Louisiana government squashed a bill that would have eliminated its lucrative film incentives.
"So now we see why the production company feels more comfortable to go where there's incentives in place," he said. "When there's uncertainty they wouldn't go, but now they're comfortable. It makes a big difference." Due to the movie's expected starstudded cast of American actors, Louisiana provides extra incentives for U.S.-based stars that the province doesn't offer.
"We don't have to match Louisiana's incentives, but this does suggest that we're not close enough," Leitch said. "They have other options."
Louisiana is also building up its infrastructure, which makes it more attractive and feasible for production companies.
Besides the incentives and competitor's growing infrastructure, local weather was another factor, Leitch noted.
"As a result of the delay in the script rewrites, it pushed the shooting dates into the winter, but they needed spring weather," he added. "So that was a big factor in this particular move." Despite the issue of tax incentives again being raised, the province is reluctant to send more cheques to Hollywood.
"The film and television industry received a subsidy of an estimated $350 million from B.C. taxpayers in 2012/13 - roughly equivalent to every British Columbian paying $76 before they've even gone to the theatre," said Finance Minister Michael de Jong in a statement to the NOW.
"An additional $26 million is provided to the interactive digital media sector."
De Jong said it's a 600 per cent increase in the level of support since 2002 - and as production increases, so does the taxpayer subsidy.
"It is not a program that reduces the tax paid by companies," he noted. "It is a direct subsidy to companies based on their spending."
The province wants to work with Quebec and Ontario to establish a "rational film incentive" policy to prevent unaffordable industry support systems across Canada.
This year's provincial budget provides $18 million to help increase youth participation in the arts, and Creative B.C. will receive $2.3 million, which includes funding for the B.C. and regional film commissions, according to de Jong.
As for what's coming up next at Mammoth, Leitch said despite it getting harder to attract features, the studio has been successful with snagging television shows.
"There's quite a number of TV series in town right now," he said. "We've seen that we've continued to be relatively successful with TV, which is good."
However, Leitch said it's becoming clear that the bottomline-driven features will shop around for the best deal.
"We've got a lot going for us here," he added. "We have fantastic locations, crews, cast and infrastructure."
The first two Fantastic Four movies were shot in the Lower Mainland.
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