The Canadian federal government on Friday announced $1.2 million in funding to Creative BC to help build the capacity of British Columbia’s creative industries, including film, television, digital media, music, book and magazine publishing, by seeking out trade and investment opportunities.
“Our creative industries are an important economic driver and employer,” said Cathy McLeod, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and for Western Economic Diversification. “With our Government’s support, Creative B.C. will have the ability to market B.C.’s strengths in this sector by improving export development and investment attraction with the goal of promoting jobs and growth.”
British Columbia is one of the leading film and television production centers in North America generating approximately $1.4 billion in production spending in 2013/2014. But the organization sees lots of room for growth with global spending on entertainment and media projected to reach $1.9 trillion in 2015.
“B.C. has a diverse and dynamic creative sector which is well-positioned to succeed on the global stage,” said Creative B.C. president and CEO Richard Brownsey. “Creative B.C. is grateful to the federal government for this funding as it will play an essential role in advancing the creative sector internationally and in developing B.C.’s reputation as a global center of excellence for creative content production.”
