May 2011 – Volume 1
2011/2012 has begun with a bang with our successful Merging Media Transmedia Seminar and Lab this past week co-presented with Merging Media Productions. We were pleased that the Lab participants included broadcasters, writers, gamers, digital media, film and television producers among others! Thanks to Christine Lim- Labossiere and her team for all their hard work. We are also excited to offer the upcoming Maximizing Your Tax Credit Seminar which is already at capacity – thanks Gigi for pulling this together! The deadline for our upcoming LA Market Accelerator Program has been extended until Wednesday, May 11th. The goal of this initiative is to better prepare BC feature film and television producers to do business in LA. See more info on this program in the CMPA Programs and Events section. We hope these initiatives are meeting your needs and welcome your feedback and suggestions regarding other areas of interest.
CMPA-BC IR staff will meet with the IR Committee in mid-May to appoint a new Chairperson. Many thanks to outgoing Chair Cynthia Chapman. With the March 31, 2012 expiry of the DGC BC, UBCP and BCCFU agreements IR Staff will be looking to form bargaining sub-committees and actively canvassing members to bring any for issues and concerns forward for discussion and possible inclusion in the negotiations. No dates have been set for bargaining but we will keep members up to date as we proceed. We expect to be busy over the spring and summer of 2011 negotiating the new Canadian Federation of Musicians contract (CFM), consulting with the WGC regarding animation and preparing to negotiate the WGC-IPA (expiries Dec. 31, 2011).
National CMPA Board Election – All CMPA members will have received an election package via mail and we would encourage all members to vote prior to the deadline of FRIDAY MAY 13th. Voting is especially important this year as we have SIX members from BC standing for the National Board – Rob Bromley, Karyn Edwards, Brian Hamilton, Alex Raffe, Lisa Richardson and Cal Shumiatcher.
Terms of Trade – On April 1st, the CMPA and the Major Private Broadcast Groups concluded an historic Terms of Trade Agreement. We were fortunate to have John Barrack, CMPA Chief Legal Officer and COO here in Vancouver on April 14th to review the Draft Agreement with BC members.
A National Conference Call to discuss the Terms of Trade Agreement is open to all Members and will be held on Tuesday, May 10th from 3:30-5:00pm ET, for more information please email Emma.Grace@cmpa.ca. Should you have any specific comments or questions about the agreement we ask that you contact Reynolds Mastin, CMPA Counsel in our Toronto office at Reynolds.Mastin@cmpa.ca or 1-800-267-8208 x225. A draft of the agreement can be found here: http://www.cftpa.ca/industrial_relations/pdfs/2011-04-01-Terms_of_Trade_Agreement.pdf
Membership Renewal – Our new fiscal year began April 1st and you can renew your CMPA membership on-line at: http://www.cftpa.ca/membership/apply/
The Capilano University Motion Picture Arts Program is seeking your partnership. Year 4 of the Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts includes a requirement for a Practicum experience beginning in Spring 2012. An inventory of Film Industry Internship Partners is required by Fall 2011. If you are interested in taking on an intern and participating as a host company in this new program, please contact dneufeld@capilanou.ca for more information.
Following the recent BC Liberal Leadership Election of Christy Clark and resulting Cabinet shuffle, CMPA-BC wrote to the new Premier and relevant new Cabinet Ministers regarding the BC Based sector of the Film/TV industry to request a meeting. To date we have met with Ida Chong, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development (CSCD), and will be meeting in the coming weeks with Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier Kevin Falcon, Minster of Jobs, Innovation and Tourism Pat Bell and Deputy Minister (CSCD) Don Fast. We also plan to meet with new NDP leader Adrian Dix and continue our on-going dialogue with NDP Culture Critic Spencer Chandra Herbert.
With both the Provincial and Federal Governments in periods of transition we are updating our Government Relations Strategy and plans for 2011/12.
In addition, CMPA-BC has invited Music BC, the Book Publishers Association of BC (ABPBC), and Magazine Association of BC to share resources and participate in a cross sectoral industry study on BC’s Creative Entertainment Economy. The goal will be to create a paper that documents the economic and creative contribution of the creative industries in BC. We hope to have a draft completed by June 2011.
NEW!! LA Market Accelerator Program – We are pleased to announce receipt of funding from both BC Film and MPPIA-BC in support of a Market Accelerator (Market Preparedness Session) focused on the Los Angeles feature film and television markets. Up to 15 BC producers will participate in two phases of the program including a two day intensive market prep session in Vancouver on June 7 and 8 followed by a trip to LA. CONFIRMED Industry Guests include: Benedict Carver, Partner (Dark Hero Studios), Robin Gurney, Senior Executive Vice President, Development and Production (Imagine Television), Mimi Steinbauer, President (Hyde Park International) and Peter Wetherell, President (Magus Entertainment) with more to come! Application deadline has been extended to Wednesday, May 11 and can be found here: http://cmpabc.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/la-market-accelerator-call-may-2011-final.pdf
NEW!! Tax Credit Seminar – Wednesday, May 11, 2011
“Maximizing Your Tax Credit – Refining the Process”
Panelists: Bob Wong, VP Tax Credits and Development (BC Film), Mike Souza, Independent Film Tax Credit Consultant (Soundstage Consulting Ltd.), Barb Harwood, CFO (Thunderbird Films Group), Debbi-Jo Matias, CA – Independent Film Tax Credit Consultant. Invitations to the free session were sent out on April 18th and we were fully subscribed the next day. 30 Producers will attend the first of what we hope will be semi-annual sessions on the provincial and federal film tax credit systems. Our panel of experts will follow a production start to finish as we zero in on the financial and creative decisions that will impact the amount of the tax credit, shed light on the CRA process and give you advice on how to claim maximum returns.
April 28 – May 8 Hot Docs
http://www.hotdocs.ca
May 6-15 DOXA Film Festival
http://www.doxafestival.ca/
May 14 WIFTV Pitching Workshop with Mickey Rogers
http://www.womeninfilm.ca/Pitching_Workshop.html
June 8-11 The Leo Awards
http://www.leoawards.com/
June 12-15 Banff World Media Festival
http://www.banffmediafestival.com/
June 27 Stephen J. Cannel Film Industry Golf Tournament
http://mppiaevents.com/golftournament/event.php
Aug 7-11 Siggraph 2011
http://www.siggraph.org/s2011/
