! June!13,!2014! Laurel!Broten! C/O!Nova!Scotia!Department!of!Finance! 1723!Hollis!Street! Halifax,!Nova!Scotia!!B3J!2N3! Dear!Ms.!Broten:! The!Nova!Scotia!Motion!Picture!Industry!Association!is!pleased!to!present!tHe!enclosed!Position!Paper!on!tHe!past,!present,!and! future!of!the!Nova!Scotia!Screen!Industry.!! The!Screen!Industry!represents!film,!television,!and!digital!media!companies,!workers,!and!support!infrastructure.!It!is!a!complex! community!comprised!of!diverse!enterprises!and!individuals!engaged!in!an!everQevolving!collection!of!activities.!! Our!companies!are!entrepreneurial!in!spirit!and!spread!across!tHe!province.!WitH!support!from!government,!we!draw!considerable! investment!from!outside!tHe!province,!employ!Hundreds!of!workers,!and!export!our!products!around!the!world.!We!are!adapting!to! new!market!trends,!embracing!convergence,!and!breaking!new!ground!in!the!use!of!digital!tecHnology.! Our!HigHly!skilled!workers!come!from!all!communities!and!backgrounds.!Many!are!immigrants.!And!witH!a!broad!offering!of! education!and!training!programs,!we!are!poised!to!embrace!new!content!creators,!workers,!business!owners,!and!otHers!seeking!to! take!advantage!of!the!opportunities!available!in!this!growing!industry.! We!also!serve!as!cultural!ambassadors!Q!enHancing!the!identity!of!the!province!througH!our!work!and!our!presence!in!the!global! entertainment,!information!tecHnology,!and!media!marketplaces.!Our!producers!Q!and!tHe!content!we!deliver!Q!are!showcased! worldwide,!winning!awards!and!thrilling!audiences.! This!Position!Paper!reflects!a!truly!mature!and!wellQestablisHed!industry,!deeply!entrencHed!in!tHe!Nova!Scotia!private!sector.! Thanks!to!tHe!labourQbased!tax!credit!Q!along!witH!otHer!supportive!programs!–!we!Have!developed!into!a!progressive!and!dynamic! community.!Along!witH!the!talent!and!work!etHic!of!our!creators!and!crews,!the!support!of!our!businesses,!and!the!natural! attributes!of!our!locations,!tHe!tax!credit!program!is!a!cornerstone!of!our!foundation.!We!believe!it!is!an!imperative!tool!for! continued!stability!and!growtH!in!a!marketplace!tHat!increasingly!requires!flexibility,!transparency,!and!stability.! We!welcome!tHe!current!review!of!provincial!tax!programs!and!are!entHusiastic!about!working!togetHer!to!secure!our!place!as!one! of!the!leading!sectors!in!the!province.!WitH!continued!support!from!botH!government!and!our!partners!in!private!enterprise,!we!are! confident!in!our!ability!to!Help!lead!Nova!Scotia!towards!an!exciting!and!prosperous!future.! ! Sincerely,! ! Scott!Simpson,!Board!Member! Nova!Scotia!Motion!Picture!Industry!Association! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! NOVA SCOTIA: Behind The Scenes AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE NOVA SCOTIA SCREEN INDUSTRY ! Prepared for: The Nova Scotia Provincial Government Tax Program Review Prepared by: Nova Scotia Motion Picture Industry Association !June 9, 2014 INTRODUCTION Once upon a time… It’s a little known fact that Nova Scotia is the birthplace of Canadian cinema. In 1913, long before the Hollywood sign was built, the silent movie Evangeline was filmed right here, making it the first feature film ever made in !Canada. A century later, our Screen Industry is a robust, diverse, and pivotal part of the province’s private sector, encompassing not only film and television production, but also digital media. It has grown to a $130M-plus per 1 !year business , stimulating millions more in economic spin-off, and employing thousands of Nova Scotians. The screen industry is also the mechanism by which many of our most talented visionaries express themselves. It allows a growing number of creators and storytellers to contribute to the long list of crowd-pleasing and award- !winning productions made in Nova Scotia, by Nova Scotians. We have played host to award-winning blockbusters such as Titanic, created homegrown heroes like the Trailer Park Boys, Mr. D and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. We boast hundreds of Genies, Geminis, Emmys and even Oscars. Our digital media producers are making waves via cutting-edge technology using social media (Nickel Communications), augmented reality (Ad Dispatch), and voice recognition (Copernicus Studios). And our TV producers have helped inspire, entertain, and educate on every level – from pre-schoolers (Poko) to world leaders !(Counterfeit Culture). This exciting and dynamic industry continually proves its value, not only in its contribution to the economy, but also by providing the most effective means to reflect our culture and project our identity to the rest of the world. Moving pictures… Currently, Nova Scotia is facing a significant challenge to grow, diversify, and modernize its economy. As a resource-neutral, technology-based, innovative industry, this sector is an ideal candidate to help meet those !challenges, now and into the future. This document asserts that investment in the industry is prudent and necessary in light of the current analysis. Our !industry has many valuable assets. There are countless success stories. Opportunities abound. But the marketplace for both services and content is increasingly complex. Technology is constantly evolving. Mobile platforms, interactive content, and web-based distribution are revolutionizing the market. Meanwhile, production incentives are spreading across the globe. Competition is greater than ever. As a result, there is both tremendous potential and significant challenge. The industry needs stable support in order to maintain investor confidence, maximize productivity and increase capacity. With that support, we can take advantage of our ideal position to help lead Nova Scotia into the future. 1 Film and Creative Industries Nova Scotia (2014) !1 WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO Nova Scotia’s Screen Industry is a significant and diverse part of the provincial private sector. It represents not only film and television producers, animation studios, and digital media companies; but also equipment suppliers, unions and guilds, schools, festivals, production and post-production service providers, corporate communications firms, commercial production companies, and many more supporting firms and individuals who !contribute to the making of all our motion picture and interactive content. In broader terms, we are part of the Creative Industries. This umbrella sector: • Contributed $50B to the nation’s GDP in 2009 and directly employs over 640,000 Canadians – double the amount of workers in banking or forestry - and more than a million when considering indirect jobs;1 • Adds roughly $1.84 in overall GDP for every $1 produced and generates $2.70 in revenue for every $1 in government investment;2 • Grew by 14% in terms of global trade of cultural goods between 2002 and 2008, even as overall global trade shrank by 12%3 On a provincial level, Nova Scotia’s Creative Industries contributed $950M to GDP in 2008, ranking ahead of 4 !agriculture, mining, and utilities The Screen Industry is the largest of these Creative Industries. On a national level in 2011, this sector: • Supported 262,700 full time equivalent jobs and generated $12.8B in labour income • Generated $20.4B in GDP and $2.4B in exports • Returned $5.5B in tax revenue: $2.8B in federal taxes and $2.7B in provincial and local taxes5 In Nova Scotia, since the introduction of the labour tax Production Activity Quantity credit, we have seen the Screen Industry grow from $6 in Nova Scotia (in millions) 6 !million in 1993 to over $135 million in 2014. 2013/14 $ 139 All signs point to continued growth. The global filmed 2012/13 $ 125 entertainment market is forecasted to grow at an annual 2011/12 $ 115 compound rate of 3.6% between now and 2017. The overall global entertainment and media market will grow by 5.6% 2010/11 $ 112 annually over the same period.7 2009/10 $ 97 1 Statistics Canada, Feasibility Study for Culture Satellite Account (2013) 2 Conference Board of Canada, Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy (March, 2008) 3 Film and Creative Industries Nova Scotia, Strategic Framework For Growth (2013) 4 Statistics Canada. www5.statcan.gc.ca (2013) 5 Nordicity, The Economic Contribution of the Film and Television Sector in Canada (2013) 6 Film and Creative Industries Nova Scotia (2014) 7 Price Waterhouse Cooper, 2013 Entertainment Report (2013) !2 Our Companies... There are over 105 companies registered in Nova Scotia whose principal business is the production and/or support of film and television. Another 18 focus on digital media production and services.1 The sector is dominated by small, entrepreneurial firms spread across the province. ! These companies are owned and operated by dedicated entrepreneurs, many of whom are immigrants to Nova Scotia. There are few barriers to entry. No special license or designation is needed. The only resources required are intellectual property, access to capital, and skilled labour. This makes it attractive to anyone with the passion to !tell stories. The majority of these companies - 84 in total - are production companies. These are the content creators. They conceive, develop, design, produce, program, and distribute everything from television series, feature films, and documentaries; to e-learning software, interactive websites, and mobile apps. COMPANY PROFILE: !Tell Tale Productions Tell Tale Productions was founded in 2003 and specializes in producing one-off documentaries, non-scripted series, and interactive digital content. During the past decade, the company has grown from one person working from a !home office to eight full-time employees and a 5,000 square ft. company owned building. The growth of the Film & TV sector during the past two decades has both surprised and impressed company founder Edward Peill. When he graduated from Acadia University in 1989, he couldn’t find the type of work he wanted to do in Nova Scotia so he moved away and spent the next six years working throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific. During a visit home in 1996, he met one of the founders of Salter Street Films !who suggested he should explore working in Film & TV. The result was the founding of Tell Tale. In 2013, Tell Tale Productions had a production volume of $3.5 million and created 230 contract jobs on eight different TV and digital media productions.