Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about support for the film and TV production industry in the NWT.
Film and TV is one of our success stories. Our production industry has grown substantially in recent years, with feature films, international festival screenings, and TV series gaining attention across Canada and around the world.
The government has played an important role in that success. As the Minister stated in the House this week, 11 film projects have received our support in the last four years, leveraging about $1.5 million in investment.
I spoke about this program in the last sitting. After that, I was pleased to take part in a meeting bringing in representatives of the production community together with the Minister so that he could hear first-hand from the industry how beneficial this program would be for the North.
Mr. Speaker, there is an appetite across Canada and around the world for our northern stories. More and more producers are becoming aware of the North and want to make their productions here, but the funding model that has been applied to media, ITI's SEED program, was designed to support business start-ups. It's not designed to recognize the unique qualities of the production industry and the production process.
Film industry representatives have proposed a better model, based on our very successful Mining Incentive Program. That program offers two streams of funding, one for planning and developing new projects and one for production, to actually bring a project into being. Similar to the Mining Incentive Program, this program could be funded up to $1 million. Our production industry has grown significantly in recent years, but it has the potential to grow much more.
Northern producers have an incentive to develop projects in the North. They want the industry to grow so that they can pursue their craft here at home. They know the northern people and places, and they have northern stories to tell. All they need is access to sufficient resources and supports.
I will be working towards enhancing our funding system to provide stronger, more consistent support for this important, growing industry so we can continue to diversify our economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.