The CEO of Mastermind Studios in Kamloops says the province is not meeting demand for the number of filmmakers who want to shoot here.

Peter Cameron-Inglis says there are a lack of facilities and a lack of trained crew to accommodate potential filmmakers.

He says the shortfall means billions of dollars missed out on for the B.C. economy.

“While we get a great deal of it in British Columbia from a production standpoint – $3.5 billion dollars last year was spent to produce motion pictures – we see a great deal of it being sent away. Because when we hit capacity and there’s no more studios and there’s no more crew, they have to go elsewhere to film,” Cameron-Inglis says.

“I don’t have an exact number, but it’s in multiples of that $3.5 billion. There’s more than what has filmed in British Columbia in the last year that has had to look elsewhere that wanted to film elsewhere in B.C.”

Cameron-Inglis says the demand for facilities can mean production crews needing to book years in advance in some cases.

He says the demand for video production is growing at an ‘unprecedented rate’ and says government assistance is needed to help more people get trained in the industry.

(Photo: Twitter – Mastermind Studios)