Bob Mackin
Less than a month after the B.C. NDP government increased tax breaks, the parent company of the province’s biggest video game studio is being taken private in one of the largest buyouts in history.
Premier David Eby touring the EA Sports studio in Burnaby on July 7. (BC Gov/Flickr)
Premier David Eby and Minister of Finance Brenda Bailey toured the EA Sports production campus in Burnaby on July 7 to announce tax credits for the video game industry would be made permanent and rise from 17.5% to 25% on Sept. 1.
Bailey is the former CEO of the Silicon Sisters video game production company.
The EA takeover was announced Sept. 29, the same day that Trump said for a second time that he would slap a 100% tariff on films made outside the United States.
Tariffs, the sequel
Trump said on his Truth Social account that he will impose a 100% tariff on “any and all movies that are made outside of the United States,” because the business of making movies had been stolen, “like candy from a baby.”
Last May, Trump said he would authorize the Department of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to begin the process of instituting a 100% tariff.
During Trump’s first administration, the U.S. reached a free trade deal with Canada and Mexico in 2018. That deal is up for renegotiation.
“CUSMA’s cultural exemption will continue to provide stability to the Canadian screen industries and support key policy mechanisms such as federal and provincial tax credits and government investment in Canadian content,” said the Directors Guild of Canada in 2019.
Subsidies, the sequel
Premier David Eby touring the EA Sports studio in Burnaby on July 7. (BC Gov/Flickr)
Before Christmas 2024, Eby announced the tax credit for international film and TV projects would increase from 28% to 36% beginning in 2025. Those with production costs in B.C. greater than $200 million qualify for a 2% bonus.
B.C.’s production industry was worth $2 billion in GDP in 2023.
According to Creative B.C.’s latest in-production list, among the U.S.-targeted productions lensing in B.C. are: “In Alaska,” “Animal Control,” “Carrie,” and “Air Bud Returns.”
Coming to a theatre near you on Oct. 10: the Vancouver-shot, Disney sci-fi flick “Tron:Ares.”
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