The Audiovisual Locations Industry in Canada: Considering British Columbia as Hollywood North

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to characterize the audiovisual locations industry in Canada, an industry which attracted $500 million in direct spending by foreign film and television producers in 1994. Two questions are posed: What is the locations industry? and What is its significance as an emerging cultural industry in the Canadian context? The paper first situates the locations industry in its theoretical, historical, and sociopolitical context. It explains its economic rationale and considers the extent to which the locations industry integrates audiovisual production within the Hollywood industry. A case study of British Columbia, Canada’s largest centre for locations production, is then presented to consider how the locations industry defines place. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the promotion of locations production in Canada speaks to a larger debate over the nature of Canadian cultural production.