TV production fund cut

The P.E.I. government is cutting funding for television and film production by $300,000, saying the industry does not create enough long-term employment.

P.E.I. gave out around $1 million in film and tax credits in 2004.

The Island has also been the stage for the filming of the Daniel Day Lewis movie The Ballad of Jack and Rose, and chef Michael Smith's TV series Chef At Home.

Mike Currie, the province's development minister, said the industry is not producing enough full-time jobs. "If you look at aerospace, when they create a job, it's a full-time job. When a film is done there's a ramp-up for a period of time, and then when the project is done, they're out of work."

• GOVERNMENT OF P.E.I.: Film and TV program information

Cellar Door Productions, is an Island-based company that's produced Smith's TV shows and has won two Gemini awards for its animated series Doodlez. Cellar Door's owner has threatened to move the cartoon production, and its $2.5-million budget, to the company's new facility in Toronto if the province does not reconsider.

Dave Moses, who runs a production company in P.E.I., believes the province isn't looking at the true impact of the industry.

"There's accommodations. There's food. There's, you know, drivers. There's rental car agencies. Trailers. All these dollars that could be coming to Prince Edward Island are being threatened, I think."