Nova Scotia animation industry 'very close' to incentive program deal

Animators in Nova Scotia had a four-hour meeting with government officials on Friday and are "very close" to an agreement on an incentive program, says Screen Nova Scotia.

It's the latest in a series of meetings between members of the film industry and Nova Scotia's Department of Finance, prompted by the Liberal government's spring budget that included a cut to the film industry tax credit. 

Screen Nova Scotia is pleased with the progress made today, said Scott Simpson, the vice-chair of the organization.

"The only hurdle is getting approvals," he said.

Talks are slated to resume early next week.

The new tax credit system will have to be "very close" to what was on offer before for the animation sector of the film industry to be viable, said Yasser Haidar, a producer at Huminah Huminah animation studios in Dartmouth. 

Haider is originally from Toronto, where he worked for Disney Features. He says the tax credit is the reason he's in Nova Scotia and the only reason Huminah Huminah is able to employ 25 people.

'They are good, stable jobs'

The animation industry works on a different business model than live action productions, he said.

"Live action industry closes after each production, they open up a corporation for that production, whereas in animation we are 365 days a year," said Haidar.

The animation sector often has projects that span a year and a half to two years, said Simpson.

"They are good, stable jobs for young people," Simpson said. "It's a modern, tech-driven industry, it's the cutting edge, so we very much want to see that developed."

The Department of Finance said the government has "listened to the industry's concerns and shared its own."

"Government said, all along, that it values this industry and wants to see it remain in Nova Scotia," said Darcy MacRae, a spokesperson with the department.
 
Huminah Huminah has two potential clients on hold because they don't know what will be on offer until a deal with the province is hashed out, said Haider.

Animation studios pitch clients before production begins on a project to tell them what they can offer, including the tax credit component, he said.

"Without it, we are somewhat working blind," Haider said. "That's why the income tax option that they were originally asking us to use wouldn't really work for us. It has to be something that's done beforehand."