Hollywood North Meets Portland Weird Meets Aloha

British Columbia already has "Hollywood North." Vancouver doubles for every American city on television. You've watched Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago — but you were actually watching Vancouver with different street signs.

This is our superpower. And it's about to get significantly more powerful.

The Current Landscape:

British Columbia:

• $4.5+ billion annual film production
• Major studios: Vancouver Film Studios, Bridge Studios, Mammoth Studios
• Productions: Deadpool, The Adam Project, Supernatural (15 seasons), countless Hallmark movies (we're not proud, but we're profitable)
• Tax credits: Competitive, well-established

Oregon:

• Smaller but scrappy industry
• Portland's indie film scene is legendary
• Productions: Portlandia (duh), Wild, The Goonies, Twilight (they're not proud either)
• Laika Animation Studios (Coraline, Kubo) — stop-motion excellence
• Tax credits: Oregon has them, less generous than BC

Hawaii:

• Stunning locations, obviously
• Productions: Jurassic Park franchise, Lost, Hawaii Five-0, Moana (animated, but spiritually Hawaiian)
• Limited studio infrastructure
• High production costs (everything shipped in)
• Tax credits: Yes, but complicated

The Combined Vision:

Imagine a unified Pacific film jurisdiction:

A production could seamlessly move between jurisdictions:

• Principal photography: Vancouver (studios, crews, infrastructure)
• Location shoots: Oregon coast, Hawaiian beaches, BC mountains
• Post-production: Consolidated facilities
• Animation: Laika (Oregon) + BC animation studios

The Laika Question:

Laika Animation Studios in Hillsboro, Oregon is a gem. Stop-motion animation at the highest level. Coraline, ParaNorman, Kubo and the Two Strings, Missing Link.

Under this partnership:

• Laika remains in Oregon
• Co-production agreements with BC animation industry
• Shared talent pipeline
• Joint training programs

We don't want to absorb Laika. We want to be worthy of Laika.

Hawaii's Role:

Hawaii has been "Location, Hawaii" for decades — beautiful backdrops but limited local industry development.

Partnership opportunity:

• Develop Hawaiian studio infrastructure — not everything needs to ship from LA
• Train local crews — Hawaiian film industry jobs for Hawaiians
• Indigenous storytelling — Hawaiian stories told by Hawaiian creators, supported by provincial resources
• Sustainable production practices — Hawaii is ecologically fragile; film production must respect that

The Tax Credit Harmonization Challenge:

Three different tax credit systems. Three different qualifying criteria. This is a mess.

Options:

1. BC system dominates — Oregon and Hawaii adopt BC's framework
2. Best of all three — Create new unified system taking strongest elements
3. Regional variation — Different credits for different location types

This needs negotiation. We welcome input from industry professionals.

Discussion Questions:

1. How do we prevent Vancouver from cannibalizing Oregon/Hawaii production, vs. developing each region's strengths?
2. Should there be a "local content" requirement ensuring each region's stories get told?
3. How do we address the environmental impact of film production, especially in Hawaii?
4. Is there a future in joint BC-Oregon-Hawaii original content? A "Cascadia Studios" brand?
5. The Hallmark movie industrial complex: blessing or curse?