Film prop-rental business makes turnaround

BURNABY (NEWS1130) – Last year, he had to sell half his inventory to stay afloat. Today, Paul Pincott says business is brisk.

“The phone is ringing all day long. The rentals are going out on a daily and hourly basis right now,” he says.

Pincott runs Can Am Importique, a Burnaby company that rents out props to local film and TV productions.

It’s a business that’s been around for 38 years, but the downturn in the movie industry forced Pincott to make some difficult decisions last year.

This year, however, is looking different.

He’s busy again and feels the industry exodus to other parts of Canada offering better film-tax incentives is over, for a number of reasons.

“It’s a combination of our climate, our talent, the infrastructure we’ve built, of course the falling Canadian dollar, and our proximity to Los Angeles,” he says.

Still, other industry types say Vancouver will never see the same kind of activity we saw a decade or two ago. They argue BC’s tax incentives remain uncompetitive.

But they concede if the dollar remains low, more feature films may be shot here.