The Quebec Film and Television Council (QFTC) is proud to publish the 2021 economic results for foreign film productions, visual effects and animation sectors.
While the economic benefits for the audiovisual industry were largely impacted by the health crisis in 2020, the QFTC is pleased to report a high growth for the year 2021. For the first time, all sectors combined (domestic and foreign productions, visual effects and animation) reached a record total volume of nearly $2.5 billion in direct spend in Quebec.
Foreign productions had its best year ever with $470 million in economic benefits*, 30% increase compared to 2019, where the impact was $360 million for an equivalent number of productions. This increase in economic benefits can be explained in particular by the hosting of television series from major American studios as well as larger-scale productions. In total, 21 foreign productions (eight series and thirteen films) were filmed in Quebec, compared to 30 in 2019 (eight series and twenty-two films). These projects included the television series, Three Pines, an adaptation of Louise Penny’s novels that is set in the Eastern Townships, Ghosts from CBS Television Studios/Lionsgate Television, the Netflix production Single All the Way, and the A24 horror comedy Disappointment Blvd. 2021 also saw the hosting of Paramount Pictures’ larger budget Transformers 7: Rise of the Beasts shoot. The impact of some of these foreign shoots will be recognized in 2022 and beyond.
The visual effects sector also experienced its best year to date, with $780 million in economic benefits* a 25% increase from 2019. As a reminder, Montreal is one of the three largest visual effects hubs in the world and the sector has averaged 27% annual growth between 2009 and 2019. Quebec studios worked on dozens of projects in 2021, including the films Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Warner Bros) and Moonfall (Centropolis Entertainment, filmed in Quebec), as well as the series The Mysterious Benedict Society (Disney) and Stranger Things (Netflix).
The animation sector has continued to experience sustained growth over the past five years. In 2021, the sector accounted for $171 million in economic benefits*. The projects that Quebec studios have worked on include F is for Family (Netflix), Ron’s Gone Wrong (Disney), What if…? (Marvel) and The Addams Family 2 (MGM).
The QFTC also wishes to highlight the growth in domestic productions, which also had an exceptional year in terms of economic impact and the number of projects produced.
After a very challenging year in 2020, the QFTC is very pleased to note that Quebec’s audiovisual industry as a whole has not only returned to its pre-pandemic production level, but has even greatly surpassed it. With a marked increase for content production worldwide, this data clearly demonstrates the appeal of Quebec’s expertise and talent and positions Quebec as an important player on the world stage. As an economic development agency, the QFTC will continue to fulfil its mission of cooperation and constant collaboration with all stakeholders from here and abroad, so that the audiovisual sector will continue to benefit from this growth in the years to come
Christine Maestracci, President and CEO of the QFTC.
*Statistical data provided by the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC)
