July 27 will now be recognized as Screen in BC Day, as the provincial government celebrates the wide range of screen-based entertainment that is created in B.C.

As part of Screen in BC Day,MLA Steve Thomson and MLA Norm Letnick were taken on a regional tour by the Okanagan Film Commission. The dignitaries stopped in at Bardel Animation, Yeti Farm Creative and The Film Factory Creative House.

Regional Film Offices receive operational funding from the province through Creative BC's Regional Film Funding Program, which helps support the growth of the film and television industry throughout B.C.

MLA Steve Thomson said for the current fiscal year, Creative BC will contribute $213,000 toward the regional film offices, which includes $30,000 to the Okanagan Film Commission.

“It’s great here for Kelowna, for the Central Okanagan, and also for the province as there are 20,000 jobs in British Columbia, over $2 billion in economic activity in the past year, significantly up from the previous year. So this is something we see as tremendous opportunity for growth."

Thomson went on to add there is a wide range of talent in the Okanagan and screen-based entertainment provides high-paying jobs in all sectors of the industry.

The Province also delivered on a promise to open a B.C. Film and Television Office in Los Angeles, Calif., to further enhance the B.C. industry's market presence in the region. This new office is said to create industry-wide marketing activities and facilitate new north-south opportunities for B.C.-based producers.

This includes the appointment of Dr. Steven Funk as the Special Envoy, Film and Digital Arts to California. Funk, will work on behalf of the  province in California with the film, television, animation and visual  effects industries.

B.C.’s motion-picture industry supports approximately 20,000 direct and indirect quality jobs that make up a talented, highly experienced and knowledge-driven workforce.