The Alberta Film Commission is the provincial team that helps productions find locations, crews, studios and funding across Alberta. It operates under Alberta’s Ministry of Arts, Culture and Status of Women and supports the Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Trade. The headline number for filmmakers is a refundable tax credit of up to 30%.
Alberta had a Calgary film office before it had a provincial film agency, which we covered in Calgary opened a film office before Alberta had a film agency. The provincial side has grown a lot since. The Commission’s own list of Made in Alberta titles runs from Fargo and The Last of Us to Heartland, Inception and Interstellar.
What the Commission does
Art-house short, TV series or big feature, the Commission starts the same way, by talking with you about what you need. It provides customized scouting packages, and it can point you to locations, financial incentives, crews, post-production resources, established studios and information on getting into the industry. Productions can also register a project on the Commission’s site so the team knows what services to prepare.
The funding, in plain terms
The Film and Television Tax Credit offers refundable credits of up to 30% on production and labour costs for film, television and other screen projects with a total production budget of at least $500,000. Applications are accepted year-round.
The Alberta Media Fund is a set of grants that cover different phases of production. Three are listed on the province’s funding page.
- The Alberta Made Production Grant gives small-budget productions an interim payment of 25% of eligible production costs, to a maximum of $125,000 per project.
- The Post-Production Grant covers up to 18% of post-production costs, including visual effects and digital animation, with a yearly maximum of $200,000.
- The Alberta Project Script Development Grant provides up to $55,000 toward developing a script.
Smaller creative projects have a home too. The Alberta Foundation for the Arts offers artists up to $15,000 for film and video arts projects, including short and feature narratives, documentaries and animation. Federal programs such as the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada are listed on the same page.
Where this shows up near you
Alberta’s locations do a lot of the talking. Our posts on The Revenant in Kananaskis and Fargo in Calgary’s Inglewood are two good examples. For emerging producers, the Alberta Producer Accelerator is another route worth knowing.
Making something yourself? Open the Alberta Film Commission’s funding and incentives page and see which program fits your budget, then register your project through the Commission’s main page.
Related reading from us: How Calgary Film Permits and the Calgary Film Commission Work and From film censors to film ratings, how far Alberta has come.
Quick answers
The Alberta Film Commission is the provincial team that helps film and TV productions find Alberta locations, crews, studios, post-production resources and financial incentives. It operates under the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Status of Women and supports the Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Trade.
Alberta’s Film and Television Tax Credit offers refundable credits of up to 30% on production and labour costs. Projects need a minimum total production budget of $500,000, and the province accepts applications year-round.
The Alberta Media Fund lists the Alberta Made Production Grant, an interim 25% of eligible costs to $125,000, the Post-Production Grant of up to 18%, and the Alberta Project Script Development Grant of up to $55,000.
Sources: Government of Alberta, About the Alberta Film Commission; Government of Alberta, Funding and incentives for film projects.
