Thanks, Stephen.
Thank you all for having me here today for this opportunity to talk to you.
Over the past few years, work opportunities for Canadian performers in video games have grown tremendously. As Steve mentioned, we've been lending our voices to video game characters ever since Ubisoft opened its Montreal studios in 1997. Recently we've also been providing our performances on camera through performance-capture technology and our likenesses through 3-D scans.
As more and more game companies have come to Canada to set up shop, and performers have become more experienced, the number of work opportunities available to actors has exploded. That said, new opportunities also bring new challenges, and with this industry's unparalleled growth, we foresee some potential bumps in the road that the federal government can help us address.
I've worked with all the big game companies in Montreal. They all want to work with professional performers because they realize that we save them money. We deliver high-calibre performances and we understand how the business works. But these companies need more from us. They need a larger pool of professional talent skilled in the specialized requirements of video game performances. It's a different set of skills.
It's not good enough to be good at performing character voices, as you would for an animated TV show, for example. Video games operate on a whole other level. For example, motion capture demands that performers be able to work in an entirely imaginary environment. We have no costumes, no sets, and no props. Voice actors have to perform for hours, screaming and yelling without destroying their voices, often while wearing a head-mounted camera, light, and microphone. And all video game recording is done at a pace that film and television production would find unimaginable.
These kinds of working conditions require a very specialized skill set in actors, one that can take years to acquire. To respond to this need, ACTRA offers video-game-specific training and workshops for members so that they can provide the very skills for which these same companies are searching. However, more needs to be done. Theatre programs at our colleges and universities should start offering relevant training to their students, training that provides the kind of sturdy foundation that will be useful in the real world. Likewise, governments should help provide access to mid-career training for performers to teach them the skills the industry is seeking. Training more performers in this genre of production will provide the gaming industry with the depth and variety they're searching for in their drive to develop, flourish, and compete globally.
This committee has asked what measures the federal government might take to further promote growth, innovation, and commercial success in this competitive 21st century industry. I believe the government should provide support through training and education. We are already working closely with provincial governments to help develop training programs for students and working performers. In Ontario, for example, there is a partnership with the Screen Industries Research and Training Centre.
The federal government has helped Canada's film and television industry to develop through its support of the Canada Media Fund, Telefilm Canada, and federal tax credits. We think similar measures can also stimulate this country's video game industry. Provincial tax credits have been extremely effective in helping build the gaming industry across Canada, including having centres of excellence in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. The tax credit is based on the corporation's expenses in producing a qualifying interactive product.
We strongly support measures that not only allow video game companies to flourish in Canada but that also help to create a robust and accomplished domestic talent pool. The tax credit encourages companies to hire and develop Canadian talent rather than bring in temporary workers from outside the country or go elsewhere to record, as many already do.
It's not enough to simply support the companies and the production of video games. The initiatives this committee recommends should pair production incentives with the need to develop a skilled workforce that can do the specialized work that needs doing, and we can keep the work here in Canada.