Film was never likely to be funded
THE Committee for Economic Development has finally clarified what it has been saying for months, that will not support with finance the filming of a Toilers of the Sea movie in Guernsey.
It’s absolutely no surprise. There may be benefits in backing the Toilers production, but it would be a pretty big punt, and taxpayers don’t tend to enjoy seeing their taxes punted away by politicians. And risk-averse politicians know that if you have to take any kind of risk with public finances, you don’t want to be doing so straight into individuals’ pockets.
The promise that the money would secure filming in Guernsey is appealing, but also seems an odd logic for government to follow. Yes money should be spent in the local economy, but it would be recycled taxpayers’ money – another government support scheme, dressed in different clothing. Why would Economic Development feel that would be a good idea?
We will never really know if the island has benefitted from a Potato Peel Pie visitor bounce. But we do hear that no visitors say ‘what a shame it wasn’t actually filmed in Guernsey’.
And when we see the response to the A La Perchoine feature film, unveiled this week, we swell with pride for a local production so brilliantly done.
So Toilers pushes on and many will wish the project well. But it was never going to be riding the waves with taxpayers' cash.