Just three feature films were shot in Surrey in 2012 - less than half the usual number.

"That's down significantly from what we'd normally see, which is between seven and 10 movies a year," Brandi Carr, who manages the City of Surrey's filming permits division, told the Now.

News of a downturn in Surrey's film business will come as no surprise to those hoping to "#SaveBCFilm" - a Twitter hashtag created to urge the provincial government to offer film producers better tax breaks. Some of B.C.'s movie business is moving to places like Ontario.

"Ontario is killing us with their tax incentives," Carr said, "because they include a percentage of the total film budget there, but here in B.C. the incentives are for local labour only. That makes us way less competitive."

On Tuesday, a couple thousand of the 25,000 British Columbians employed in the film industry filled a North Shore studio to rally for their jobs and demand government action.

North Delta's Jody Ryan and his wife, Jina Johnson, are both employed in the film biz - him as an assistant director and her as an assistant locations manager.

"With three kids, it's all a bit of a juggle right now, trying to find other work (between film-related employment)," Jody said.

A "nervous energy" filled Tuesday's town hall meeting, he said. "We need to find a solution soon, because if our (film) infrastructure goes away, we might not get it back."

Surrey saw an estimated 88 days of permitted filming in 2012, meaning close to $880,000 in economic benefits, Carr said.

In other news, Surrey will play host to some "smaller support events" related to the Times of India Film Awards - the "Bollywood Oscars" - when they come to Vancouver from April 4 to 6, Anita Huberman, CEO of Surrey Board of Trade, told the Now on Wednesday.

Twitter @tomzillich