Sask. filmmakers welcome new funding, but say more is needed for industry to thrive
Will $8M make a difference after Sask. gutted its film industry a decade ago?
Saskatchewan filmmakers say they are happy about new funding for the industry, but that more is necessary if the field is to flourish in the province.
This year's provincial budget — unveiled on Wednesday — saw an additional $8 million go toward the Saskatchewan production grant program for film and television. There's now $10 million on the table for the upcoming fiscal year, all of it administered through the Crown corporation Creative Saskatchewan.
Filmmakers say the funding is good news for an industry that was gutted a decade ago.
"We've always been relevant, but now we're relevant again for the government, and that is a very positive thing," said Layton Burton, a Regina filmmaker.
However, industry members also say the new funding it is not nearly enough to make up for a generation of filmmakers who were forced to move away when work dried up after the tax credit was cut.
They say that if the province wants to revitalize the industry that once made Little Mosque on the Prairie and Corner Gas iconic pieces of Canadian pop culture, more support is necessary.
A decade of pain
A decade ago, the Saskatchewan government announced it would end the film employment tax credit, which provided up to 55 per cent of the labour costs in film and video productions.
At the time the provincial government said it was costing the province too much money.
Although there were protests and demonstrations outside the legislature, the decision would not be reversed.
The consequences were dire for the industry, Louise BigEagle told Stefani Langenegger on The Morning Edition.
"The industry just kind of went downhill and slowed down a lot," said BigEagle, an Indigenous filmmaker who lives in Regina and works for the Saskatchewan Filmpool Co-operative.
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In the years before 2012, filmmakers were able to easily support themselves, and the various productions brought business and cash to all corners of the province.
A study conducted by the SaskFilm and the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce found that from 1998 to 2012, the film industry generated a total of $514.6 million of economic activity after government expenses. That works out to $36.7 million in annual economic activity.
That changed once the tax credit was slashed.
A report from 2020 by Statistics Canada showed that the operating revenue generated by film, television and video productions in Saskatchewan in 2007 was $42.2 million. Ten years later in 2017, operating revenue had fallen to $21.3 million.
By 2019 it had fallen to $17.2 million.
"There really wasn't an industry. There was no infrastructure," Burton said.
"Everyone that I used to work with … everyone that used to be part of the film family here in Saskatchewan were sent away, so there was no one."
More needed
The provincial government says the new funding is meant to attract more and larger projects to Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan's Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport Laura Ross said now the time is right to invest in the industry thanks to the rise of streaming services in the past decade.
"Creative Saskatchewan and SMPIA (Saskatchewan Motion Picture Industry Association) estimate that this investment will lead to $50 million in film and television investment and many millions more in economic output," Ross said in a statement.
Industry insiders say that although the new funding announced this week opened the door to revitalizing the industry, it doesn't replace the tax credit system.
Zarqa Nawaz is a Regina filmmaker and writer. She created Little Mosque on the Prairie and just finished shooting a new digital pilot, Zarqa, for CBC.
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Nawaz said shows like Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie were huge hits and gave the industry confidence that Canada could make blockbuster television that would have international appeal.
"Prior to those shows, it was really hard to get Canadians to watch Canadian television and since that era, we have seen incredible shows come out of Canada, like Schitt's Creek and Kim's Convenience," Nawaz said.
This made Saskatchewan government's decision to slash the tax credit all the more baffling. It led to a decade of "devastation" in the Saskatchewan's film industry, Nawaz said.
The new funding is only a step toward its recovery, Nawaz said. She still believes the tax credit system is a necessity.
"If you can't compete, why would they come to Saskatchewan? It's not economically feasible," she said.
"We need it. There's no there's no doubt about it. Without it, you can't create a television industry."
Statements from the Saskatchewan government make a return of the tax credit sound unlikely.
It did not directly respond to questions on whether it would look to reinstate the tax credit in the future.
The new funding does provide possible avenues for filmmakers like Nawaz.
She said she's been looking to make her recent special into a full half-hour series. With the funding announced on Wednesday, it may now be possible to make the series in Regina.
"I can … convince a broadcaster to allow me to shoot it in Saskatchewan," she said.
"Otherwise we would have had to go to Winnipeg."