Sask. film production seeks to restore film tax subsidy

While a recent report issued by Statistics Canada indicates the film industry may be dying in Saskatchewan, one man is making every effort to keep it alive.

In 2012 the provincial film tax subsidy was removed. The finance minister at the time said the province could not afford to offer the subsidy, which covered 55 per cent of the labour in video and film productions.

The province now operates on a grant-based system in order to support those in the film industry.

Director Sobe Charles Umeh is shooting and producing a movie in the Queen City in an effort to restore that subsidy - while keeping the film industry going here in Saskatchewan.

"That tax credit should have reinstated yesterday, because the truth is, take for instance other provinces that has this tax credit, they're attracting big investments," Umeh said.

Umeh, a Nigerian man with formal film training from the United Kingdom, started working on his film "Parallel" about 10 months ago. He said he plans to take the movie on a festival tour before trying to release it on a grander scale.

The film is a family drama that tells the story of two daughters, related through marriage, who are trying to sort out their future after their father left them a large inheritance. It's being shot on a budget of roughly $20,000.

Watch the teaser for Parallel:

The cast and crew are made up entirely of people who call Saskatchewan home, according to Umeh.

That's something he found to be a bit of a challenge, as many people who used to be involved in the industry have moved to other provinces, where the film industry is booming.

Enter Blessing Alasan, Umeh's co-producer.

"I did the talking, the sales part, without no money," Alasan said. "A lot of them understood the fact that at a certain point, it's down to the passion."

Passion isn't something Alasan is short on. 

As a young girl, she said her dream was to be involved in movies. She said she left Nigeria in an effort to get away from her father, who forbade any efforts she made to enter the film industry there. 

She said he viewed anything outside of being a doctor or an engineer, or an architect, as an unacceptable career path.

In secret, she used to write for magazines in Nigeria, and through school she would write plays. She dabbled in acting but she started to love working behind the scenes on movies.

Alasan said she moved to Regina for school, and she and Umeh met on a film set before setting off to work on Parallel together. She started her own short film project before beginning to work on Parallel.

Grant program challenging to maneuver 

As filmmakers, Umeh and Alasan said they weren't satisfied with the grant program that was put in place when the film tax subsidy was replaced.

"When you try to apply for a grant, there's so much criteria," Alasan said.

She noted that some grants require a formal education in film — which Umeh has, but she doesn't.

Alasan said sometimes the grant application process requires credentials that are hard to meet for someone who might just be starting out in the industry.

"You want me to make a movie, or you want me to apply for a grant, but you have never even given me the chance to really get this [grant]," she said.

"I tried applying for a couple of grants, even [Umeh] did. By the time he saw the whole thing he has to do to apply for a grant, he was like 'you know what? I think I have $5,000, I'm going to do this.'"

Alasan said Umeh did try applying for four grants, but all of his applications kept coming back incomplete, and by the time he had properly filled out his application, the money was gone.

Return of subsidy would create jobs, promote province

The film subsidy was cut long before Umeh and Alasan were in Canada.

They said from conversations with their cast and crew on the set of Parallel, many of them recall those days as the glory days of the industry in Saskatchewan.

Umeh said he had heard there were many productions underway in the province in those days.

"Bringing back the tax credit is not just about giving people tax credit, it's about creating jobs," Umeh said.

"Where I come from in Nigeria, the film industry is the second biggest employment sector. They have over a million people working there."

He noted that Parallel, although it was done on a shoestring budget, created work for 15 people.

Umeh also noted it's a way for the province to showcase the natural beauty that the province has.

"It's like heaven," Alasan said of Saskatchewan. "I can't define what it feels like, the beauty, you can't even explain it, it's unexplainable."