The Saskatchewan Film Industry
The Saskatchewan film industry has been a place of opportunity for many filmmakers. Before the official beginnings of the Saskatchewan film industry, many people saw promise in its future. Pioneers such as Dick Bird paved the way for the industry that was to come. When Saskfilm began in 1989 with the Film Tax Credit, people from all over the country rushed here to Saskatchewan to get a piece of the business. The industry created over 1200 jobs and injected roughly two million dollars into the economy each year it was offered. Productions such as “Just Friends” (feature film staring Ryan Reynolds) and “Corner Gas” (television sitcom staring Brent Butt) found a home in our industry. Unfortunately all good things come to an end. After years of differing political views on how the province's money should be spent, the provincial government cut the film industry's tax credit in 2013. This almost killed the industry all together. Now only small, low budget films, are produced in Saskatchewan due to the limited offering of Creative Saskatchewan’s grant that only provides financial support for smaller projects. In my view, there is a reason to revive the industry’s possibilities. In an era of technology and digital movies, the Saskatchewan film industry can thrive again.
Cale's Rant: Bring Back the Saskatchewan Film Industry
For my presentation I did a rant in the style of one of Canada's greatest comedians, Rick Mercer. Since his rants are short and hard hitting, I thought making my own rant could highlight the issue of bringing back the Saskatchewan Film Industry. This a link to Rick Mercer's rants rickmercer.com/RicksRant. Below is my Saskatchewan Film Industry rant and the script.
