Sask. filmmakers welcome new funding, but say more is needed for industry to thrive

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 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.

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.