Things starting to roll again for Manitoba film industry
In it’s 2022-23 budget, the Saskatchewan government increased its funding in the Creative Saskatchewan Production Grant Program for film and television from $2 million to $10 million.The government is hoping to attract larger scale Saskatchewan-made films, and rebuild the industry that crumbled when the Wall government cut the film tax credit in 2014.“We’re going to see some really big impacts this year with this new injection into the film and television program,” said Lampard.
“It’s going to result in jobs on film production and post-production. It’s going to give filmmakers opportunities to work on larger production budgets. And also, our goal is to have steady work for crews so people have good paying jobs and steady sustainable employment throughout the year.” There are currently no statistics on how many new films the funding is attracting as the increase is still in its early days, according to Lampard.“An increase in funding always means more opportunities for work,” said Sinclair. “For creators that are able to access the funding directly it means more original films and content coming out of Saskatchewan. Being able to take your script into production is always a dream come true, especially for young filmmakers.
“Any funding support is great, but even just interest is great,” said Sinclair. “Like going out to see a Saskatchewan film or trying to find a way to, you know, share it on social media or anything like that. All of that stuff really helps. So. I think it just takes some excitement about what we’re doing.”