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Megan Folden

Nine Creative Saskatchewan Productions Expected to Generate $21 Million In Economic Impact

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Regina, Saskatchewan
September 27, 2023

Nine Creative Saskatchewan Productions Expected to Generate $21 Million In Economic Impact

This afternoon, Creative Saskatchewan and the Government of Saskatchewan joined together to preview nine of the thirty-four productions funded over the past two years by the Creative Saskatchewan Feature Film and Television Production Grant Program during a private screening event at the IMAX theatre in Regina, SK.

“Saskatchewan has the capability and talent to produce the type of content that the world is craving right now, and that was very evident today.” Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Laura Ross said. “Supporting these productions in our province has resulted in an estimated 100 jobs and additional training programs to help meet industry demand. Not to mention, these shows are putting Saskatchewan on the map!”

Season 10 of ALONE, which filmed in northern Saskatchewan, has been viewed over 1.5 million times on Amazon Prime and HISTORY Canada.

“Today was just a taste of what’s to come,” Creative Saskatchewan CEO Erin Dean said. “These nine shows alone are estimated to create over $21 million in positive economic impact for the province. Film is big business and we’re so proud of our local production companies’ success!”

Creative Saskatchewan invested a total of $4.5 million into the productions that were featured at the IMAX theatre. For every $1 invested, the economy received a boost of $4.80.

One of the feature films included in the showreel was Die Alone, the genre bending thriller movie starring Carrie-Anne Moss from The Matrix franchise.

“It’s been so incredible to be able to shoot this movie in Saskatchewan,” says Kevin DeWalt of Regina based Minds Eye Entertainment, “the industry is growing and we’re fortunate to have programs that support us and film-friendly communities that welcome us with open arms.”

The productions featured included a Heritage Minute for Mary ‘Bonnie’ Baker, Die Alone, Alone season 10, Guardians of the North, A Cowboy Christmas, Flat Out Foods, Why Am I?, Zarqa, and Treaty Road.

Media clips and images of the productions featured, along with credits where applicable, are available for sharing here.

About Creative Saskatchewan
Creative Saskatchewan is the economic development agency for Saskatchewan’s creative industries and the official film commission for the province. The agency’s investments propel creative entrepreneurs as they create, perform, innovate, and export in their pursuit of commercial success.

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For more information, please contact:

Megan Folden

Creative Saskatchewan

Phone: (306) 798-2191

Cell: (306) 529-7377

Email: megan.folden@creativesask.ca

Notice of Email Spoofing

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It has come to our attention that a Creative Saskatchewan staff email was recently spoofed in a cyberattack against a client.

In a spoofing attack, the cybercriminal can make messages appear to be from a legitimate email address with the purpose of obtaining information for criminal activity.

Even if the source of the email looks like it is from Creative Saskatchewan, please note that any information or questions surrounding banking, grant documents, passwords, asking for money, gift cards, invoices, details to a personal record etc. (especially if there’s a sense of urgency) should be followed up with a phone call to double check that they are legitimate.

Please be advised that this is an isolated attack and the necessary authorities and institutions have been alerted. Creative Saskatchewan is participating in a formal investigation with the police.

If you have any concerns or questions, please reach out to our CEO at erin.dean@creativesask.ca.

Season 2 Set for Docuseries Featuring Northern Saskatchewan Emergency Responders

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Released on August 30, 2023 via the Government of Saskatchewan’s website.

Guardians of the North is set to return for a second season in 2024.

The television docuseries follows wildland firefighters and dedicated First Nation responders in Saskatchewan’s Indigenous and northern communities while they protect the people, property and resources of the north. The second season is set to air next spring on CityTV Saskatchewan.

“Telling the stories of these highly trained public safety personnel helps highlight the danger they put themselves in when providing protection for the province,” Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Paul Merriman said. “We are grateful for all northern responders and the partners who work together to respond to disasters and emergencies.”

The second season will continue to follow the main characters from season one and others, as they continue to prepare for and respond to wildfires and evacuations during the summer of 2023.

“In recent years, our success in building a dedicated audience has been most evident through Guardians of the North,” Wavelength Entertainment Producer Chris Triffo said. “The overwhelmingly positive reception from both local and non-local viewers has been truly remarkable. Our achievements owe much to the invaluable backing of the SPSA, Saskatchewan First Nations Emergency Management, Creative Saskatchewan and Citytv Saskatchewan.”

Guardians of the North receives funding from Creative Saskatchewan’s Feature Film and TV Production grant. In the first season, the original $276,000 investment saw an estimated $1.3 million of economic outputs back into Saskatchewan.

“This is a Saskatchewan success story through and through,” says Erin Dean, CEO of Creative Saskatchewan. “Not only does this project shine a light on local, hardworking heroes, but the cinematography does a beautiful job capturing Saskatchewan’s diverse topography while injecting significant revenue into the province. This show is putting Saskatchewan on the map!”

The SPSA is a Treasury Board Crown that provides public safety services including fire safety training, investigation, emergency planning, response, recovery and emergency communications. The Agency operates Sask911, SaskAlert and the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre.

Creative Saskatchewan is the economic development agency for Saskatchewan’s creative industries and the official film commission for the province. The agency’s investments propel creative entrepreneurs as they create, perform, innovate, and export in their pursuit of commercial success.

Wavelength Entertainment is a full-service production/distribution company with offices located throughout Canada. Wavelength is dedicated to the creation of smart, imaginative and entertaining content for global audiences, on all media platforms. The Emmy award winning team has worked together for over 20 years on programming that has been seen in 150 countries, 30 languages and hundreds of channels/platforms including Netflix, Amazon, Discovery +, CBC, Rogers, History, Smithsonian, ID, HBO, TLC and A&E.

For more information, please visit: https://www.wavelength-entertainment.com/guardians-of-the-north

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For more information, contact:

Christopher Clemett
Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA)
Regina
Phone: 306-526-8417
Email: christopher.clemett@gov.sk.ca

Chris Triffo
Wavelength Entertainment
Phone: 306-501-0133
Email: christopher@wavelengthentertainment.com

Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Tries Something New

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Even for longstanding arts organizations with sizable profiles, grant funding can help them work on something they’ve rarely tried before. That was the case in 2022 for Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, who used Creative Saskatchewan’s Live Performing Arts Production Grant to create something a little outside their usual faire.

Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan (SOTS) isn’t new to taking a risk. The non-profit, founded in 1985, has rode the up and down waves of the arts since then, including building a new festival site that was completed in 2020. With that new location came new theatrical opportunities, including premiering a new Canadian play by local playwright Daniel Macdonald called Iago Speaks.

So, where’s the risk? Well, SOTS has traditionally relied on adapting Shakespeare’s canon rather than branching out into Shakespeare-inspired work. Stretching out to different parts of the organisation’s mandate, as general manager Melanie Rogowski puts it, requires a certain amount of faith.

“We know that it will be new territory for our audiences. So relying on box office, at least initially, can be a little risky. So, getting grants to support either new work or the Canadian work just helps us to be able to resource the production at a level that we would one of our mainstage Shakespeare plays.”

Box office instability, given how hard the ongoing pandemic has hit live theatre, was a given. However, Creative Saskatchewan’s support allowed the production team to breathe a little bit easier. Despite the turmoil of the sector, Rogowski says that the play’s reception from near and far has given her team a boost.

“Our work doesn’t tend to go out. So it just felt really good to hear that kind of validation from not only your peers in Saskatoon, but also from some of our peers on the national stage as well.”

That warm response was evident locally as well. Case in point, a third of respondents to the festival’s annual survey said that the festival should continue with what they put forward last season and a sizeable amount also said Iago Speaks was their favourite of the three plays the SOTS team produced. For Rogowski, whose team recently added a new artistic director, the message is clear: keep innovating within your well-established mandate.

“We understand that that heavy hitter Shakespeare play is still what people look to us for and so that’s something we want to continue to be able to provide for people. But we also think it’s very valuable to be a part of a larger national conversation Either about new interpretations on classical work, or just contributing to the artistic landscape of new Canadian theatre.”

The production garnered multiple Saskatoon and Area Theatre Award nominations, including Production Excellence, Excellence in New Work (Daniel Macdonald as the playwright), Artistic Excellent Award (Skye Brandon and Joshua Beaudry as actors), and The Leadership Award for the festivals then interim Co-Artistic Directors Skye Brandon and Yvette Nolan.

And so, with the beautiful inevitability of an annual festival comes the question: what about next year? For Rogowski, as she looks to the first festival led by new artistic director Kayvon Khoshkam, the goal is to continue building on the momentum of Iago Speaks. For the second season in a row SOTS will be staging a world premiere by co-producing The Dark Lady by Jessica B Hill, in collaboration with Winnipeg’s Shakespeare in the Ruin.

“The more we can give our artists an opportunity to work that muscle and to have an opportunity to grow. It’s only going to benefit the whole industry.”

Written by John Loeppky

For more information about Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, including regarding their recent festival announcement and 2023’s theme (Bringing the Light), you can visit their website.

Sum Theatre Embraces Change with Increased Organizational Capacity

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It’s fair to say that the Saskatchewan art leadership landscape has undergone a sizable shift in the last three years or so. New leadership teams at both the Globe and Persephone, a changing of the guard at organizations like Common Weal, and now a new Artistic Director for Sum Theatre. For the Saskatoon company, founded in 2012, they got a headstart on a new direction. Thanks to a 2020 Creative Saskatchewan’s Business Capacity Grant, Sum was able to hire three artists to help reimagine their decision making structure.

That new team–which included longstanding Saskatchewan artists Mackenzie Dawson, Krystel Pederson, Judith Schulz, Yvette Nolan, and Laura Negraeff– was tasked with looking at how an organization that had previously only had enough funding to provide two staff positions (both part-time) could grow within a new model. In applying for the business capacity grant, founder and Artistic Director Joel Bernbaum sought to answer three questions:

How could Sum make space for a model that allowed enough funding for the leadership team to spend more time on planning and less time on the draining day to day tasks of keeping independent theatre company alive? How could the organization find someone (or some people) dedicated to managing the business aspects of the operation? And, lastly, how could Sum continue to develop and hold onto talented emerging theatre artists that still tend to find themselves working in bigger centres rather than staying home?

One of the artists who was hired with the funding provided by the grant, Mackenzie Dawson, has recently been named Bernbaum’s successor as he moves on to other opportunities. Dawson said in a press release announcing his new role that his history with the organization, starting as an assistant stage manager for the 2019 edition of Theatre in the Park, should serve him well in his new gig.

“I had to keep the children from running into the stage area and ‘borrowing’ the props. I thought ‘this is chaos’, it’s stuff you would never see at a regular stage show, but that experience really stuck with me.”

He added that his experience as an Artistic Associate has been integral to his development as both an artist and an arts administrator.

“The past two years have been the most intense professional development I’ve ever had, and for me it all comes down to nurturing relationships through theatre. I’m now in a position where I can take care of people; the ones I work with and the people we can reach with the work.”

For his part, Bernbaum who has led or co-led Sum Theatre—most notably alongside Heather Morrisson— since the company’s inception in 2012, is excited to see how Dawson will continue the mission of Sum Theatre: to bring theatre to audiences that may not typically experience the art form.

“To me art is about creativity, and a big part of creativity is change. I look forward to watching Sum Theatre grow and change with Mackenzie’s capable leadership.”

One of the programs Mackenzie is already helping to lead is the aforementioned Theatre in the Park. Now entering its eleventh season, the yearly program includes selecting or commissioning a play—usually created or adapted by the ensemble—producing and then performing it in Saskatoon and area parks.

This year’s play, Zero Gravity, is described by the company as “a Sci-Fi exploration of climate breakdown and what will happen if we don’t start changing the way we live on Mother Earth.” Over the years, Theatre in the Park has expanded its reach, much like the leadership team has expanded its horizons, and this year’s season now includes dates in Regina, Martensville, Warman, Davidson, Indian Head, Rosetown, Prince Albert, Stanley Mission, and La Ronge.

When he announced that he was moving on from his position, Bernbaum said that, although he was receiving plenty of feedback on his departure, this kind of change was one that would benefit all involved.

“It has been an honour to serve our community as a member of the Sum Theatre team since the beginning. I’ve received a lot of credit for our work, but Sum has always been a team effort. The Sum truly is greater than any one part.”

By John Loeppky

If you’d like to take a closer look at how Sum Theatre breaks down the barriers prospective audience members face, whether it’s by performing in a public space or creating a monthly showcase for new work, you can do so on a variety of platforms. Those include their website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

New Children’s Book Expands Availability of Cree Language for Kids

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Patricia Deiter McArthur has held many roles as a Saskatchewan creative. She’s been a writer, a translator, an editor, an academic writer, and—perhaps most foundationally—an educator. With the support of Creative Saskatchewan’s book publishing grant she was able to bring her latest project, Nēhiyawēwin awāsi-masinahikanis: A Little Plains Cree Language Book for Children, to life.

Partnering with Regina’s Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing, Deiter has also brought on two elders and an illustrator from the Peepeekisis Cree Nation to edit the book and support the project. The book, which is primarily intended for use in educational settings, allows young readers to understand basic words, grammatical rules, and phrases in Plains Cree. The goal is to make the path to fluency a little bit easier while including illustrations alongside multiple formats for the book. For Deiter, it’s all about giving children the tools to succeed in preserving their language and culture.

“Following the themes of the Saskatchewan Curriculum Guide for Kindergarten to Grade 12 on Aboriginal Languages, the content focuses on terms familiar to the First Nations Cree people of Saskatchewan…Our hope is to encourage a basic understanding of the language so that learners are able to converse with Plains Cree speakers. The best path to fluency in the Plains Cree language is immersion, but learning one word at a time is a good place to start!”

Deiter, who teaches on Peepeekisis, originally chose to pursue creating the book because she needed a resource in her own classroom. Alongside her many published works, which include two books published by the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre, she is the executor of her aunt, Eleanor Brass’, literary work. Bringing Brass’ stories, originally published by the Glenbow Museum in 1978, back to print has been the focus of another grant Dieter received from Creative Saskatchewan in 2021.

Nēhiyawēwin awāsi-masinahikanis: A Little Plains Cree Language Book for Children has experienced immediate success with its initial print run close to selling out within a month. Deiter attributes this success to it being the only Plains Cree textbook available for those of elementary school age and also points to the fact that it has been ordered in the hundreds by schools and their districts since its release in late 2022. The book is available in an enhanced ebook format as well as a more traditional printed version. The main selling point of the ebook is that it allows those with access to a computer (no internet required once you have the file) to hear the words spoken, bringing the language to life and off the page.

By John Loeppky

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