Megan Folden

Christmas came early to Maple Creek this past weekend as the town was transformed into a holiday-themed movie set for the filming of A Cowboy Christmas!

More than 200 community members served as enthusiastic extras in the Saskatchewan film, donning their Christmas sweaters and decorating the main street to re-create the town’s annual holiday celebration.

Trilight Entertainment are the production company behind A Cowboy Christmas, which received funding support from Creative Saskatchewan’s Feature Film and TV Production Grant program. The western-romance plans to reach international audiences in time for Christmas 2023.

Maple Creek and surrounding area residents were supportive of the project, which bought a flurry of activity to the region. Jessica Watch, a Producer with Trilight Entertainment, comments on the reception from the community; “The people of Maple Creek really came through for us on this production. They went above and beyond in every aspect to make this production happen and run as smoothly as it did. Every person we met wanted to help, and they all rallied together make this production the best it could be! We could have not achieved as much as we did in this short period of time without the help of everyone here in Maple Creek. They welcomed us with open arms and we could not be more grateful for their help and support! ”

By all accounts, the weekend was a tremendous success, and the production team are elated with how the shots turned out. All were in high spirits well into the evening, especially when hot chocolate and hotdogs were given out in thanks.

In a post online, Cypress Hills – Grasslands Destination Area exclaims “What a neat experience!” referring to the hundreds of local extra all dressed up for the show, “We got a glimpse of the film world as set designers scrambled to make last minute changes, make-up artists added blush and combed some hair, and the directors yelled out things like CUT and back to 1!”

Michelle McKenzie, the Mayor of Maple Creek, recognized the ripple effects of this sort of exposure provides to her community. “I want to welcome A Cowboy Christmas to the community of Maple Creek and thank them for choosing the friendliest town in Saskatchewan,” says the self-proclaimed ‘Rootin’ Tootin’’ Mayor, “The Production showcases the community of Maple Creek, where we get the impossible done with a smile on our faces and a song in our hearts. We welcome any and all upcoming opportunities to share the warmth and wonder of our area.”

In an interview with Maple Creek News, Shane Putzlocher, Trilight Entertainment Producer, was adamant that the film would take place in his home province. Putzlocher was familiar with the town, and felt it would serve as the perfect backdrop for a movie in need of riding horses, a beautiful main street, and classic ranch architecture. “You have a beautiful Main Street there,” said Putzlocher, “[this] would be perfect for us.”

The production team chose to keep the name Maple Creek in the movie, something that’s not common according to Carmen Drapeau, facilitator for A Cowboy Christmas, “They make up names for [towns],” says Drapeau in an interview with Chat News, “This is actually the community. I think it’s amazing and I think it’s going to be great for tourism.”

“The Cypress Hills region is open for business”, said Doug Steel, Cypress Hills MLA. “It is incredibly exciting to see a production filming around Cypress Hills and we know it will generate a positive economic impact across the community. I am looking forward to watching the finished product with my family and constituents this Christmas”.

The historic Reesor Ranch will also serve as a key location for the production. On their Facebook page, Tourism Saskatchewan notes that “For over 100 years and six generations, the Reesor family at the Historic Reesor Ranch Cypress Hills has been preserving the legacy of ranching in western Canada.” This legacy will be showcased on the big screen later this year, as the primary setting of the film.

Stay tuned for updates!

Mark Wihak is a busy man. An Associate Professor in the Department of Film at the University of Regina, he has split his time between higher education and his filmmaking pursuits for the best part of two decades. Wihak, who received his BFA in Film from the University of Regina, has always been interested in the local film community. Other Wihak-led projects, like 2007’s River and 2010’s I Heart Regina, have a heavy dose of local flavour. When he began production on his most recent film Resting Potential, Wihak turned to the community; not just in terms of cast and crew, but also for funding, receiving production support from SK Arts, the Saskatchewan Filmpool, and the University of Regina. The release and marketing of the project was supported by our Market & Export Development Grant.

In a press release, Wihak says the idea for the project began in 2002, but that putting the funding in place was the key obstacle. “Because I couldn’t secure sufficient financing, for a long-while I put it on the back burner and pursued other projects…But the story was compelling to me, and I thought it might be interesting for an audience, so I always kept circling back.” And circle back he did.

Resting Potential, rather than going the traditional film festival route, is a serialised feature designed for online release. In the promotion for the film, Wihak is quick to point out that this way of working is a response to the changing winds of film marketing.

“I was excited by the creative opportunity Resting Potential offered to work in a new way to tell a long-form story, and to explore different methods to bring that story to audiences… While festivals still have roles to play in bringing new films to audiences, online platforms have freed filmmakers from the traditional gatekeepers of festival programmers, distributors and broadcasters.”

With that new approach, Wihak also brought an entirely Saskatchewanian cast and crew to the proverbial party. The team included actors like lead Kaitlyn Semple, joined by Saskatchewan-based actors Ryland Alexander, Kate Herriot, and Micaele Johnson, with longtime local actors like Mark Claxton (current head of the Saskatchewan Association of Theatre Professionals), Dawn Bird, Alan Bratt, and actor and University of Regina sessional lecturer Cavan Cunningham. The full cast and crew can be found on the film’s website.

Resting Potential focuses on a woman who experiences a fundamental change in her understanding of existence and struggles to find someone who will listen. Wihak says it is “an inquiry into the nature of belief: what do we believe and how do our beliefs shape our actions?” The project was released in nine chapters through November and December of 2022. In total, the film is just over an hour in length—68 minutes, to be exact— and can be viewed in its entirety on a variety of streaming platforms including Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook.

If you’re looking to get financial support for your feature film, take a look at our guidelines. If you receive the funding then you’ll be following in the footsteps of projects like Summer at Charlotte’s and Shadow of… Both the Feature Film and Television Production Grant and the SaskTel Max Equity Fund are part of a wider assortment of funding programs that include streams dedicated to music video creation and film and television development.

Written by John Loeppky

In a media release posted today by the Government of Saskatchewan, Creative Saskatchewan, Wavelength Entertainment, aand the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), are celebrating the premiere of a new television docuseries Guardians of the North, which was filmed in the province.

Guardians of the North was a recipient of our Feature Film and TV Production Grant, and Creative Saskatchewan committed $276,000 into the production, which is expected to result in approximately $1.3 million of economic outputs back into Saskatchewan.

The show features personnel from the SPSA, Muskoday First Nations Fire Department and Saskatchewan First Nations Emergency Management as they train for and battle wildfires on the ground and from the air during the summer of 2022. The MCCAFE wildfire near Stanley Mission, which burnt more than 12,000 hectares, is featured in the show.

“It was an honour for us to embed with the brave men and women as they worked tirelessly battling fires in extreme conditions with the express goal of protecting the North,” Producer for Guardians of the North Chris Triffo said. “We are grateful to have collaborated with SPSA, SFNEM, Creative Saskatchewan and City TV on this exciting docuseries.”

The room was buzzing at the media event, with attendees including Premier Scott Moe, Hon. Minister Christine Tell, and representatives from Saskatchewan First Nations Emergency Management, Muskoday First Nation leadership, Saskatchewan film industry representatives, and local Members of the Legislative Assembly.

“We’re thrilled to be able to support this project,” Creative Saskatchewan CEO Erin Dean said. “The film industry has an inspiring ability to capture important stories and showcase our incredible landscape to the world through cinematography, and the 200 days of production activity have a positive impact on the local economy while creating jobs.”

“Productions like Guardians of the North are what many hoped to see when our government announced increased investments to grow our film industry last spring,” Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Laura Ross said. “This is a Saskatchewan story through and through. Every $1 invested into this project is expected to generate an economic output of $4.65, resulting in a significant and lasting impact on Saskatchewan’s tourism, hospitality and trade industries.”

Saskatoon’s Karma Film production company is accustomed to working on large-scale projects. Their team has amassed forty industry awards, not least among them five Geminis. One such award, this time a 2020 Canadian Screen Award for Best Visual Effects, related to their work on Brotherhood. It’s a film, released in 2019, that was partially funded by Creative Saskatchewan via a program now known as the Feature Film & TV Production Grant.

Let’s start with the array of local news and national coverage the film has received. CTV and the Regina Leader-Post, were joined by the National Post and the Globe and Mail in profiling the project and Regina’s Rainbow Cinemas, in their own last days, chose Brotherhood as the last Canadian film they would show. Alongside Karma Film’s involvement, the feature includes contributions from Saskatoon composer and conductor William Rownson. In the words of BC-based director and writer Richard Bell, as he told SaskMusic in 2021, “Tobi Lampard and her team at Creative Saskatchewan were essential in getting Brotherhood financed…Film financing is a bit of a Rubik’s Cube, but we figured out early on that a co-production between Ontario and Saskatchewan was our best strategy. We’re stronger together, which incidentally is a theme of the film.”

Brotherhood, which screened in 26 Canadian cinemas over 2022, charts the true story of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, a group of young men who tried to canoe across Ontario’s Balsam lake almost 100 years ago. Their 1926 trek, which (spoiler alert) ended in tragedy, sets for a film that Bell feels is exceedingly relevant in our province. He attended a 2021 screening in Humboldt and told local reporter Rachel May that the film resonates with the togetherness needed to get through COVID-19 at its initial peak.

“It sparkles more during COVID,” Bell said at the time. “Things have been falling apart for 19 months. In the beginning, we were all in this together but it started to fade after a couple of months…Those boys in 1926, when they faced the storm there are only survivors because they came together.” According to reporting that appeared in the Humboldt Journal, Bell would go on to connect the film’s themes with the collective tragedy that was the Broncos bus crash.

Like many film projects, Brotherhood wasn’t quick to come to fruition. Bell has repeatedly shared during the promotion of the film that its origins were in 2006 when he learned of the 80th anniversary of the tragedy. As he told the Dawson Creek Mirror’s Rob Brown last November, happening upon a church service being held to commemorate those who died was his starting point.

“I usually start off by saying that I was the treasure hunter…it did feel like uncovering buried treasure because I thought the story was so dynamic and so interesting and so moving, but then I did go into shepherd mode in that it took me a very long time to court producers and convince them that it was going to be a good idea for a motion picture.”

Eventually, Bell managed to convince a creative team to back the project. Released on the eve of the country’s first wave of restrictions, Brotherhood’s journey has been more about smaller venues as opposed to large-scale film festivals. As he told Discover Humboldt, Brotherhood—though it had to work through many sticking points to get produced—rings true to many local audiences.

“Brotherhood plays really well in small towns where people feel a connection with yesteryear still and they are proud of their local histories, and they have fond memories of summer camp. So much of it has been my release plan where I connect with independent cinemas.”

It’s a part of Canadian history that Creative Saskatchewan is proud to have had a hand in preserving.

If you’re looking to get financial support for your feature film, take a look at our guidelines. If you receive the funding then you’ll be following in the footsteps of projects like Summer at Charlotte’s and Shadow of… Both the Feature Film and Television Production Grant and the SaskTel Max Equity Fund are part of a wider assortment of funding programs that include streams dedicated to music video creation and film and television development.

Written by John Loeppky

Regina’s Aaron Sinclair is a well known commodity in Saskatchewan’s creative circles. Journalistic-style? Check. Music videos with well known local artists? Check. Narrative short films? Check. Commercial work? Check. However, just on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sinclair began to ponder which projects caught his eye as he continued working towards directing a feature film. What came of that thought experiment was The Wild, a micro budget project funded by Creative Saskatchewan.

Sinclair, owner of Aaron Sinclair Film Ltd., says that the film— which takes audiences through a tale that includes a series of small towns, a family, a friend, a mystery, and a possible curse—came front of mind because it fits with his already established style.

“I feel very strongly that this film is a great place for me to jump into the world of features because it contains so many of the things that have become a part of my aesthetic. There is a strong female lead with themes of empowerment. The story is surreal and mysterious but feels like it takes place in our world. There is a nostalgic element that incorporates my own life and story.”

Sinclair, with his aforementioned experience, says that Saskatchewan has a ready and willing talent pool that makes projects like The Wild possible.

“I believe there is a great resource of untapped potential here in Saskatchewan. I have been scouring for talent with every project we work on and what I’ve found is that every time people rise to the occasion. I have worked closely with several talent agencies and have also developed my own internal list of actors. We’ve also built our following to a point where we can put calls out for actors and receive a number of quality auditions.”

Sinclair has taken inspiration from filmmakers like David Lynch as he’s weaved his way between projects in the last ten years. His music videos have included working with other local artists, like Megan Nash, and his commercial work has included videography for Sheldon Williams collegiate. Through it all, as evidenced by his 2021 director reel, Sinclair’s style has evolved to be ephemeral, intimate, collaborative, and varied. Slightly away from the camera, he’s also worked on a magazine-style project entitled “Atmosphere”. It’s a creative product he describes in much the same way he does his films.

“ATMOSPHERE is a dreamy collection of photographs, words & collaborations by Aaron Sinclair and numerous other artists. This ethereal moodbook is about relationships, nostalgia, beauty, seasons of life and dreamscape aesthetic all brought together in beautiful high-quality magazine-style print.”

On the business side of his creativity, in addition to this plethora of creative output, Sinclair has worked on wedding photos and videos, started a Patreon, and is selling prints of his work. His YouTube channel also includes projects like a mini documentary with local artist Ava Wild. No matter your entry point into Aaron’s work, it’s obvious that he’s as focused on process as product. Here at Creative Saskatchewan, we’re glad that our film-centred funding is just as applicable to the path a project takes to its final form.

If you’re looking to get financial support for your feature film, take a look at our guidelines. If you receive the funding then you’ll be following in the footsteps of projects like Summer at Charlotte’s and Shadow of… Both the Feature Film and Television Production Grant and the SaskTel Max Equity Fund are part of a wider assortment of funding programs that include streams dedicated to music video creation and film and television development. The possibilities are endless.

By John Loeppky

Saskatchewan routinely lives up to its moniker as the Land of Living Skies, but what happens when sunshine and fertile soil turns into a desolate wasteland filled with disease? Don’t worry, this isn’t a call to action for the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Agriculture, and we’re not looking to book a flight to the world’s seed vault anytime soon, this horrifying scenario is the main focus of the newly released Welcome to Kittytown. The project was funded via one of our previous micro-budget film grants and premiered last October in Saskatoon.

Like most films, especially ones on very small budgets, the process wasn’t quick but it was intentional. The team behind the film, led in part by Robert Bryn Mann (producer, writer, actor), believe that the time was needed to bring the film to life in the way that it needed. Mann says that, without the funding from Creative Saskatchewan, the project would not have gotten off the ground.

“We took our time with it, because we knew the importance and value of the funding you gave us. It could’ve gone to others, but it went to us. And now, we are looking for distribution.”

Welcome to Kittytown follows the story of a farmer who is one of the last members of a society that has been affected by a plague brought forward by the use of genetically modified seeds. Director Douglas Luciuk says that the film was a fitting one to be working on in the midst of a pandemic.

“Here I was at the start of the pandemic, editing this post-apocalyptic film that deals with a shortage of toilet paper, then I look in my bathroom, and my wife and I only have 3 rolls of toilet paper left…it was surreal. Life imitating my art.”

The film involved 27 local artists and has been selected for a number of film festivals, including the 2022 Montreal Independent Film Festival, Snowdance Independent Film Festival, and Newfoundland’s Fog Fest Horror Film Festival. Almost exactly three years from when the team started shooting in October, 2019; Welcome to Kittytown premiered at the Roxy Theatre in Saskatoon.

Mann says that he’s hopeful for the future of Saskatchewan’s film industry because of the $7.5 million investment that was made in October of 2022.

“I would like to congratulate the team for locking investment from the Saskatchewan Government. Said hard working team truly deserves it, and I am thankful for Creative Sask for helping Saskatchewan-made films and TV opportunities flourish for more homegrown filmmakers. We at Land of Darkest Skies Creative Works support your team in making more magic here at home.”

Examples of that magic can be found on the film’s website. Early on, it was clear that the team behind Welcome to Kittytown was going to use Saskatchewan’s landscape to their advantage, shooting their footage using some of the newest affordable gear on the market. You can see evidence of this very prairie videography on the project’s website. Though the main shoot took 17 days, the rest of the project’s development meant many hours in an editing booth. The official trailer for the film, which was released in June of 2022, has thus far garnered over 142,000 views. We’re looking forward to seeing where the film will take the emerging cast and crew as they navigate a film landscape that is on the road to blossoming.

If you’re looking to get financial support for your feature film, take a look at our guidelines. If you receive the funding then you’ll be following in the footsteps of projects like Summer at Charlotte’s and Shadow of… Both the Feature Film and Television Production Grant and the SaskTel Max Equity Fund are part of a wider assortment of funding programs that include streams dedicated to music video creation and film and television development.

By John Loeppky