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Megan Folden

Sound Recording Grant Helps Close Talker Release Fourth Album

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Chris Morien was a successful recipient of our Sound Recording Grant (LP stream) for Close Talker’s “The Sprawl”.

Close Talker, an indie rock band from Saskatoon, just keeps building momentum. The band has gained the attention and praise of notable publications such as NPR, Billboard, Clash, Spin, Q Magazine, and Consequence of Sound.

With their fourth album, “The Sprawl” in pre-production, Close Talker’s Chris Morien applied for a Sound Recording Grant (LP stream) to produce and promote the project. “Our goal was to create an album we are proud of and music that people can appreciate and connect with,” says Morien.Close Talker

Close Talker has always explored ideas around growing up and how our lives shift over the years. There are references to time and change across their entire catalogue. Finding love, losing it again, making friends, getting married, rejecting your past self, and having kids are all themes that etch their way into Close Talker’s writing style as they attempt to understand their identity.

Inspired by Close Talker’s time leaving home for the first time and touring Europe, “The Sprawl” builds on these themes. There are numerous references in the album lyrics to elements including cathedrals, saints, and European cities.

“The Sprawl” was released on March 22, 2024, and while the full impact of the album will be realized over the next few years, Close Talker has already realized many positive outcomes from it. With the few singles already released, the band has seen support on streaming platforms, with editorial placements such as Spotify’s Indie All Stars, and Fresh Finds: Indie, along with Apple Music’s “Today’s Indie Rock,” in addition to airplay on SiriusXM ‘The Verge’ and CBC Radio 3.

“We are thankful to be a part of a community and province that prioritizes and supports the arts within our diverse and vast culture,” states Morien. “It’s truly a pleasure and a privilege for us to take part in.”

Marketing Grant Fuels Billingsley’s Expanding Audience

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Alyssa Billingsley received a Marketing Grant (Micro Stream) in 2022 to create high-quality marketing materials for her artistic work and services.

Alyssa Billingsley does a little bit of everything.

The multi-talented creator is an alumna of Grant MacEwan’s Theatre Arts program in Edmonton, École de Clown et Comédie Physique Francine Côté in Montréal, and the Manitoulin Conservatory of Creation and Performance.Alyssa Billingsley landscape

In 2022, Billingsley applied for a Market and Export Development Grant (now referred to as the Marketing Grant) from Creative Saskatchewan to create high-quality marketing materials to promote her diverse artistic work and services. Included in these materials was a professional-grade video of her singing used as an audition submission for regional theatres. “Actors now primarily market themselves through audition self-tapes and digital content,” Billingsley says. “This grant enabled me to produce professional-grade marketing materials essential for this new era.”

The impact of the grant is evident — Billingsley’s social media following grew significantly and she’s busier than ever. Her marketing efforts have increased her visibility and opened doors to new creative collaborations and opportunities in the theatre and music scenes. “The support from Creative Saskatchewan has been invaluable,” she reflects. “It has allowed me to elevate my work and reach new audiences.”

Billingsley’s experience and education can be seen on full display through her latest solo show, Identity Crisis, a dark physical comedy combining music, clown, and elements of neobouffon. The show received four stars in both the Saskatoon Star Phoenix and Winnipeg Free Press and has been described as “terrifyingly whimsical” and “Beckett in cosplay.”

Saskatchewan Committed to Telling its Stories

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Creative Saskatchewan is a proud sponsor of the Saskatchewan Book Awards.

Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved with the Saskatchewan Book Awards throughout its 31-year history, our province has shown a commitment to telling its stories.

“The Saskatchewan Book Awards are a very valuable peer assessment of a publisher’s work, telling Saskatchewan stories, sharing work of Saskatchewan authors, but it’s also a great marketing tool,” says Heather Nickel, past president of SaskBooks and owner of Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing.Saskatchewan Book Awards winner

Nickel points out there is a direct correlation between book sales and success in the awards. “Marketing becomes easier when a book has won an award,” she says. “Our book awards have an excellent reputation nationwide for discerning titles that readers will want to read.”

The Saskatchewan Book Awards is run by a working board. This board puts on a gala every year, assesses criteria for awards, and makes sure as many genres as possible are represented in the awards. “There aren’t many provincial book awards that have as inclusive a variety of recognition and awards as the Sask Book Awards,” Nickel says.

Creative Saskatchewan has been a proud Saskatchewan Book Award sponsor for the Publishing Award since 2020. The sponsorship amount of $5,000 annually goes towards a $2,000 prize to the award recipient while the remaining $3,000 is dedicated to support administration costs and the hosting of the annual award ceremony.

The award is presented annually to the Saskatchewan publisher of the best book, based on literary or artistic value, the quality of editing, book design, production, and content. Past winners have included local publishers such as Radiant Press and the University of Regina Press.

Froese Makes Most of Medalta International Artists in Residence Program

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Rob Froese was a successful grant recipient of our Craft & Visual Arts Production Grant for his ceramic tableware and sculpture production.

Saskatoon’s Rob Froese, a contemporary ceramic artist, isn’t afraid of hard work. He went into his time at the Medalta International Artists in Residence program in Medicine Hat with the goal of creating 750 pieces in just four months.Rob Froese Ceramics

Using electric, gas, and salt/soda atmospheric kilns, Froese made a variety of ceramic pieces in Medicine Hat’s Historic Clay District.

Froese sells his work at events in Saskatchewan, through consignment sales at galleries across Canada and in gallery exhibitions in Japan. A Craft and Visual Arts Production Grant assisted him in meeting many upfront costs, allowing him to focus solely on creating during his time at Medalta.

“The help with costs associated with accommodation, food, materials, and business expenses meant I could apply myself completely to studio work and produce work very efficiently,” says Froese.

Froese also found he benefited simply by applying for the grant. When filling out the application, he had to budget all aspects of the work session in advance, which helped him see his production costs more clearly.Ceramics on a table

Marketing Grant Helps Radiant Press Add to Great Reputation

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Radiant Press was a successful grant recipient of a Marketing Grant (Major stream) to support its marketing and publicity efforts for their 2023-24 books and general corporate marketing.

Debra Bell, publisher and co-founder of Radiant Press likes where things are going. “We’re building a good reputation outside of Saskatchewan for the quality of books we’re putting out,” she says. With numerous award nominations and wins under their belt, it’s no surprise why.

Radiant Press published three books in the fall of 2023 and another three in the spring of 2024. With the help of the grant, they were able to hire a publicist to find media and festival opportunities for their books. The grant has also allowed Radiant Press to create video trailers used on social media. These book trailers have been very helpful in marketing new titles.Radiant Press books

“The marketing grant Creative Saskatchewan offers is highly beneficial to local publishers like Radiant Press,” Co-publisher John Kennedy states. “It’s not common to have a separate grant stream for marketing, but Creative Saskatchewan recognizes there is as much a need to market the product as there is to create it.” Kennedy calls these marketing funds “absolutely invaluable.”

As the books win awards and the company becomes more visible, there is a spillover effect in that you become flooded with manuscripts. “We’re getting 200 – 300 really good submissions each year. It’s a good problem to have. Only about 2% of the submissions we get end up in print. That makes for some really great books,” says Kennedy.

When asked what they’re looking forward to, the team mentions the upcoming book from Regina author Suzy Krause. Kennedy calls Krause “Regina’s most famous author you’ve never heard of”. Krause is a best-selling author in the United States and Radiant Press want her to be just as well known here in her home country. “We’re thrilled she’s chosen Radiant Press as her Canadian publisher,” Kennedy says.

Prairie Cat Productions Makes Connections and Finds Distribution Deal

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Lucas Frison (Prairie Cat Productions) was a successful grant recipient of our Showcase or Sell Travel Grant to attend the Banff World Media Festival.

The Banff World Media Festival is expensive to attend, but a lot of magic happens there. Lucas Frison of Prairie Cat Productions knew he had to attend.

Frison started his Canadian Screen Award-nominated production company, Prairie Cat Productions, shortly after graduating from the University of Regina in 2014. With a number of successful projects under his belt, he wanted to attend the Banff World Media Festival in 2023 to pitch the script for his feature-length coming-of-age film, One Perfect Date.Lucas Frison at the Banff World Media Festival

With the help of a Creative Saskatchewan Showcase or Sell Travel Grant, he was able to do just that.

“The festival was a fantastic experience and exposed me to a wide variety of industry professionals and decision-makers I would not have otherwise had the opportunity to meet,” Frison says. “The pitches for One Perfect Date went great. I left the week with a lot of new contacts and opportunities.”

Frison left Banff with contacts that helped him land a distributor – Filmoption International – for his feature film. And with that distributor lined up, One Perfect Date was selected for funding through Telefilm’s Production Program.

“This was something we’d been working towards and dreaming about for over a year,” Frison says. “To get that email, we were ecstatic.”

Frison expects to be filming his million-dollar film right here in Saskatchewan in the near future. When looking back at the process and how it all came together, Frison notes that it all started with funding from Creative Saskatchewan. “We wouldn’t have had this opportunity if it weren’t for the support from Creative Saskatchewan,” he says. “It really puts Sask filmmakers and artists on equal grounds with those from the rest of the country.”

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