Feature Film & TV Production Grant Guidelines

The Feature Film & Television Production Grant provides financial support to eligible applicants for feature film and television productions that have secured a relevant market trigger or distribution agreement of fair market value. There are two streams within this grant: Saskatchewan Stream and Service Production Stream.

The Guidelines were approved on April 1, 2023 for the 2023-24 Fiscal Year. Any amendments made after the fact will be posted here:

• No changes to date.

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Eligible Applicants

• Applicants must be in good standing in all respects with Creative Saskatchewan.
• Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria defined in the Creative Saskatchewan Investment Fund General Program Guidelines.
• The applicant must be incorporated – see the Creative Saskatchewan Investment Fund General Program Guidelines for definitions.
• The applicant company must be incorporated in Saskatchewan or incorporated federally and registered in Saskatchewan. The head office or principal place of business must be located in Saskatchewan, and substantial ownership control must remain with Saskatchewan residents.

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Eligible Projects and Expenses

There are two streams available to eligible applicants:

Saskatchewan Stream

• Creative Saskatchewan offers support to eligible Saskatchewan production companies, equivalent to 30% of all eligible Saskatchewan expenditures. Refer to the Eligible Saskatchewan Screen-Based Expenditures here.
• Applicants must be the owner or co-owner of the project and, at minimum, must control a share of copyright proportional to Creative Saskatchewan’s financial participation.

Service Production Stream

• Creative Saskatchewan offers support to eligible production companies, equivalent to 25% of all eligible Saskatchewan expenditures.
• There are no copyright ownership requirements for the Service Production Stream.

For additional bonuses, incentives see Financial Participation.

All applications must meet the following requirements:

• Feature Film productions must be feature-length (a minimum of 75 minutes).
• Productions must demonstrate interest from other agencies or a relevant market trigger(s) minimum 20% of the eligible production costs (i.e. a combination of distribution agreement of fair market value, federal funding agencies etc.).
• Creative Saskatchewan will consider exceptions for production companies that have completed a minimum of two commercial productions with a similar degree of financial risk, budget and that have been made available to in a meaningful way to audiences including on a broadcaster or subscription service within 24 months of application date.
  Or
• Financial structures agreed upon and contracted with Telefilm.
• The production company cannot hold a broadcasting license issued by the CRTC or deal at non-arm’s length with a corporation that holds a license.
• Applicants must receive a Producer credit on the final project.
• Applicants must have experience as producers of feature films and/or television productions or related experience satisfactory to Creative Saskatchewan and must demonstrate they possess the necessary expertise and resources to complete the proposed production and arrange for its marketing. Applicants with insufficient experience for the project scope must secure the participation of an experienced executive producer prior to applying to Creative Saskatchewan.
• Inter-provincial co-productions and co-ventures are eligible.
• At the time of submission, applicants must provide written evidence of a relevant market trigger or distribution agreement of fair market value and evidence of a minimum of 50% confirmed financing, unless the project budget is over $1 million, then evidence of a minimum of 70% confirmed financing is required. The Creative Saskatchewan Production Grant and federal tax credit calculations may be included as part of the confirmed financing.
• Applications must be received prior to the completion of principal photography.

Eligible feature film productions include: dramatic feature films, non-dramatic feature films, and animated feature films.

Eligible television productions include: dramatic television productions including series, mini-series, MOW (Movie of the Week), non-dramatic television productions, animated television productions, lifestyle television production and reality television.

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Ineligible Projects and Expenses

• Projects that have received funding through the Creative Saskatchewan Micro-Budget Production Grant or Web Series Grant programs.
• Genres of production NOT eligible for funding include:
  • News, current events or public affairs programming, or a program that includes weather or market reports.
  • Programming created for community cable providers (Access Communications, Shaw, SaskTel Max, etc.)
  • Talk shows.
  • Productions in respect of a game or contest (other than a production directed primarily at minors).
  • Sports event or activity.
  • Productions that solicit funds.
  • Pornography.
  • Advertising.
  • Productions produced primarily for industrial, corporate, or institutional purposes.
  • Productions, other than documentary, that consists of more than 25% stock footage.
  • Software/programming applications.
  • Video distribution platforms or aggregators.

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Financial Participation

• For the Saskatchewan Stream, eligible applicants may apply for financial support equal to a maximum of 30% of all eligible Saskatchewan expenditures up to a maximum of $5,000,000.
• For Service Production Streams, eligible applicants may apply for 25% of all eligible Saskatchewan expenditures up to a maximum of $5,000,000.
• When the majority of principal photography (excluding documentaries) takes place in Saskatchewan, projects might be eligible to receive the below bonuses. For both streams, applicants might be eligible for the following bonuses:
  • 10% frequent filming bonus (where applicants complete 3 or more eligible productions per year in Saskatchewan)
  • 5% rural bonus (where majority production takes place a minimum 50km outside Regina or Saskatoon)
  • 5% Saskatchewan post-production bonus (where majority post-production is taking place in Saskatchewan)With the bonuses, total commitments cannot exceed:
  • Saskatchewan Stream – 40% of eligible Saskatchewan expenditures.
  • Service Production Stream – 35% of eligible Saskatchewan expenditures.
• Funding will be in the form of a grant.
• Only financial contributions will be considered when examining the financing structure – the value of deferrals and in-kind contributions will not be considered part of the overall project financing.
• Producer Investment cannot exceed 25% of the total PFCO (Producer Fees and Corporate Overhead).
• Investments from non-industry sources, such as family members, or companies whose primary activity is not industry-related cannot exceed 25% of the total budget.
• Creative Saskatchewan will consider exceptions to 25% of the total PFCO and Investments from non-industry sources cap if the production company meets one of the following criteria:
  • Production companies that have completed a minimum of two commercial productions with a similar degree of financial risk, budget and made available to a commercial audience within 24 months of application date.
  • Agreed upon with financial structures with CMF or Telefilm
• Grants must be used for the purposes described in the application approved by Creative Saskatchewan.
• Marketing expenses directly related to the project being applied for, no more that 10% of the total production budget.

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Assessment

• A review of applications is conducted by Creative Saskatchewan program staff to ensure the project and applicant meet the eligibility to the program.
• In the case of dramatic projects, priority will be given to applications where the majority of principal photography is taking place in Saskatchewan and productions that demonstrate a high economic return for the province.
• In the case of documentary, priority will be given to applications where the 75% of post-production occurs within the province and productions that demonstrate a high economic return for the province.

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Submission Requirements and Deadlines

• Please refer to the specific program page for application deadlines and instructions.
• Applications to the Feature Film & Television Production Grant will be accepted quarterly and supported based on the availability of funds.
• Applications must be complete in order to be accepted.
• Creative Saskatchewan provides templates for each grant application.
• By submitting an application for this grant, applicants confirm they have read the Creative Saskatchewan Investment Fund General Program Guidelines. If awarded a grant, they will be obligated by all criteria in the Creative Saskatchewan Investment Fund General Program Guidelines, as well as criteria specific to this grant as described herein.

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Required Acknowledgements

• Recipients of Creative Saskatchewan’s Feature Film & Television Production Grant must include the following credit prominently on all copies of the project and all promotional material: “Production made possible through the Feature Film & Television Production Grant Program” (followed by the Creative Saskatchewan logo).
• The Creative Saskatchewan logo and guidelines for acknowledgement can be found here.

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Confidentiality of Information

• Please refer to the Creative Saskatchewan Investment Fund General Program Guidelines for details of Creative Saskatchewan’s Confidentiality Policy.
• If you are not awarded a grant, all information in and about your application is held in confidence.
• If you are awarded a grant, your name, a description of the project and the amount of funding will be made publicly available.