‘This is something that needs another look:’ Petition started to revive Saskatchewan film industry

‘Just Friends’ starring Ryan Reynolds, and ‘The Messengers’ featuring Kristen Stewart.

These are just two of many movies and shows that have been filmed in Saskatchewan featuring star-studded casts.

But since the film tax credit was eliminated in 2012 the appeal of coming to Saskatchewan to film shows or movies has became obsolete, according to Alyson Ford.

“All these other provinces are booming with film, yet Saskatchewan is twiddling their thumbs. When I think of the root cause of this, I think of the tax-credit being eliminated,” she said.

Ford started a petition to bring awareness to the idea of reinstating the film tax credit. Her petition has already garnered more than 4,000 signatures and continues to grow.

“In 2012 we unfortunately lost this credit, and it was a very large incentive for companies to come and do business in Saskatchewan,” said Ford. “Fast forward a few years, we kept seeing production companies leaving the province, we also found that we weren’t attracting many new production companies. The industry became very stagnant in Saskatchewan.”

Creative Saskatchewan had offered $2-million dollars in grants for projects intended to be shot in Saskatchewan, as well as employing Saskatchewan-based crew.

“We need some sort of incentive for the future of film in Saskatchewan,” she said. “This is something that needs another look. It will generate jobs, tax-dollars, as well as bring excitement to communities around the province.”

Covid-19 has created a huge backlog on production for shows and movies, with some titles being pushed back up to two years.

“The filming industry is now behind and will have to catch up, there isn’t a better time to bring production back to Saskatchewan. It could be a huge inject to our hospitality and tourism industry,” she added.

Ford said she had people from different political parties reach out to her and say that they would take a greater look at the credit if they were elected in the fall provincial election.

“These production companies should film here because we are a beautiful province,” Ford said. “We have a lot of talented people here.”