Sask. Boosts Grant Program for Film and Television by $8M
(cbc.ca.com)
Saskatchewan is boosting its grant program for film and television by $8 million in its 2022-23 budget.
That means the Production Grant Program — operated through Crown corporation Creative Saskatchewan — will have $10 million available for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
The goal, according to Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Laura Ross, is to attract more and larger projects to Saskatchewan.
“With the significant rise in streaming services rapidly developing content, we are seeing a real opportunity to help Saskatchewan businesses take advantage of this demand,” Ross said.
A decade later
The news comes 10 years after the Saskatchewan government slashed the province’s film tax credit.
That tax credit helped bring major projects to be produced and shot in Saskatchewan, including Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie.
A study conducted by the SaskFilm and the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce found that from 1998 to 2012, the film industry generated a total of $514.6 million of economic activity after government expenses.
That works out to $36.7 million in annual economic activity from 1998 to 2012.
After the tax credit was slashed by the government, the province saw its film industry dry up.
A report from 2020 by Statistics Canada showed that the operating revenue generated by film, television and video productions in Saskatchewan in 2007 was $42.2 million.
Ten years later in 2017, operating revenue had fallen to $21.3 million.
By 2019 it had fallen to $17.2 million.
By: Alexander Quon
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