In This Report

Playback is highlighting some of the film and tv prodcos forging new ground on the Western landscapes of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Partners In Motion, based in Saskatchewan, has moved from its long-time commercial and doc staples into the dramatic genre, as has HBW Productions in Alberta. Manitoba’s Visual Marketing is taking advantage of a generous labor incentive and making the leap from corporate work into docmaking. Blue Hill Productions in Saskatchewan is gearing up for an $8.5 million mini-series, the biggest project in its 10-year history, and Alberta -based Nomadic Pictures, behind recent theatrical and mow successes, has a three-pack of movies on the go and is setting its sights on foreign markets. Missing Link Productions continues to develop an eclectic mix of non-fiction programs and is looking to u.k. partners to overcome the financial obstacles of producing on the Alberta scene.

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When the Big Bear miniseries starts production in May for a three-month shoot, Doug and Pauline Cuthand will be undertaking the biggest project in their 10-year corporate history.

The four-hour, two-part, $8.5-million production is the brainchild of Edmonton producer Gil Cardinal of Kanata Productions, for which the husband-and-wife team at Blue Hill Productions in Saskatoon will manage the shoot in Saskatchewan. Tele-Action of Montreal is also a senior partner in the project, which will air on the cbc as early as next January.

‘Big Bear means we will be able to move into the bigger leagues,’ says Doug Cuthand, reflecting on the impact of the miniseries on Blue Hill’s future.

‘We’ll make a national impression.’

A slice of Saskatchewan history, the miniseries chronicles 20 years of the life of Chief Big Bear in the late 1800s, at the time of the Northwest Rebellion and Massacre at Frog Lake. Tantoo Cardinal and Gordon Tootoosis are cast in the leads for the production that will shoot on reserves in the Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert areas.

As an aboriginal couple, the Cuthands have forged a documentary resume based on Indian stories and current affairs.

For BBS Saskatchewan, they are producing the fourth season of 22 weekly episodes of Indigenous Circle, an aboriginal news magazine with about 40,000 viewers. An order for a fifth season of the low-cost show – which Doug hosts – is expected.

Last year, Blue Hill produced a one-hour documentary for the cbc’s Rough Cuts series. The piece, called Gift of the Grandfathers, is about the Indian rodeo.

The year before, Blue Hill undertook its first drama, Prophesies, Milestones & Challenges. The work was a collaboration with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations to explain the complex land claims issues of the province through a dramatization of a young boy who learns about his past. It, too, aired on BBS Saskatchewan.

Doug Cuthand says the leap from documentaries to dramas has not been difficult. ‘These shows are all reality based,’ he explains. ‘I’m a journalist by training and I’m just telling stories like I’ve done for years.’

He has two feature films in development: a contemporary ‘caper’ comedy about urban Indians and a period drama about Native veterans returning home after the Second World War. ‘A friend has described it as an Indian Casablanca,’ Cuthand says with a laugh.

Blue Hill is also developing a new documentary which Cuthand hopes is the first of a series. The as-yet-untitled documentary is about the development of the reserve system.

The first installment, written by Cuthand, emanates from his own family. His great grandfather was the warrior chief at the Cutknife Hill Battle during the Northwest Rebellion and was sent to the Stoney Mountain Penitentiary with Chief Big Bear. The story also retells the impact this had on his great grandmother and grandfather, then a young boy, who fled to the u.s.

The doc is awaiting financing but is scheduled for production this year.