While the bumper crop of specialty channels is adding new dollars to the Canadian programming kitty, increased competition for national funds means the regional networks are becoming that much more important for producers in the West.

Although the regional funds from the broadcasters tend to get eclipsed by the bigger money, the collective squeeze for financing is forcing producers to pay attention, says Richard Gustin, station executive director, programming for scn.

‘It is becoming more important for us to reflect the province, because on other services Saskatchewan doesn’t exist,’ he says, pointing to the centering of cbc’s licensing activities in Toronto, CanWest Global and ctv affiliates in the province taking fewer regional windows on projects, and the loss of some local newscasts on ctv affiliates in Yorkton and Prince Albert.

‘Broadcasters are maximizing the bottom line, consolidating resources and operations, so it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on scn,’ says Gustin. ‘We are the only game in town. [Otherwise], if a Saskatchewan producer wants to do a deal with a broadcaster, they have to go out of province.’

In its efforts to support provincial production, roughly $1.4 million of scn’s annual budget is allocated to local projects. Over the past year this allotment was equally divided up among acquisitions, prelicences to Saskatchewan producers and licences to outside producers. The allocation for development, licences and acquisitions varies each year depending on demand, says Gustin.

Sharing first windows with other regional broadcasters (Access, tvontario, Knowledge Network) is how the broadcaster makes the most of its limited budget. The new specialties are offering more opportunities for strategic alliances, says Gustin. The specialties are often willing to negotiate six-month or one-season first-window exclusivity before opening up play to scn.

History Television, Life Network, Discovery, Vision and Bravo! are the main broadcasters scn stands second in line with. For example, the Saskatchewan station has licensed the second cycle of Scattering of Seeds (for History) and Cotter’s Wildnerness Trails (for Discovery).

scn generally will not become involved in projects where first-window broadcasters insist on a one- to two-year exclusivity, especially in the case of time-sensitive documentaries, which is sometimes the case with Discovery and Newsworld on high-profile shows.

‘We pay a premium for Saskatchewan programming,’ says Gustin, with prelicences running around 7% of the budget. Projects from newer producers or those deemed less marketable can pick up an investment of 13% of the budget. Development money of between $1,000 and $5,000 is available.

scn acquires social, health, environment, arts, culture and skills development programs. Programs are slotted by theme nights – science, social issues, arts and culture, and skills enhancement.

Some dramatic programming is slotted on Friday nights as long as it holds some positive values, offers insight into different cultures or is based on literature or history.

The station’s demographic skews in the 40 to 55 age group, on average those with post-secondary education and above provincial average income. ‘The pbs, a&e type viewers,’ according to Gustin.

Kids’ programming is an area in which the station is becoming increasingly involved. scn has prebought Regina-based Heartland Motion Pictures’ The Maximum Dimension, which teaches kids about math, and has taken a shared first window with tvo on Regina-based Minds Eye Pictures’ Incredible Story Studio.

‘Quality kids’ programming is where we are building a real audience,’ says Gustin. ‘We have a loyal audience of parents who want a safe place to park their kids.’

Gustin is also pondering a provincial current affairs/news magazine show.

Saskatchewan-based producers can pick up development loans from the CTV Saskatchewan Program Development Fund, which administers $50,000 per year to roughly 20 projects.

Many local producers use the fund as a short-term loan to develop projects which end up licensed to broadcasters, although BBS Saskatchewan takes first right of refusal on Saskatchewan broadcast rights. Projects it has supported include the Heartland mows based on the Gail Bowen novels, coproduced with Toronto’s Shaftesbury Films.

Prairie stories squeezed out

Stories specific to the Prairie provinces are becoming an endangered species as regional programming through network affiliates in Saskatchewan and Alberta erodes, says producer Bill Stampe of Cinepost in Saskatoon. As broadcasting networks continue to consolidate and centralize, projects with a generic Canadian look are becoming more appealing for broadcasters, he says.

Stampe recalls that when he was developing the $185,000 half-hour The Rink in 1997, none of the national broadcasters were interested, but he managed to piece together licences from nine regional broadcasters including cfcn, scn, The New vr, in Barrie, Ont., and atv out of Halifax. cbc picked up national rights only after the film was finished.

He is now developing a feature, Now and Forever, written by Bill Boyle. The love story is set over two decades and involves a white boy and Native girl. Vic Sarin will direct.

Private investment composes 80% of the financing and cfcn has committed to the project, which Stampe hopes may help him get it in the door at ctv.

scn and the CTV Saskatchewan Development Fund are also involved in Great Prairie Writers, a historical series from Regina’s Partners in Motion budgeted at $120,000 per half-hour.

The first money in is critical to pitch a project to other broadcasters, say Partners in Motion’s Chris Triffo and Ron Goetz, and scn has provided the jump start for their projects.

The prodco has made the most of local pockets of funding and turns to scn as a key broadcast partner. For example, scn development money was accessed for the four-part miniseries Falsely Accused profiling unfortunate people who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dad, a documentary exploration of director Triffo’s father, premiered on scn and aired on Vision six weeks later.

A half-hour special, Dangerous Games, was sold to scn and BBS Saskatchewan and Sask Sport.

Beyond Medicine, a half-hour series on alternative medicine coproduced with Merry Dancer Media of Calgary, is being developed with the support of scn and the CFCN Equity Fund, and the 26-ep kids’ series Mr. Airport with scn and the CTV Saskatchewan Development Fund.

Mike Snook, gm and exec producer at Film Crew Productions in Regina, works with specialty channels as first-window broadcasters and pieces together second-window deals with provincial broadcasters Access, Knowledge and tvo.

Saskfilm’s equity investment program requires a broadcaster commitment and scn is generally the trigger for Film Crew’s projects, which currently include the doc series Earth Garden, sold to wtn, access, Knowledge and scn. Snook anticipates the new labor tax credit in the province will supply 12% to 16% of the budget on info programming.

Gail Tilson, president of Regina’s Independent Moving Pictures, also notes wic’s support for Saskatchewan drama producers. She is currently pinning down financing on The Dinosaur Hunter, a $3-million family tv movie being developed for wic.

Broadcasters provide lifeline in Alberta

Without a tax credit and provincial funding agency, local broadcasting initiatives are providing the financing lifeline in Alberta.

The CFCN Production Fund, a $1.5-million per year initiative from Baton Broadcasting, offers Alberta writers and producers development loans, production equity investment and professional development grants. In its January ’98 funding round, the arm’s-length board (non-cfcn and Baton staff) handed out $510,000, expected to trigger $6.1 million in indigenous production activity in Alberta this year.

Among the projects supported was a development loan for Great North Communications’ Tom & Liz Austin Mysteries series. Another round of funding will be announced shortly and $700,000 is available.

Access, the Alberta educational station, handed out $1.8 million in ’97/98 to indie producers and has 13 new projects in the pipeline for the upcoming fiscal. Access gets involved at the development stage, second-window presales and has an acquisitions budget of $500,000 per year.

Jill Bonenfant, manager of programming, says fees run $1,500 to $2,000 per hour. As well, local producers often work with Access in a barter deal. In exchange for broadcast rights, producers can use Access’ editing studios. Access programs documentaries in the 8 p.m. time slot and has roughly eight to 10 hours a week available for documentary programs.

cfrn-tv offers a $1-million per year fund for Alberta producers, dispersed as grants, loans and licence fees. Of the cash, $900,000 is available as equity investment and licence fees and $100,000 in development grants ranging from $2,500 to $5,000

A newer player on the block, the A-Channel Drama Fund is fueling Alberta drama production with its investment of $14 million over seven years. It offers national licence fees and then sublicenses the projects for national exhibition. The fund is expected to aid in the production of 40 films over the seven years.

Since signing on a little over a year ago, the fund has prebought 12 films worth $3 million in licence fees and representing $35 million in production budgets.

MTN the trigger for Winnipeg producers

Craig Broadcasting’s mtn is a local trigger of Winnipeg producers such as Buffalo Gal Pictures, offering small licences and second windows on variety, drama and info programming.

Buffalo Gal is gearing up for preproduction on a 60-minute documentary, Guitar Visionary: The Lenny Breau Story. The project profiles the popular jazz guitarist who lived in Winnipeg as a teenager before moving on to Los Angeles, where he was found dead at the bottom of a swimming pool at age 43.

Sleeping Giant Productions of Toronto is coproducing and John Martin directing.

Estimated budget for the project is $500,000. Other broadcasters on board are specialties Bravo! and Vision.

Bravo! and wtn and regional stations cky-tv Winnipeg, cfcf-tv Montreal and Tele-Quebec were involved in Buffalo Gal’s previous project, Gabrielle Roy, the first Manitoba/Quebec coproduced program. The feature-length doc about a teacher-turned-novelist from Quebec who moved to Manitoba, is nominated for a 1998 Banff Rockie Award.

mtm, wtn and cfcf have picked up Epiphany Rules, a half-hour drama to be coproduced by Buffalo Gal and Journey Films.

Buffalo Gal producer Liz Jarvis also turns to the local cbc station, which often takes an equity position in projects in exchange for services. cbc is supplying stock footage for the Lenny Breau documentary, for example.