Valerie Creighton has been named acting general manager of Saskatchewan funding agency Saskfilm after the board of directors decided not to renew the contract of Don Archbold, who held the position of gm for one year.

Archbold is moving to Winnipeg where he will set up an independent production company, Absolute Entertainment, which will develop and produce feature films in the $3 million to $10 million range. Archbold has contracted kpmg to raise $20 million in funding for the new company through private investors. The fund will be guaranteed by insurance backing.

Archbold says he already has interest from Paramount Classics in two feature scripts.

Creighton is the former executive director of the Saskatchewan Arts Board and previously, as manager of the arts section of the provincial government, set up Saskfilm. She will hold the position of acting gm for the next few months while the Saskfilm board seeks a replacement.

Royal Dominion Securities investment advisor and chair of the Saskfilm board, Lynn Starkey, would not comment on why Archbold’s contract was not renewed, although over the past six months there has been discontent among some Saskatchewan producers who did not agree with Archbold’s policy of prioritizing the development of emerging writing and directing talent at the expense of the business aspects of the industry and growing established companies.

However, others close to the situation say management and administration issues are the source of the conflict between Archbold and the board.

Another issue is the Saskfilm board, which is composed of nine members, three of whom are producers: Kevin DeWalt, Susanne Bell of Heartland Motion Pictures, and Michael Snook of Westwind Pictures. At other provincial film funding agencies, producers are limited to an advisory committee.

Some members of the Saskatchewan industry have expressed concern that producers on the Saskfilm board are controlling the agenda of the agency.

Particularly, they say that Archbold had been cleaning up Saskfilm’s books and uncovered discrepancies, such as development loans that had never been repaid, and he was calling on companies to repay the debts, which made him unpopular. As well, talk has circulated that up to $500,000 in uncommitted development funds had been carried forward on Saskfilm’s books and some producers wanted the money to be funneled into equity investment whereas Archbold was looking into other ways to utilize the unused funds.

Mark Prasuhn, former gm of Saskfilm and ceo of Minds Eye Pictures, discounts the conflict of interest charges, noting that in 1995 an arm’s-length project approval committee was struck to ensure producers did not make funding decisions. Starkey also points this out, adding ‘steps have been taken to give the producers on the board some distance and separation from this function.’

Heartland principal Stephen Onda and Prasuhn both indicate that Saskfilm has very little money for equity investment – only $80,000 is available – so concerns that producer board members are controlling the funds are immaterial.

As well, Onda says the local industry fully supports Saskfilm directing its limited resources towards developing emerging writers and directors.

‘Ideally, Saskfilm should service a number of interests,’ he says. ‘It has been accessible for writers and emerging directors and should continue to do so, but it must also have an industrial strategy.’

Producer representation on the board has worked well in the past to ensure the needs of the production companies were met, says Onda. ‘We have always had a mixed board [producer and other interests], and when Saskfilm was first set up we thought it was critical to have producers represented. In fact, I have heard a call for more industry representation on the board as opposed to government appointees.’

Local director/producer Jeff Beesley, on the other hand, expresses some of the opposing concerns. ‘Competition for funding is fierce and Saskfilm is the only game in town so we are in tricky waters to find members of the board who do not represent a conflict of interest,’ he says.

‘I believe in Saskfilm and think they are doing a fine job, but I feel the board is best served without the presence of producers or directors. This alleviates any potential for conflict of interest. In the long run this would relieve any tension.’

Over the next few months some of these issues will be hashed out. Creighton plans to focus on a policy and program analysis in consultation with the Saskatchewan industry. The organizational structure of Saskfilm, delivery of the tax credit, and policy questions such as the future of the equity investment and development programs are issues to be targeted, she says.