Crew Call, a new initiative to grow the industry’s skilled workforce just announced by the Saskatchewan Motion Picture Industries Association will be backed by $350,000 in funding from the federal and provincial governments.

Crew Call is a $580,000 workforce development program that brings together production companies, training institutes, training and investment funding and labor organizations to provide developmental training to film crews; workshops and training strategies for specific film projects; mentoring; and a central database of the skills, interests and abilities of current production personnel and those seeking entry into the field.

The goal of the program is to increase the number of people working in the Saskatchewan production industry from 700 to 2,000 over the next four years and grow the number of film crews to five over the same period.

All crew training in the province will be centralized under Crew Call, which is under the direction of Lisa King. Productions in Saskatchewan will apply to Crew Call to access funding through Future Skills and the new program will also oversee the deeming provision in the tax credit.

‘Lack of crew is the critical issue in our long-term vision for the Saskatchewan production industry,’ says Minds Eye Pictures’ Kevin DeWalt, chair of the Crew Call advisory committee.

Minds Eye has taken its own initiative to beef up the crew base in Saskatoon through a series of low-budget films being shot in the province, which help mentor about 20 crew members per project.

The first project through the initiative was A Lucky Shot and the next one up is Murder Scene, directed by Rob King and set to begin shooting this month.

Developing the experience of producers is also part of the program’s mandate. Saskatoon producer Tony Towstego was brought on board as an associate producer in the first project and as coproducer on Murder Scene, and other Saskatoon producers will be mentored on the remaining three films to shoot back-to-back beginning in October.

‘At the end of the day, the goal is to have an experienced crew base in Saskatoon – this benefits the entire industry,’ says DeWalt.

Minds Eye has also been working with a local high school over the past three years on a Careers in Film and Television course which includes a component where representatives of various aspects of the industry visit the classroom.