Building a state-of-the-art studio facility in Regina was a bit of a gamble, but it’s already paying off with a dramatic jump in local production. Meanwhile, Alberta may be looking to build a comparable studio in the Calgary area over the next two years, and the Manitoba government just purchased the province’s only all-season studio.

Since opening the $11-million Canada Saskatchewan Production Studios in 2002, Saskatchewan has increased production volumes in the province to $65 million in 2004/05 from $28 million in 2001. Now, studios are a hot topic in Manitoba and Alberta as well.

In addition to the debate surrounding the viability of a major studio in the Calgary area, another major concern in the Alberta industry, according to Calgary film commissioner Susan Bristow, is the loss of talented crews, lured away by industry growth in other provinces, including Saskatchewan.

‘Historically, the majority of Saskatchewan crews worked here more than they worked in their own province, and that is no longer the case,’ says Bristow. ‘We are experiencing a reversal, where we’ve got our crews going over there for the majority of their year.’

This is evidence of what Bristow calls a slump for the Alberta industry since other provinces upped tax credits five months ago. ‘We haven’t made any significant changes in Alberta in terms of incentives, so attention is focused elsewhere,’ she says.

While Alberta’s summer production slate is not as busy as last year’s, a Lifetime MOW, an indigenous feature and a major U.K./Canada copro are currently shooting. The Robin Williams comedy RV, based out of Vancouver, will also be in Alberta for a three-week unit shoot in July.

Bristow admits, however, that the province lacks the studio infrastructure to host a big-budget picture like RV except for location shooting.

In the past, some larger shoots have used the CFB Studio Centre, a converted military base. However, within two years that land will be unavailable to the film community as the landowners see more profitable uses for the central Calgary location. Edmonton has the smaller CanWest Studios, but the question of creating a new studio in the city is on many industry minds.

On April 15, Chrysalis Capital Advisors and the Southern Alberta Studio Association, a group of industry stakeholders, announced that they are soliciting formal proposals for establishing a new studio in the province within the next two years. In addition, the Calgary Film Commission, under Calgary Economic Development, is also undertaking a feasibility study to determine whether building a larger studio space in Alberta would make sense.

‘Historically, most of our production has been about 80% location-based and 20% studio-based,’ says Bristow. ‘We need to assess the types of projects that come here and ask if a studio is really necessary.’

In Manitoba, meanwhile, the government voiced its clear commitment to a local studio facility when it purchased the Prairie Production Centre for $1.8 million in early April. The facility, previously owned by Winnipeg businessmen Arni Thorsteinson, David Asper and Marc Raymond and Crocus Investment Fund, is to be renamed in the coming month.

According to the office of Manitoba Minister of Culture Eric Robinson, the 67,000-square-foot studio was responsible for an estimated $108 million of production that shot in the province between summer 2003 and summer 2004. Big-budget pictures such as Shall We Dance would not have been able to shoot in the province without such a facility.

In addition, the government says that the expected boost in production from the recent tax-credit hike to 45% from 35% for both domestic and foreign shoots makes the presence of a studio that much more important to sustaining industry growth. The Manitoba Centennial Centre, a facility management Crown corporation, will now run the studio on a break-even basis.

‘The facility is more stable now. We don’t have to worry about the phones getting cut off or the power getting dumped halfway through the shoot,’ says facility manager Cam Younger. ‘This facility is like a convention center. It’s not something that you operate to make a profit. You have it to service a community, and then the community makes a profit through the activities that go on because the facility is here.’

According to Younger, part of the reason the studio was unable to turn the kind of profit the previous owners were looking for was pricing.

‘They overestimated what the market would bear,’ he says. ‘Renting a facility like this at the rates that were being asked was pretty severe.’ Under the new management, rates have been cut 35%.

Local producer Vonnie Von Helmolt (Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary) is currently in the studio shooting the Winnipeg Ballet’s Magic Flute, and Younger is confident the studio will fill up for the summer.

The Manitoba government need only look next door to Saskatchewan to see how government investment in a studio facility contributes to the industry.

In fiscal 2004/05, the Canada Saskatchewan stage reached 70% rental capacity and boosted provincial production volumes. The Regina facility has four studios, ranging from 4,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet.

The Minds Eye miniseries The Tommy Douglas Story completed principal photography at the studio in early May and the New Line Cinema romantic comedy Just Friends wrapped in March. Tideland, Terry Gilliam’s $20-million feature that shot entirely in Saskatchewan, also made extensive use of the facility.

Season three of CTV’s hit Corner Gas shoots from May 23 to Sept. 23. A feature known as Scarecrow, from the Pang Brothers, a directing team from China reputed to be ‘the next Ang Lee,’ is slated to start production at the studio June 18. In addition, Too Human, a horror sci-fi MOW from U.S.-based Brainstorm Media, is also booked this summer.

Valerie Creighton, CEO of SaskFilm, says the facility should be full until October. However, she also cautions that good studio space is not enough to keep an industry growing.

‘Many shows are location-based, so it becomes a question of finding a balance,’ she says. ‘You need good locations and crew. The studio certainly helps, as does a strong production community and good financial incentives.’