To encourage film and TV production in the province, SaskFilm launched its Film Friendly Saskatchewan initiative Monday night with a number of Regina organizations and associations.

“We’ve always done business with the city and associations, but we thought it was time to strengthen the already positive relationships we have and bring them into the fold of what we do,” Susanne Bell, SaskFilm CEO and film commissioner, tells Playback Daily. “So we started meeting a few months ago to talk about initiatives that we could jointly undertake to increase competitiveness of this particular jurisdiction.”

The initiative includes the City of Regina, Regina Downtown Business Improvement District (RDBID), Regina Regional Opportunities Commission, Regina Hotel Association (accommodating casts and production crews), and the Regina Warehouse District.

Though the parties have always worked together, Bell stresses the importance of fostering these relationships and educating private property owners, stakeholders and the community on the logistics and advantage of film production.

Bell noted that SaskFilm is launching an official locations ID program for location scouts to show property owners the benefits of filming in their homes.

The Canada Saskatchewan Sound Studio was also open to the public on Monday as part of the Film Friendly Regina Event launch (pictured). Tours gave citizens a peek of what happens on set of CBC’s InSecurity set produced by Vérité Films.

“We want to make sure the average person on the street is familiar with what we do in here,” explains Bell. “This is to let the people of our province know what it is that happens in their neighborhoods and to celebrate what we do.”