Attributing a lack of suitable scripts and subject to a case of strike chill, the Saskatoon Initiative has fallen behind its original schedule.

The Initiative, geared toward training crew members living in Saskatoon, consists of eight ‘low-budget genre movies,’ says Kevin DeWalt of Regina-based Minds Eye Pictures, the Initiative’s chief driver.

When announced in late 1999, the Initiative was forecast to take 18 months to reach completion. At press time, Minds Eye was in the process of casting only the third film.

The idea behind the initiative is to cultivate indigenous crews by shooting low-budget ($2.2 million to $2.4 million) movies for the direct-to-pay- /direct-to-video market, with crews composed of mentors and trainees who are paid through a discount rate deal with the unions.

Saskatoon’s film industry is based in Regina, making circumstances difficult for more than two films to shoot at once, says DeWalt. ‘The idea was to get that city at the stage where it could maintain its own crew.’

Each shoot has a training component that typically sees junior crew members pushed up a level under the guidance of more senior workers. Usually, this would involve a crew member who was accustomed to working as a unit’s fourth into the position of third; or a third into the position of a second.

‘We don’t throw new people in and say now you’re a lighting technician. They have to have some background and we attach a mentor to every trainee position.’

The crew of the Initiative’s first film, Without Malice, was made up of approximately 70% Regina crew and 30% Saskatoon trainees. The second shoot, for the film Murder Seen, included an estimated 60% Regina crew. The goal for the next shoot is to make the breakdown closer to 50-50.

But why the holdup?

‘We’re behind primarily because of not being able to find scripts,’ says DeWalt. The Initiative is also something of a victim to Minds Eye’s healthy production schedule.

‘We’re driving the projects and we’ll do them when we can fit them in.’

Another danger stalks the Initiative: the films, which typically feature American actors of the stature of Corey Haim and Jennifer Beals, are likely to be placed on hold in the event of a Hollywood strike. ‘We do need international stars,’ says DeWalt. ‘It’s kind of a wait-and-see situation. They may have to go on hold until the strike’s over.’ *

-www.mindseyepictures.com