The production success story of Manitoba and Saskatchewan can be measured in dollar terms (see Special Report p. 13), but those involved in the business and its nurturing are most concerned that the eggs in their baskets include increasing foreign investment and series.

Given the current limited broadcast scenario for primetime drama series in Canada, it’s quite a feat that the elusive grail has finally been landed in Manitoba with Winnipeg-based Credo’s My Life as a Dog. While misfortune for Ontario producers has been instrumental in this coup, the ofdc freeze could just as well have sent the projects out of country or to other provinces. Another Prairie-bound shoot (The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be), may wend its way to Saskatchewan from the east coast. Neighbor Alberta also has a healthy share of drama series on the go, both coproductions with Ontario companies: North of 60 from Alberta Filmworks and Alliance, and Jake and the Kid from Great North Productions and Nelvana.

One of the things that helped pave the way for this maturation is the Prairie Initiative, in both creating an attractive alternative deal model and beefing up the resource pool.

The well-timed program – hatched when inter-agency dialogue was on the rise – is an example of how the finite funds available can successfully be invested in this industry. By helping the regions over the chicken/egg infrastructure hurdle by boosting production, the Prairie companies were simultaneously aided in another area critical to success – providing a template for structuring copros, thereby abetting the amount of outside financing the producers are now able to attract.

And as in Europe, the tv industry here is increasingly cast in a supporting role of the film biz. While the focus of several funding programs target tv, the local feature filmmakers reap benefits from the resulting resource base. Films such as Gary Burns’ The Surburbanators become viable as the ground becomes more fertile in terms of facilitating production.

The preponderance of distinctly Canadian material in the roundup of production from Manitoba and Saskatchewan (see p. 14), is unsurprising given the Cancon advantage and the substantial presence of cbc in the mix of partners. While this might flash a danger signal as to the stability and potential for continued growth (indicating a reliance on dwindling government support), there is also significant evidence that international partner-seeking missions are bearing fruit – such as Minds Eye Pictures’ $8 million Regina/Switzerland coproduction The Lost Daughter, with another $8 million imax feature following on its heels in the spring with partners from Japan and the u.s.

With series, miniseries, mows and features in the bag and on the slates – and an infrastructure build underway – the provinces are poised for greater growth this year. Building international bridges is on the personal agenda of Saskfilm’s Mark Prasuhn, as is developing credibility in the u.s. in order to attract service work as an immediate focus in the keep-things-growing strategy. Using coproduction lures, such as the deal that brought Decoy to the province, is a Trojan horse that can only be afforded long enough to get the province’s feet in the u.s. door. As Prasuhn says, ‘We have to find competitive ways to compete.’