Below is just a small sampling of some of the Saskatchewan success stories that have been submitted by our filmmakers and producers.
Ian Toews – 291 Film Company
291 Film Company creates high production value film and television programming with a focus on art and nature. Our documentaries are broadcast and exhibited in Canada and, increasingly, around the world. Our productions have received wide acclaim including the 2008 Gemini Award for Best Arts Documentary Program or Series. Our flagship production Landscape as Muse is in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Canadian Broadcasters:
Bravo!, SCN, Knowledge, CBC Documentary / bold, APTN, Oasis HD, Access Alberta
International Broadcasters:
AVRO (The Netherlands), The Arts Channel (New Zealand), Spafax (US), Televisió De Catalunya (Spain), Family Channel (Finland), Kunstkanall (The Netherlands), YLE (Finland)
Awards (Broadcasting):
* Gemini Award Winner, Best Performing Arts or Arts Documentary Program or Series Landscape as Muse IV (2008), Producer: Ian Toews
* CTFPA Indie Award Winner, Best Documentary Series Landscape as Muse IV (2009), Producer: Ian Toews
* Gemini Award Nominee, Best Direction in a Documentary Program or Series (Ian Toews) Landscape as Muse II: The Forest with Peter von Tiesenhausen (2007)
* Gemini Award Nominee, Best Performing Arts or Arts Documentary Program or Series Landscape as Muse III (2007), Producer: Ian Toews
* Honourable Mention. 53rd Columbus International Film & Video Festival, Columbus, OH, USA. Landscape as Muse (2005)
* Numerous Saskatchewan Showcase Awards Nominations
SCN Investment in 291’s Programs: $327,300
Investments and sales from other provinces triggered by SCN’s License: $1,215,083
Robin Schlaht – Zima Junction Productions
Closing SCN would have a big economic effect. Although its dollar contribution is not huge, a broadcast license from SCN means a lot for a Saskatchewan documentary. It’s a vote of confidence that other, national broadcasters recognize.
That’s what happened with A Few Good Men & Women, which has had a big impact on communities throughout Saskatchewan and airs on SCN but also on Court TV and Access nationwide. This series of seven 1-hour episodes about the training of municipal police in Saskatchewan would not have been possible without the core support from SCN. But their $78,000 license triggered other financing, including over $475,000 from outside the province, toward the total budget of $745,000. And over $300,000 of this was spent on Saskatchewan labour alone.”
Mark Wihak
River is a feature length, narrative film about the friendship between two aspiring young artists, Roz from St. Louis, SK and Stan from Eastend, SK. The film has played at festivals across Canada, and in the U.S.A, England, Brazil and India and was acquired for national broadcasts in Canada on Super Channel. The DVDs are in the collection of public libraries from Vancouver to Halifax. The film has won a total of 7 awards at festivals in Canada and the U.S.A., including two acting awards apiece for the film’s first-time actors, Swift Current’s Adam Budd and Saskatoon’s Maya Batten Young. Much of the national press coverage of the film talked in glowing terms about the Saskatchewan setting of the film.
Between the North Pole & New York City (2004). This broadcast-hour documentary tells the story of the Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops, which began in the mid 1930s and continue to this day. Emma Lake, north of Prince Albert, became a destination for some of the most important artists and critics of the second half of the 20th century and the Workshops had a profound impact on artists in Saskatchewan, across Canada and abroad. The documentary, produced with Regina’s Cooper Rock Pictures, received national broadcasts on Bravo! and regional broadcasts on the Knowledge Network in B.C.
A World Away: Stories from the Regina Five (2001). This broadcast-hour documentary on the painters group known as the Regina Five tells how this group of painters, who worked in Regina from the mid 1950s into the 1970s attracted national and international attention to Saskatchewan. The documentary received national broadcasts on Bravo! and regional broadcasts in B.C. on the Knowledge Network. The videotape is in the collection of public libraries across Canada and has been picked up by school boards across the country.
None of these would have been produced without SCN. On all these projects, SCN’s investment was more than doubled by out of province sources.
Gerald Sperling – 4 Square Entertainment Ltd.
Actually, when I think of it, SCN has been “in” (usually first in) on virtually all of 4 Square’s documentaries, many of which were international co-productions that brought much money and work to Saskatchewan people. I think that might come to some 45 hours of television. I am thinking of our series, Scarred By History, the mini-series Twin Stars, the series, Water, Water, Medicine Woman, its spinoff, Guides and Gurus, and many, many award-winning one offs including Under the Skin: Drugs, Dreams and Demons, and Silent Bombs: All for the Motherland.
None of these productions would have happened without the active participation of the people at SCN.
Steve Suderman – Orangeville Road Pictures
Over Land (1hr 2008) documents the farm crisis through its impact on the Suderman family farm. It has screened across Canada, as well as in the United States, Italy, and Israel. Philosopher and farmer Nettie Wiebe says that “Over Land captures a complex, troubling story with sensitivity, grace and truth.” Over Land is Steve’s first full-length documentary, and was made possible by SCN.
