Final Cut | With productions fleeing and government funding drying up, are the curtains about to fall on Alberta’s film industry?

Photography by 3Ten

QUIET ON SET: Producer/director Francis Damberger says investing in the film industry will bring much-needed diversification to Alberta’s economy

Chester Sit, 32, is an Alberta filmmaker, his passion and full-time career for almost 10 years. He has honed his skills by working on dozens of projects, from homegrown television series like the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network’s Caution: May Contain Nuts and the Family Channel’s Mentors to Hollywood fare like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and countless short films, commercials and music videos. Last year, Sit realized a lifelong dream by producing and directing a feature film, The Pharmacist, which will be making the festival rounds this year.

Sit had hoped that after a decade in the industry he’d be closer to finding a more stable income and lifestyle without having to compromise his artistic principles. But despite 10 years of paying his dues and working steadily on numerous quality projects, he’s reached a crossroads. He can either stay in Alberta and struggle to eke out a living in the province’s flagging film industry or he can leave and try his hand in more bountiful waters.

“The film industry in Alberta is dying,” says the Edmonton native. “I hate to be negative, but that’s where it’s at right now. There’s very little work here. Hollywood isn’t coming here these days, partly because of the high dollar, and our indigenous industry isn’t supported by the funders. I know people who haven’t worked for months. They’re skilled people, and they’re leaving and finding work outside the province.’’

Sit might be next. Despite talent, drive, a strong work ethic and a great network of connections, Sit and other film industry insiders like him are leaving the province in droves, called to other jurisdictions that can offer producers more attractive tax credit systems and funding options.

“If it were the oil industry, people would be up in arms,” says Francis Damberger, one of Alberta’s most prominent producer/directors whose recent work on Paul Gross’s Passchendaele won him a Genie award. “This province is a one-trick pony. We need to diversify in order to survive because heaven forbid the day some little girl in Iowa discovers the secret to an oil-free world. Our economy would collapse. So we need to diversify, and the film industry is a great way of investing in our province’s future.”

The numbers back up Damberger’s claim. According to industry professionals, every dollar spent on film in the province means anywhere from three to six dollars (some figures are even as high as 10 dollars) in return, and that income is spread across a multitude of sectors including hospitality, construction, transport, tourism and retail.

“When I was shopping for Fear [the short-lived NBC series Fear Itself that was shot in Edmonton in 2008], I’d literally walk into a store and drop thousands of dollars every day,” prop buyer Nicole Piotrkowski says. “I’d buy two or three of everything to give the director lots of options. It was a huge infusion of cash into the local market.”

“Our industry is very tied to the film industry,” says Dawna Bell-Reed, director of sales and marketing for the Delta Bow Valley in Calgary. “Anywhere from one to three per cent of our total sales comes from the film industry, and the more vibrant it is the better we all do. And we feel it when the film industry is in a slump.”

Like now. Local producers say the number of productions is down by nearly 30 per cent compared to last year, and in March government funding for film was cut by 15 per cent. Which has workers in the industry scrambling to pay their bills.

Crystal Kadatz, a camera trainee and production assistant, says this slowdown is particularly hard on newcomers to the industry. “In some ways, this is just the nature of the beast,” she says. “I’m a freelancer, so of course my income is going to ebb and flow. But in the five years since I’ve been out of school, I’ve been working really regularly, which has been great. But perhaps it’s given me a false sense of security. Like, last year I bought a condo, and now when there’s no work, I can hardly pay my mortgage. To survive in this industry, you have to have a lot of savings in the bank, which when you’re young and just starting out, is a very hard thing to do.”

So what has happened? Alberta used to have a bustling film industry, and Hollywood has long had a love affair with Alberta locations and crews. The Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association’s Melody Jacobson says that Alberta is perfectly situated for cinematic success. “We have so much expertise here, despite the fact that right now that expertise is underutilized,” she says. “But it’s something we hear continually, whether it be from Hollywood or other foreign producers or from our own indigenous producers, that Alberta crews are uniquely qualified and excellent to deal with. And coupled with our glorious locations, we’re tough to beat.” Indeed, Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee was tremendously impressed with the province and in a 2004 interview with the Calgary Sun said, “All you have to do in Calgary is show up, get off the plane and you have a great crew waiting for you.”

But the slowdown of the economy in general, the strength of the Canadian dollar and government funding cuts to the arts have left the Alberta film industry worse for wear. Klein-era cuts decimated the Alberta Motion Picture Development Corporation, sending the province’s healthy television industry into a freefall, from which it has yet to recover. The current provincial government recently cut 15 per cent from an already meagre arts budget, and many producers say Alberta’s tax credit funding model is not nearly as attractive as those in other jurisdictions.

“The tax credit system here is hugely problematic,” Damberger says. Many other jurisdictions across North America provide tax credits on the salaries of local crew and key creative positions only, as incentives to employ local workers. “The fact that Alberta gives a tax credit on the entire spend means that the actual work can be done by people from anywhere,” Damberger explains. “There’s no incentive to use Albertans, so foreign productions often bring their own crews, leaving Albertans out of the mix. And on top of that, it makes it very difficult for Albertans to get work elsewhere as nearly every other jurisdiction uses incentives for local employment.”

The over reliance on government funding is another failing of the Alberta system, according to some producers. “Right now, the Alberta Film Development Fund has less than $20 million a year in its budget,” says Sit. “That’s a fraction of the budget of a Hollywood production. But even at a less-than-Hollywood scale, it doesn’t go very far, and is very hard to get. But in many instances it’s one of the only sources of money for filmmakers, as it is nearly impossible to find money from private investors in this province.” “Tell me about it,” says Minister of Culture and Community Spirit Lindsay Blackett.

“Finding private investment is absolutely necessary for our film industry to flourish.” But at this moment, there is little support for Blackett’s dream of tax incentives for private investment in the arts. “That was one of the first things I tried to do,” Blackett says. “But when I approached the finance minister I was flatly told there was nothing he could do. I’ve kept working on him though, and maybe I’ll get somewhere with that if I don’t let up.”

But that’s not to say that the government isn’t willing to put a bit of money into the struggling film industry. Blackett recently disclosed plans for a digital creative hub and studio space on Canada Olympic Park land in Calgary. “This hub will allow crews to shoot in the mountains and then, an hour later, shoot on a sound stage. The potential is tremendous.”

But is it enough to save the floundering industry? Josh Miller, another Alberta producer with a lengthy list of credits to his name (shows like Freezer Burn: The Invasion of Laxdale, Mythquest and Mentors), thinks that Albertans need to change their perspective on the film industry, as well as to look westward for inspiration. “When you take the art part out of film, basically we’re manufacturers,” he says. “Not to say that art and culture aren’t important, but we need to make our stuff so that it’s marketable. But to do that, we need greater access to capital so as to compete in a free market system. This is something B.C. has done very well, and we should look to them for inspiration.” It should be noted that according to the British Columbia Film Commission, last year the B.C. government spent more than $162 million on its film industry, an investment that saw a return of more than $1.3 billion.

“There is no reason why Alberta should not have that kind of active industry,” says Damberger. But he feels it ultimately comes down to lack of ideological support from the government. “Case in point,” he says. “After we won our Genies for Passchendaele, we had a meeting with Blackett and [Premier Ed] Stelmach, and it was all very congenial.” They were then taken into the legislative assembly to be formally recognized by the house. “Which is where it took a nasty turn,” Damberger says. “Lindsay started a speech about how our victory was a victory for the film industry. And that was when the catcalls and boos began. It wasn’t everybody, mind you. But it was loud enough to clearly show how little respect or support for the arts there really is in this government. I’ve never been so demoralized.

“You know, I think some of our leaders get it. I believe Stelmach gets how valuable our industry could be to the province, and Lindsay has always been our champion. But I fear they’re in the minority,” Damberger says. Moreover, as a result of the negative comments made by Blackett at the Banff World Television Conference in June, the support that many producers felt he provided the industry has been called into question. Despite assurances from Blackett that changes to the tax credit system are in the works, producers are still concerned about their futures in the province.

As for Sit and his future as a filmmaker in Alberta, the coming months will decide his fate. “If things don’t change, and change quickly, we’re not going to have an industry left to worry about, and I’m already looking at opportunities out of province. So perhaps, in many ways, all of this is moot.”

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