Source: StarPhoenix

After a very difficult 2010, local filmmakers are optimistic about the year ahead following the approval of a new five-year broadcasting licence for the Saskatchewan Communications Network (SCN).

The network needed a new licence from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) after its sale in June to Bluepoint Investments Inc., an Ontario-based holding company.

"I was very happy to hear about (the approval)," said Melanie Jackson, who with her husband Dennis produces the stop-motion animated series Wapos Bay. The show is in its fifth and final season and has been broadcast on SCN since the beginning.

As part of its licence application for SCN, Bluepoint has committed to spending at least $1.75 million per year on Saskatchewan productions and an additional $1 million for development of digital elements.

"We have another project we hope to apply for," said Dennis Jackson. With Wapos Bay drawing to a close, he and Melanie have their sights set on a new stop-motion series, a science-fiction adventure show for kids called Guardians.

Although SCN contributes as little as 10 per cent of the total budget for most productions, the network is critical because it is usually the first to put money up.

"Their contribution is that really crucial broadcast pre-licence, which to qualify for the Canadian Media Fund, you need to meet the threshold of 35 per cent of your funding," said Robin Schlaht, a Regina filmmaker who has been making documentaries in the province for 15 years. Schlaht's last project, the series A Few Good Men and Women, used SCN's initial investment of $78,000 to raise a total of $745,000.

"Ninety per cent of the time they have been first in," said Anand Ramayya, a Saskatoon filmmaker who has been working with SCN since 2002 and acts as a producer on Wapos Bay. "They've been involved in pretty much every project I've ever done."

SCN's sale to Bluepoint was likely the only way the network was going to stay on the air. SCN had historically been run by the provincial government, but all funding was removed in the 2010-11 provincial budget tabled last March. At the time, the plan was to discontinue the network entirely. It was only after a public outcry that the government decided to open the network up for bidding from private interests.

"We tried to put our point forward about why SCN was important," said Ramayya. "There's not a lot of places where you can get your first shot. SCN gave me my first shot."

Although the sale was made in June, SCN was not able to start funding new projects until Bluepoint received a licence from the CRTC. This made 2010 a terrible year for Saskatchewan filmmakers.

"It was a pretty dark time," said Ramayya.

Dennis Jackson thinks more than just jobs hinge on the success of this new incarnation of SCN.

"It would be hard to get our stories out," said Jackson. "It's important for our Saskatchewan stories."

© StarPhoenix