hutchinson

Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Bill Hutchinson

 A new incentive for Saskatchewan's film industry has been announced by the provincial government, which hopes to support all creative arts industries and encourage a move to digital.

The major part of the three-point plan is a new Saskatchewan Film/TV and Digital Tax Credit (FTDC), which offers a 25%, non-refundable tax credit on all production expenses incurred, including labour costs. This tax credit comes as the Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax Credit is set to be phased out this year.

"This is something that was formed out of the meeting we've had with the film and television people on Thursday," said Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Bill Hutchinson. "If you're a Saskatchewan-based company, and you're involved in film, production, TV work or any other kind of creative industry, you're going to be paying income taxes and we'll help you with that."

Hutchinson adds the FTDC will also include significant bonuses for things like copyright and intellectual ownership and the use of Saskatchewan labour and post-production facilities: "If you want to use the Saskatchewan soundstage, maybe there's a bonus for that. Keep some of the money in Saskatchewan that might otherwise migrate elsewhere. If you want to do post-production work... a lot of the work in film and video production happens after the shooting. It takes place in labs anywhere you want to have them, and we would like those labs to be right here in Saskatchewan."

The incentive also includes consultations for a strategy to encourage digital technology in the creative arts, and a plan to repurpose the soundstage in Regina for all creative industries to use.

Colin Powers talked with Bill Hutchinson about the new incentive: