The provincial government's decision to eliminate the Film Employment Tax Credit in its last budget has put a film based on a local area personality and locale in limbo.
Gayle Schuster of Yorkton said she grew up with stories about Wilson's Hill near Crystal Lake, and of Robert and Mary Elizabeth Reynolds Wilson.
"My grandparents told me the story when I was a child," said Schuster who grew up in the Crystal Lake area.
Schuster said years later she realized "what a wonderful story this was," adding she was left wondering "why didn't I ask more questions."
Over time she would seek out information on Mary Wilson, and in time create a fictionalized film script based around her life; Wilson's Beauties.
Schuster, who used to be a copy writer for CKOS, said she "recognized a good story when I saw one. It had all the elements of a really good movie."
The story was one Schuster said she felt would reverberate with viewers.
"There were some really important characters in it that I felt were of significance not just to Saskatchewan, but to Canada," she said. "It was a signature story of Saskatchewan. It really represents what we're about, the heart of everything we are."
As good as Schuster knew the story might be, it took years to pull together.
"My research started in the 1980s," she said, adding she spent long hours going through newspaper files and investigating through the Internet. " I worked really hard on this."
Mary Wilson was a reporter for The Canora Advertiser when it launched in 1908 (later becoming The Canora Courier). Her columns were titled 'Crystal Lake Sparkles' or 'Crystal Lake Shines' - always drawing attention to her beloved Crystal Lake. Her last column being written only days before her death in 1932.
And then there was the writing. Even with her background, Schuster said she knew it would not be easy to create a manuscript someone would take notice of.
"I knew what I was up against as a first time writer," she said.
So again she invested time attending workshops at the Banff and Yorkton Film Festivals.
"It was years and years of putting this together," she said, adding the time finally paid off with a rough draft that she said while not completely comfortable with, was something to have others look at.
But the character made it possible. Wilson was a pioneer, starting a rural library at a time such facilities were
unheard of. Schuster said she was able to use the woman's incredible life set against a fictional love story to create a compelling script.
Schuster's first draft was enough that last October Schuster got a call "to kind of get the script in order," as there was interest from a film company in Toronto.
"I worked really hard on it for a couple of months to get it ready to go," she said.
The production company liked what Schuster provided and were setting a course toward filming the movie on location at Crystal Lake with an anticipated budget of $8 million. A significant chunk of the financing was expected to come through the now eliminated tax credit, and Schuster said that has put the project on hold, seemingly indefinitely.
Schuster said the money the film would have drawn from the tax credit would have been a good investment for the province in the sense it is estimated every dollar provided generates another six to the local economy. In the case of her film that would have been dollars in Yorkton, Canora and area.
"That was the whole plan to shoot here locally," she said.
Without the tax credit program Schuster said her film could be lost.
"This will sit. This film may not get done," she said, adding that is too bad for more than her personally.
"First of all this is a story about our province," she reiterated. " It's something people of this province could take pride in."
Schuster said the provincial government simply made a mistake axing the tax credit program.
"The provincial government is really short-sighted, and narrow-minded with this to lose this many jobs in the province, and to take the pride out of our stories," she said.
Schuster said the alternative the government has come up with is not the answer either.
"The funding formula does not work," she said, adding that leaves Wilson's Beauties with a very uncertain future.The provincial government's decision to eliminate the Film Employment Tax Credit in its last budget has put a film based on a local area personality and locale in limbo.
Gayle Schuster of Yorkton said she grew up with stories about Wilson's Hill near Crystal Lake, and of Robert and Mary Elizabeth Reynolds Wilson.
"My grandparents told me the story when I was a child," said Schuster who grew up in the Crystal Lake area.
Schuster said years later she realized "what a wonderful story this was," adding she was left wondering "why didn't I ask more questions."
Over time she would seek out information on Mary Wilson, and in time create a fictionalized film script based around her life; Wilson's Beauties.
Schuster, who used to be a copy writer for CKOS, said she "recognized a good story when I saw one. It had all the elements of a really good movie."
The story was one Schuster said she felt would reverberate with viewers.
"There were some really important characters in it that I felt were of significance not just to Saskatchewan, but to Canada," she said. "It was a signature story of Saskatchewan. It really represents what we're about, the heart of everything we are."
As good as Schuster knew the story might be, it took years to pull together.
"My research started in the 1980s," she said, adding she spent long hours going through newspaper files and investigating through the Internet. " I worked really hard on this."
Mary Wilson was a reporter for The Canora Advertiser when it launched in 1908 (later becoming The Canora Courier). Her columns were titled 'Crystal Lake Sparkles' or 'Crystal Lake Shines' - always drawing attention to her beloved Crystal Lake. Her last column being written only days before her death in 1932.
And then there was the writing. Even with her background, Schuster said she knew it would not be easy to create a manuscript someone would take notice of.
"I knew what I was up against as a first time writer," she said.
So again she invested time attending workshops at the Banff and Yorkton Film Festivals.
"It was years and years of putting this together," she said, adding the time finally paid off with a rough draft that she said while not completely comfortable with, was something to have others look at.
But the character made it possible. Wilson was a pioneer, starting a rural library at a time such facilities were unheard of. Schuster said she was able to use the woman's incredible life set against a fictional love story to create a compelling script.
Schuster's first draft was enough that last October Schuster got a call "to kind of get the script in order," as there was interest from a film company in Toronto.
"I worked really hard on it for a couple of months to get it ready to go," she said.
The production company liked what Schuster provided and were setting a course toward filming the movie on location at Crystal Lake with an anticipated budget of $8 million. A significant chunk of the financing was expected to come through the now eliminated tax credit, and Schuster said that has put the project on hold, seemingly indefinitely.
Schuster said the money the film would have drawn from the tax credit would have been a good investment for the province in the sense it is estimated every dollar provided generates another six to the local economy. In the case of her film that would have been dollars in Yorkton, Canora and area.
"That was the whole plan to shoot here locally," she said.
Without the tax credit program Schuster said her film could be lost.
"This will sit. This film may not get done," she said, adding that is too bad for more than her personally.
"First of all this is a story about our province," she reiterated. " It's something people of this province could take pride in."
Schuster said the provincial government simply made a mistake axing the tax credit program.
"The provincial government is really short-sighted, and narrow-minded with this to lose this many jobs in the province, and to take the pride out of our stories," she said.
Schuster said the alternative the government has come up with is not the answer either.
"The funding formula does not work," she said, adding that leaves Wilson's Beauties with a very uncertain future.
.JPG;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)
