People tend to think of film production as creative art and fun, which it is, but it is also big business.
According to a consortium of Canadian Film and Television Production agencies, it is a major source of economic activity and jobs in the country.
The numbers for 2013/2014, the latest year for which stats are available indicate a $5.86 billion production volume with a $2.5 billion export value representing a 2.5 per cent increase over 2012/2013. In fiscal 2014, it provided the equivalent of more than 125,000 full-time jobs.
From a public standpoint, the Yorkton Film Festival, it is all about the movies and, but for the delegates, who annually descend on this small prairie city, it is also a educational and business opportunity.
The 2016 festival included industry panels on technology, craft, trends and legal topics, as well as, a chance to get in front of funding agencies, broadcasters and buyers.
High profile industry professionals such as Valerie Creighton, president of the Canada Media Fund; Claude Joli-Couer, Canadian film commissioner and chair of the National Film Board; Susan Gorges, CEO of Creative Saskatchewan attended the festival.
One of the main highlights of the week from a business standpoint was the Creative Saskatchewan Networking Lunch
With a budget of $375 million, very little gets made in Canada without the hand of the Canada Media Fund involved in some way.
The NFB has $66 million to fulfil its mandate of providing “new perspectives on Canada and the world from Canadian points of view, perspectives that are not provided by anyone else and that serve Canadian and global audiences by an imaginative exploration of who we are and what we may be.”
By providing access to these people and others, the Yorkton Film Festival services both the content creators, the industry and audiences.
The festival also provides service to the industry by promoting and supporting next generation filmmaking with their high school and elementary school days and now the RBC Mentorship. Program.
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