Copyright 2001 by Edward Willett

It's not easy being an independent filmmaker. Of all the art forms, film is one of the most expensive, requiring specialized equipment and facilities.

But filmmaking is like any other complicated endeavor: it gets easier when you pool resources with other individuals involved in the same pursuit.

That's the philosophy behind the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative. Much like the Neutral Ground Gallery, which I wrote about a few weeks ago, it's a non-profit, artist-run centre. It provides workshops, equipment and funding to independent filmmakers across Saskatchewan, and through its monthly bulletin, Infoshot, and its three-times-a-year magazine Splice, helps build a sense of community.

Shane Eason, member services coordinator for the Filmpool, says the cooperative currently has about 250 members, 30 of whom he classifies as "active members." "Someone out of that 30 is always working on something," he says.

The Filmpool isn't unique; there are many other film cooperatives across Canada, simply because the idea makes so much sense. In fact, the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative itself has members all across Canada and even in other countries, "people who have started here, then ended up there," as Shane puts it.

There are also video cooperatives, whose members work on videotape instead of film; Video Verité in Saskatoon, for instance. The focus of the Filmpool, however, is on film, Shane says. "We want people to work with film and to finish on film."

To that end, the Filmpool offers its members relatively cheap rental rates on equipment (and often those rental fees are deferred); facilities such as editing suites and a screening room; and a network of other members with a variety of technical skills.

Financial assistance is also part of what the Filmpool offers; twice a year it awards grants to approved productions, ranging from $100 to $5000. "All the Filmpool asks is that its credit is on the film," Shane says.

"No one's here to make money," Shane goes on. "It's an artist run centre." The staff answers to a nine-member board, all members of the film pool, he says, adding, "We also have to listen to our members, if our members are demanding a certain facility or equipment we try to help them out."

The facilities and equipment on hand are quite impressive, too. ("Thank God for eBay," Shane says with a laugh. "There's a lot of film equipment shows up there!") They include both digital and traditional editing systems, an animation stand, an optical printer, a post audio suite, 16-millimetre and High-8 cameras and a new Canon digital camera.

"We're the only place in the prairies that has a decent optical printer and animation stand," Shane says. "We get people here from Alberta and Manitoba all the time looking to use that equipment."

While the equipment is primarily intended for the use of members, it can also be rented by non-members. As well, the Filmpool sometimes makes equipment available to other artists groups, such as Neutral Ground and New Dance Horizons, in trade for equipment or other resources the Filmpool may need.

Despite its small population--or possibly even because of it--Saskatchewan has a strong community of filmmakers, Shane says, although, as in all provinces, there is sometimes competition between the independent filmmaking community and the commercial film industry.

"You're looking out over the prairies, there's nothing else to do but think," Shane explains. "You're secluded, it's like being on the ocean for months and months at a time."

While it's true that probably the majority of Filmpool-assisted films fall into the experimental realm, there have also been plenty of documentaries, animated films and traditional narrative films made by Filmpool members or with Filmpool help.

Periodically the Filmpool offers screenings of the films made by its members or other Saskatchewan filmmakers, and from April 26 to 29 they're helping to sponsor a festival of some of the very newest such work, the Fifteenth Annual Student Film and Video Festival, presented by the Regina Film and Video Students' Society at the University of Regina.

Shane is one of the coordinators of the event, which will include lectures, screenings, performances, artist talks and receptions. The festival kicks off with a screening of films by graduating University of Regina film students at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 26, at the Filmpool(#301 - 1822 Scarth Street).

That will be followed at 9 p.m. by a reception and the official opening of the festival.

Three filmmakers from across Canada will be serving as jurors for the festival and one of them, Kyath Battie from Victoria, will be screening some of her own work at the Filmpool on Saturday afternoon, April 28, at 3 p.m.

Other upcoming Filmpool events include the annual garage sale of old and donated equipment, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 19 at the Cathedral Community Centre on 13th Avenue. (For larger donated items, the Filmpool can offer a tax receipt).

On May 25, from approximately 8:30 to 10 p.m., the Filmpool will hold its annual "screening under the stars" in a tent in Holy Rosary Park, in conjunction with the Cathedral Village Arts Festival.

This is a perfect opportunity to check out the kinds of films created by Filmpool members--independent films by independent Saskatchewan filmmakers, each the reflection of their creator's personal vision.

Giving those visions flickering life on a movie screen is what the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative is all about.

Posted September 22, 2004