Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about the potential of the film industry in our Northwest Territories. We have such a wealth of people, scenery, and landscapes to showcase to the world, yet it seems a shame that we don’t have more films being produced here in the North.
It’s true that we’ve had many talented independent filmmakers who have worked on commercials and entertainment projects, but with the few grants available through the NWT Arts Council it makes it tough for them to be established and working. We know Western Arctic Moving Pictures. They work very hard on showcasing their independent producers who develop films here in the North, and we certainly know about the film festival that was held here a few short weeks ago.
This industry, in a startlingly simple sense, barely shows up as a blip on our territorial scope. I think this government needs to find ways to help support this industry, because I think we have a wealth of opportunities to showcase to this world.
It’s no surprise to many Members here. We’ve all heard about the Ice Road Truckers. A few months ago I was travelling in Whitehorse and the first thing someone said when they found out I was from Yellowknife was, hey, do you know Alex Debogorski?
The message on our film industry up in the North here can showcase to the world the type of people and culture that’s available here. I’ve heard people down south ask me about Ice Pilots. The world is tuning in to what’s happening here in the North and they certainly like the format of what they see.
There are a lot of these movies and films that stir the emotions and certainly interest Canadians as well as people around the world. As such, I’ve heard that people, since watching the Ice Road Truckers, want to come to the North and drive on the ice road.
The bottom line is this industry does need help. I’ve spoken to people who were involved in the Ice Pilots show, but one of the problems they talked about was finding very little in the way of support mechanisms where they need to get staff to help them develop the film to a product they can then send out. The staff wasn’t available with the tools. They had to bring everyone from Vancouver, do the work here, and then fly everyone back home. Very little investment was put on the ground here.
With time running out on the clock, we’ve had great shows such as North of 60 produced here and we’ve had Northerners involved. Later today I’ll ask the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment about how we can turn the North into the Hollywood of the North and build on that potential.
