Saskatchewan Filmpool temporarily shutting down amid financial strain

A co-operative that assists filmmakers in Saskatchewan is set to temporarily close its doors amidwhat its president says is unsustainable financial strain.

The Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative, better known as Filmpool,provides its approximately 70 members with training, tools and equipment to help them make films in the province.

It has been operating for 47 years, but the organization recently informed its members that itwill be temporarily shutting down.

The closure will be effective Oct. 1, butFilmpoolsays it's planningto reopen on April 1, 2025.

A deficit of approximately $60,000 is the reason for the decision, according to Filmpool president Mattias Graham.

"The deficit is too large at this point, and weneed to make sure that we're meeting our stakeholders' needs,"Graham saidThursday in a Zoom interview from Montreal, where he currently lives.

The deficit has shrunk from the $100,000 first reported to Filmpool'smembers in March, but the temporary shutdown "ensures us that we have a fully balanced budget by April 1," he said.

It will also allowFilmpool's executive andmembers to work with a consulting company. The aim is to comeup with a new strategic plan, hire a new director and resume services that will allow the organization to be financially sustainable, Graham said.

Gerald Saul, a longtime member ofFilmpool and a directorwith the organization, said the news of the shutdown was shocking.

"It is a place that will support people that want to work with film, want to make films, but maybe they don't fit into the usual categoriesmaybe they don't fit into theway the industry is shaped, butthey want to be creative in some other way," said Saul.

He admits there have been concerns about a shutdown because other arts organizations are experiencing similar problems.

After getting more information at the organization's annual general meeting this week, Saul said hefeels confident Filmpoolwill get back on its feet.

The decision to shut down has not been without its difficult moments, said Graham.The organization has had to notifyits staff that they will be laid off.

"We worked really hard to avoid this. It's really the last thing we wanted to do, but it's necessary due to ourfinancial situation," he said.

While the organization will be closing, that doesn't mean it will stop providing services. Graham said it'sopen to volunteer services on an ad hoc basis in order to keep helping filmmakers.

"I have a career here in Montreal and it's all owed to the support I received as a filmmaker," Graham said.

"I think you see in our membership that everyone has this sort of story and connection, and it's hard to see the organization and the difficulty it's been in the past while."