Beyond the Screen: The Future of Saskatchewan Film

WEBVTT
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.479
You've done well, I guess you've always been the other side of the camera, right?
00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:03.919
But you do a lot of interviews.
00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:05.599
Yeah, I've done a lot of stuff.
00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:06.879
Do you podcast more?
00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:07.360
I don't know.
00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:09.519
Do you do or just more like broadcast kind of interviews?
00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:10.080
You know what?
00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:11.679
I used to be a media spokesperson.
00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:13.199
I used to work in public relations.
00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:16.399
So I would Is this for oh you you worked for who was it?
00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:17.600
Uh Bell Media?
00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:18.079
Yeah.
00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:18.559
Okay, here.
00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:21.440
I'll give you my 30-second whenever you're ready.
00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:22.559
Yeah, yeah.
00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:22.800
Okay.
00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:24.480
So anyway, because I worked for Bell.
00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:28.079
I used I mean my I was I was I used to work in government relations.
00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:30.320
I worked and worked in PR and advertising.
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.520
Uh worked in the write scripts and speeches and stuff like that?
00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:34.640
Yeah, I used to speak better.
00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:35.200
Everything.
00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:35.600
Yeah.
00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:37.119
I'm a storyteller.
00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:38.799
Well, yeah.
00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:42.079
I mean, I I I produce music, I write lyrics, sing.
00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:43.280
Um I love writing.
00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:46.320
Aaron Powell I've never written a song and I've always wanted to write the lyrics for a song.
00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:52.399
And I'm I have a couple of buddies that are that are composers, and I'm like, can I just can I write some lyrics or something?
00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:53.520
Give me the give me the song.
00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.960
I gotta get back to him about that because he said he said I could write some lyrics for a song.
00:00:59.119 --> 00:00:59.679
And I was like, okay.
00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:00.479
It's fun.
00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:06.239
And once you get into the swing of things, writing lyrics and music, it's like it's always an idea.
00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:08.079
It's like, oh yeah, I guess it's done to try to dump.
00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:11.359
And uh the kids are always annoyed.
00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:11.840
Oh yeah.
00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:12.799
It's like, Dad, what are you doing?
00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:13.920
You working on a song?
00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:15.359
Well, well, yeah, kind of, yeah.
00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:20.159
Little known fact, I am a Taylor Swift fan.
00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:23.760
And part of why I'm a Taylor Swift fan is because I really like the lyrics.
00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:25.359
I think she's a really good lyricist.
00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:26.959
You can judge me.
00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:27.599
Okay.
00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:28.719
I don't know anything about it.
00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:31.359
Oh, I just know her the pop culture thing about Taylor Swift.
00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:32.480
I don't listen to your music.
00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:35.359
I don't know her how well she writes all that stuff.
00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:36.879
Really, she's a great lyricist.
00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:38.400
Her songs have great lyrics.
00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:39.359
She writes her own songs?
00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:39.760
Yeah.
00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:40.000
Yeah.
00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:41.599
Well, I don't know if she writes all of her own songs.
00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:45.200
Most pop stars know they have like three or four writers at least writing these songs for them.
00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:47.040
Kazner, usually some Danish guy who writes everything.
00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:47.840
Some Danish.
00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:49.040
Yeah, but yeah.
00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:51.040
Speaking of something like that, what was it?
00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:52.640
Uh the guy from one of the guys from ABBA.
00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:53.120
Oh, yeah.
00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:54.480
It's a major producer.
00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:59.200
I didn't realize I was watching a documentary on this guy produces all types of stuff, music for everyone.
00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:00.079
I know, right?
00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:00.239
Yeah.
00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:01.840
It's like just having that ear.
00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:03.920
Like it's kind of like Barry Gibb from the Beach.
00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:05.040
Yeah.
00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:05.840
He was everywhere.
00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:06.159
Yeah.
00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:08.719
But you didn't know that he wrote this song, that song.
00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:09.039
Yeah.
00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:09.360
Yeah.
00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:10.479
Same with uh who else?
00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:12.240
I'll just watch a documentary on the Jacksons.
00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:14.400
It was like was it Randy?
00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:15.039
Who was it?
00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:15.599
Who was the other guy?
00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:16.000
Randy.
00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:17.120
Uh there was Randy Bachman.
00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:18.479
There was No, no, Randy Jackson.
00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:19.120
Oh, Randy Jackson.
00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:19.919
The Jackson Five.
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:20.560
Oh, the Jackson Five.
00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:22.719
The brothers of Michael Jackson.
00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:25.680
Randy, and I think it was uh maybe Jermaine.
00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:28.879
They went on behind the scenes writing songs for everyone else.
00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:29.360
Oh yeah.
00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:29.919
No, it's amazing.
00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:30.639
But you'd never know.
00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:31.120
Yeah.
00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:35.520
Well, one of my favorite things is uh I love that song, This Is My Life, by April Wine.
00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:36.240
Oh, yeah, yeah.
00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.840
Written by Elton John, who knew?
00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:41.280
Elton John.
00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:41.759
Yeah.
00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.280
How that would have been the same recording studio he just came on over.
00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:46.719
Probably.
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:47.840
Little tiny dancer.
00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:49.360
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:50.400
Exactly.
00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:56.000
Rooted Here, Business and Leadership Podcast.
00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:57.439
Welcome to Rooted Here.
00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:58.719
I'm your host, Dranchetti.
00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.840
And my guest today is Robert Hardy from ScreenSask.
00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:03.199
It's good to have you here.
00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:04.479
I'm excited to be here.
00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:06.479
I think this is really cool what you're doing with this podcast.
00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:07.360
So you think so?
00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:07.840
Yeah, I do.
00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:08.159
Yeah.
00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:08.479
Yeah.
00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:11.120
Just a little something we do to get back.
00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:12.560
So let's start.
00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:14.879
Uh tell us a little bit about your background.
00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:16.080
Where you came from.
00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:17.039
Yeah.
00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:18.000
How were you as a kid?
00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:20.000
How was I as a kid?
00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:21.759
Oh, I was a precocious jerk, I'm sure.
00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:22.240
Yeah?
00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:22.879
Yeah, probably.
00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:24.479
I probably got I got that a little bit of that.
00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:25.840
This is what my older brother would say.
00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:27.680
Anyways, he would he would argue I was a precocious jerk jerk.
00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:28.639
How many still weeks do you have?
00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:30.080
I'm the youngest of five.
00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:32.639
I have three older sisters and an older brother.
00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:33.280
Oh wow.
00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:34.479
Um, yeah.
00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:38.400
I uh I was a special surprise for my parents, which is very nice.
00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:39.360
Special, yeah.
00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:40.159
Uh very special.
00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:40.560
Right.
00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.680
Um, yeah, it's I don't know, what about me?
00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.639
Um I always like to say I'm a storyteller.
00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:55.280
That's kind of what my entire life and my entire career has been is helping other people tell their stories, um, which is why I've had a really varied career.
00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:00.560
I've been a speechwriter, I've worked as a lobbyist, I have worked in PR.
00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:00.960
Really?
00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:16.319
I've directed television, I've produced television, I developed TV series, I've done all this stuff, but it's really my big focus has always actually been on documentary and on like helping to tell the story of real people and their lives.
00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:18.160
Okay, so where did you grow up?
00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:19.600
I grew up in Winnipeg.
00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:20.079
Okay.
00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:21.279
A lot of great people come from Winnipeg.
00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:22.879
A lot of great people come from Winnipeg.
00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:23.199
Yeah.
00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:29.360
And uh I also grew up in Calgary because, of course, uh uh, you know, I'm I was born in the 70s.
00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:31.519
The oil boom was happening in Alberta.
00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:36.879
So my family, we moved back and forth, kind of like you know, my father worked in construction and worked in the oil industry.
00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:38.560
Hey, my dad worked in construction for years.
00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:38.959
Yeah.
00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:39.199
Yeah.
00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:39.839
Yeah, I know.
00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:40.560
It's it's great.
00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:45.279
So I kind of grew up in that kind of in that kind of world, um, living on the prairies, yeah.
00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:46.160
Really?
00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:51.600
So at an early age, was there any inkling that you'd be into like you say, storytelling?
00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.639
Would you did you gravitate to books, movies, or anything like that?
00:04:54.720 --> 00:05:01.759
Or I always tell people that that uh the reason I became a writer is because my brother played hockey.
00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:02.720
Explain that.
00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:06.639
My older brother, uh, he played hockey and he was like a really good player.
00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:09.360
Uh so I kept getting dragged around all these arenas.
00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:18.720
And so I would take a sketchbook with me, and I would go and hide underneath the bleachers, and I would make cartoons, and I would draw cartoons, and I make little comic books and stuff.
00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:22.480
And that's kind of how I occupied myself because you know, so yeah.
00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:27.040
So that was for me like my kind of formative era in that way.
00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:27.680
Right.
00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:32.560
Um, and then uh my cousins in Toronto.
00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:40.959
So I was live we were living in Winnipeg, but I had these cousins in Toronto and their dad, Dick Shoten was his name, he was a movie producer.
00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:47.519
And so he made a movie called Black Christmas, which The Black Christmas?
00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:48.000
Uh-huh.
00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:48.240
Yeah.
00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:50.079
He was one of the producers of Black Christmas.
00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:52.319
And some of my cousins were in it and everything.
00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:59.199
And so growing up, we kind of knew that this was a thing that you could do, but we were in Winnipeg, so you didn't think that you could actually do it.
00:05:59.439 --> 00:05:59.600
Right.
00:05:59.759 --> 00:05:59.920
Yeah.
00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:02.000
So I pursued other th other things.
00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:05.439
I got into public relations and other ways of storytelling.
00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.519
Um it took me a while to kind of move into the into the world of film and television.
00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:13.680
So did you go to school for the journalism degree or how that works?
00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:15.680
Public relations, do you take some kind of course for that?
00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:21.360
Or you just kind of You know, I was actually I was going to University in Winnipeg and uh I was studying history and English.
00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:23.199
Yeah, I did actually want to be a journalist.
00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:25.120
That was my my initial inclination.
00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:27.839
Um and then I actually got a job in Toronto.
00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:33.920
So I left uh I left university a little early and I went to work for a guy who did government relations.
00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:40.560
He worked with peop with companies and organizations and unions and taught them how to work with government.
00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:50.639
Um and that's where I actually worked with a lot of like I worked with a lot of great storytellers who were, you know, speech writers and you know, we'd organize political campaigns and stuff like that.
00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:52.480
So I did that for about four or five years.
00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:55.600
That's where I first learned to really tell story.
00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.160
Um and then I moved into public relations.
00:06:58.240 --> 00:06:59.839
I moved back to Winnipeg for a while.
00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.000
Um, I worked for an ad agency there.
00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:03.920
I did PR freelance.
00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:15.360
And then I ended up going and getting hired as the director of communications for something called the National Screen Institute of Canada, which is this really cool film and television training organization.
00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:19.839
It's based in Winnipeg, um, and they help train writers and producers and creators.
00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.279
And so I did their fundraising and comms and everything.
00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:31.839
Did that for a while, loved it, helped raise a lot of money to help people, you know, make cool things, and then realized I want to make cool things too.
00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.800
So I moved into I became a broadcaster for a while.
00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:41.519
I worked with CTV, where I got to like take pitches for TV shows and develop movies and TV shows.
00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:45.040
And then I became a producer and kind of started at C TV.
00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:47.600
I actually left CTV at a certain point.
00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:51.839
I'd moved out to Vancouver where I was overseeing a lot of their Western Canadian production.
00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:58.480
Um, and then uh from there I moved over to go work with one of my favorite production companies and never looked back.
00:07:58.800 --> 00:07:59.040
Wow.
00:07:59.279 --> 00:07:59.439
Yeah.
00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:07.839
So I've had a varied career, but at the core of it, it's always been about storytelling, about helping other people tell their story.
00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:09.040
Fascinating.
00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:10.000
Wow, wow.
00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:10.560
Okay.
00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:20.959
Uh for those who may not know, could you tell us a little bit about Screen Stasks and how you came upon ScreenSasks and what what Screen Task Screen Stask does for the community?
00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:21.519
Yeah.
00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:30.319
So um in Saskatchewan, what I'm known for is being the executive director of ScreenSask, which is um it's the Film and Television Industry Association.
00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:36.639
So you've got, you know, every single industry has a group that brings together all the people that that you know work in it.
00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:48.639
Um and for us, we bring together producers, creators, the crew that make the shows, stakeholders, uh, just to advocate for the growth of Saskatchewan's film and TV industry.
00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:59.519
Um and we do a lot of work with our government partners and with Creative Saskatchewan, which is the film commission, to kind of help make the climate, you know, work for our industry so that we can grow it.
00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:02.320
So you're separate from the government, but you work in tandem with them at departures?
00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:08.879
Yeah, we work with we work with the government, we work with uh we work with companies like Bamboo Shoots and Angel Entertainment.
00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:18.639
You know, our entire job is to help um create a good framework for companies to grow, uh, for people to create good careers in this business.
00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:24.240
Um, because we actually have a goal to help create a thousand new jobs in the province over the next 10 years.
00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:30.320
Um we want to turn the film and TV business into a half a billion dollar a year industry in in Saskatchewan in the next few years.
00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:31.120
That would be great.
00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:31.919
That would be great.
00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:33.120
Absolutely.
00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:44.159
Um was there a common thread leading up to Screen Sask in all those chapters that um made sense looking back now?
00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:45.360
How you got into all those?
00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:48.799
I know you meant the story, but was it purely story?
00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:53.600
Was it a little bit of uh being open to the what the possibilities?
00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:57.759
Hey, I have a I'm a very curious person and I love a challenge.
00:09:58.080 --> 00:09:59.759
I I once had this mentor.
00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:05.519
I've had a lot of mentors in my life, which I feel that I'm really gifted, that I've a lot of people help me figure out how to do things.
00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:07.519
Uh and there was this one mentor.
00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:09.440
I was I was looking at taking a job.
00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:15.919
I was this is when I was much younger, uh, it was not this job, and I said, I'm not sure if I should take this gig.
00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:17.360
What's your advice on it?
00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:19.039
And he said, Well, you know what?
00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:25.039
I always take a job where it's new or broken, where you can where there's a real challenge, right?
00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:29.519
Where you can either where you're trying to build something up or to rebuild it or to make it happen.
00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:32.000
And that's something that's really defined me.
00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:34.000
I love a I love a hard project.
00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:36.240
I love coming in and saying, like, okay, what's the mission?
00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:37.519
How are we going to accomplish it?
00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:42.799
Um, so for me, like that big challenge is a great part of it.
00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:49.279
Uh helping to tell a story is a great part of it, and helping something grow is a big part of it.
00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:54.240
Um, and I love taking on naysayers who say it's not possible and proving them wrong.
00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:55.679
Absolutely.
00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:02.720
Um through the course of your professional career, what have you learned about yourself for leadership?
00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:05.120
That's a great question.
00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:08.000
Um it's funny.
00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:11.919
There's leadership and there's management, and they're different things, right?
00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:16.480
Managing is being is about being able to manage a situation and help people succeed in it.
00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:24.960
Leadership is about setting vision and helping to make people really want to um be inspired to help fulfill that vision.
00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:25.840
Inspired, yes.
00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:29.600
And I think the inspiration is the key, but I think having the vision is the key.
00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.759
Now, uh that doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be your vision.
00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:36.159
You can embody the vision of people around you.
00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:43.919
So to me, great leaders help to inspire people to say this is where we can go if we all work together, uh, we can succeed.
00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:45.039
Wow, that's great.
00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:46.399
Good answer.
00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:50.879
Um What brought you to working in Saskatchewan?
00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:51.840
Great question.
00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:59.919
So for many years, I have been uh involved with the Yorkton Film Festival, which is a fantastic festival.
00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:02.159
It will be celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.
00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:02.639
Really?
00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:03.120
80 years?
00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:04.000
80 years, yeah.
00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:11.840
Oh yeah, so they give away these awards called the Golden Sheaf Awards, and it's a really well-known festival around the world, across Canada.
00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.399
People love the Golden Shefs, they love Yorkton.
00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:16.720
Uh, and of course, it takes place in Yorkten.
00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:19.840
So I was involved in the programming committee and helping make it happen.
00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:26.639
Um, and when they were looking for someone to take on this role of executive director of this organization, um, I just knew lots of people through that.
00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:28.960
And they were like, you should think about applying for this job.
00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:31.600
And I thought this would be a really interesting challenge.
00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:33.919
Uh, it's a community that I know and love.
00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:34.240
Yeah.
00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:38.559
And uh so I was just drawn to put my hat in the ring.
00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:43.519
Um, I I know that there were some other really great people that have, you know, applied for the job.
00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:46.879
So I feel quite fortunate that I was picked to help lead this.
00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:47.600
Absolutely.
00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:48.080
Great.
00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:53.519
Um what does building an organization actually look like from the ground?
00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:55.039
Great question.
00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:56.960
Uh I think it starts with vision.
00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:02.080
And I think it does uh involve working with people to create that vision.
00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:08.000
It's not your it can't just be your idea, especially with an organization like what I run, which is a membership-based organization.
00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:11.120
It's about the community and what are their needs and what are their wants.
00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:26.080
Um so when I first showed up, a lot of what I did was I just, you know, I met people, I I listened, I learned, um, I talked to people who like the organization that I work with, I talk to people who don't, and uh, and you synthesize that.
00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:27.440
And then you make a plan.
00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:32.480
That's how you grow, is you you have an idea of where you want to go, and then you have a plan to get there.
00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:40.240
And you recognize that plans change, um, but you at least you got a common point that everybody can work towards, and then you stick to the plan.
00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:40.799
Wow.
00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:48.559
You know, that's that's a key thing is like stick to your plan, bury it when you need to, but don't you know?
00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:58.240
There's a saying, um, I used to work at this great company, and my boss would always say, we'd be in these development meetings uh looking at like, should we pursue this project or that project?
00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:02.000
And he would go, opportunity or distraction.
00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:03.679
Right, right.
00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:08.080
And we would say, Yeah, is this an opportunity or is this just a distraction from the real goal?
00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:17.440
So that's something I think about when I think about plants is if something's come up, is it an opportunity to help fulfill your goal, or is it a distraction from your main goal?
00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:19.279
Knowing the difference is hard.
00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:20.639
That is really good.
00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:24.960
You know, I think I'm gonna uh integrate that into my philosophy, my uh approach to life.
00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:26.159
You should try to do business.
00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:26.720
That's interesting.
00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:29.679
Yeah, it also leads to some really great debates in your staff meetings.
00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:30.320
Okay.
00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:30.879
Wow.
00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:31.200
Yeah.
00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:31.759
All right.
00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:38.000
Um what is the biggest misconception people have about the economic impact of film and television production?
00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:39.840
It's a great question.
00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:47.039
Um so in Saskatchewan, it's a relatively small industry compared to what there is in other provinces.
00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:52.559
So uh right now, I would say we probably have about a$40 to$50 million a year industry.
00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:53.039
Okay.
00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:55.200
Uh which is bigger than most people think.
00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:57.200
A lot of people think we don't have any industry.
00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:57.840
Yeah.
00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:03.840
But what I think surprises people is when they hear about the economic spin-offs.
00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:14.159
So um there's some there's a uh film financing program called the Film and Television Production Grant that the government uses just to uh incentivize people to come and shoot here.
00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:14.639
Okay.
00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:20.000
It works in a similar way to some of the other incentives around like potash mining and oil and gas and what have you.
00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.080
It's all about you know spurring economic activity.
00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:22.480
Right.
00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:22.960
Absolutely.
00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:31.840
What people don't realize is that for every dollar that the government invests, um, that has a spin-off value of between$350 and$4, you know.
00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:32.240
Right.
00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:40.399
Uh what they don't realize is that, you know, let's say a production budget is like, I don't know, let's say it's$100 just to keep it easy.
00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:47.840
Well, if the government's putting in 25% towards that, which is a great incentive, 75% of this coming from out of province.
00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:53.679
So what people don't realize is that the money that's spent in this province on production is coming from other places.
00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:54.799
This is wealth creation.
00:15:54.960 --> 00:16:07.600
This is like paying, this is like um helping to feed families, make businesses grow, and we're doing it all with other people's money from outside of the province, which I think is great.
00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.600
And that's something people don't realize.
00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.240
So you say it's coming from the outside of the province.
00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:15.440
Give me an example.
00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:17.679
So let's say you're gonna make a television series.
00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:25.919
You're gonna make a 10-episode documentary series about could be about anything, World War II, your grandmother's toenails, whatever it is.
00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:26.879
Okay.
00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:29.120
You're like, hey, here's my idea for my show.
00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:30.879
I need this much money to make it.
00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:37.279
What you do is you go out to broadcasters, you go out to what we call streamers, which is like the Netflix's and Amazons and all of those.
00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:43.279
You go to distributors uh who are like going around and selling this stuff around the world.
00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:45.600
And you say, Here's my idea for a show.
00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:46.879
I think this would sell.
00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:50.159
Here's what the audience for that is, and they go, Yeah, you know what?
00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:51.039
We could sell that.
00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.120
We'll give you this much money towards the budget.
00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:54.320
And then you go talk to somebody else.
00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:56.080
Oh, we'll give you this much money towards the budget.
00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:09.440
So what happens is you end up getting this budget that you've put together, this financing plan that consists of money from oh, a German broadcaster, from a distributor from Toronto, from an American channel, and then you're like, okay, we have enough money to make the show.
00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:13.599
And then all that money comes to Saskatchewan to make the series.
00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:14.799
Interesting.
00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:15.200
Yeah.
00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:19.279
So is that why you see a lot of movies nowadays being made?
00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.039
We'll we'll focus on Canada.
00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:26.880
Uh in the production credits, you'll see like maybe five, six, seven production houses.
00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:27.680
Is that how it works?
00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:30.720
Yeah, those kind of co-productions are really important and really vital.
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:31.119
Yeah.
00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:36.400
Um, basically, film and television production is a business of stacking pennies.
00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:36.559
Okay.
00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:39.279
You know, you got you got all these things you gotta do.
00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:47.440
You gotta pay carpenters to build sets, you've got to pay electricians to deal with the light stuff, you've got to deal with, you've got to pay the writers, you've got to pay all these folks.
00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:51.599
Well, you have X number of pennies, you've got to figure out where those are gonna go.
00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:57.680
So, what you do is you find, you know, product producers in different places that can be like, oh, I can get some money out of France.
00:17:57.839 --> 00:17:59.440
Okay, we're gonna co-produce with France.
00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:06.079
Oh, I can get some money out of British Columbia, okay, we're gonna bring in British Columbia, and then you get more pennies to stack so you can do more with it.
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:07.680
So that's why these things happen.
00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:11.680
And Saskatchewan is a really good partner for these kinds of co-productions.
00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:13.359
That's what other people don't realize.
00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:14.480
Why is that?
00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:18.240
Because our system is very flexible, it's very welcoming.
00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:24.559
Um, we are able to work with other people in ways that that other jurisdictions can be a little more restrictive.
00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:25.119
Really?
00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:25.680
Yep.
00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:31.920
Um, if you need to bring in crew, we can help you bring in crew as long as you're training local, local people in those positions.
00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:35.039
Um, you know, we just we want to make it work.
00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:39.039
We want to help the create the projects, create the jobs, and create the businesses.
00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:40.240
Wow, interesting.
00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:40.880
Great.
00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:49.920
Um at what point does an industry stop being something that needs to be supported and start becoming an economic engine that can sustain itself?
00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:56.640
You could ask that question of the potash industry and the and the uranium industry and the oil and gas industry.
00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:02.480
You know, as you grow, really what you're trying to do with incentives is you're trying to attract the market.
00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:05.200
You're trying to attract private investment and private capital.
00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:10.880
And that's what the kind of investments that support film and television, for example, that's what they do.
00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:16.799
So, like I say, they put in 25%, 75% is coming from somewhere else.
00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:20.559
That's going to have a multiplier effect, a spin-off of four times.
00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:26.880
So, you know, it's not that it's actually being how would I put it?
00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:30.000
Like some people think this is some kind of kind of, oh, it's all government handout.
00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:31.680
Like it's all it's not.
00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:33.519
What it is, it's propping up something or whatever.
00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:35.920
It's not propping something, you know, it's helping to attract something.
00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:36.799
It's an investment.
00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:37.279
It's an investment.
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:37.920
It is an investment.
00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:38.319
It's in the future.
00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:38.559
Yep.
00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:42.720
Like any other investment, you invest in the future and help to develop that uh that sector industry.
00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:53.359
I was having a a meeting with um with some folks in Regina, um, some political folks not too long ago, and they're asking what the um economic impact would be.
00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:57.359
And I'm like, well, there's gonna be these two or three movies happening, there's this series happening.
00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:04.400
So I'm like, within the next four months, five months, uh, there's probably gonna be about$30 million dropped in the city.
00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:05.359
And they're like, What do you mean?
00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:09.039
And I'm like, well, they're gonna buy plywood, they're gonna buy tacos, they're gonna spend all this money.
00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:16.319
So imagine if you will, some startup business shows up, spends$20 million in your neighborhood, and you know what?
00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:18.960
They didn't have to build a factory, they didn't have to build a mine.
00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:23.599
All they needed to do was build a bunch of sets that, you know, go away after.
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:29.839
So it's a really interesting business because you have a really strong economic impact.
00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:30.240
Wow.
00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:35.440
Um, and the more successful you are, the more people keep coming and doing the same thing.
00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:36.559
That's a great analogy.
00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:37.440
It's a good way to look at it.
00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:37.599
Yeah.
00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:38.880
Never thought of it that way.
00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:39.599
Interesting.
00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:47.359
Um is workforce is workforce capacity now one of the biggest constraints on growth in Skatchan?
00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:48.400
It has been.
00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:49.440
In the past it has.
00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:50.480
In the past it has been.
00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:54.400
So one of our challenges is we have a very small but mighty film and television industry.
00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:54.880
Okay.
00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:57.920
So we kind of had enough crew to make one movie at a time.
00:20:58.160 --> 00:20:59.279
Well, that's not how you grow.
00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:00.240
And that's not how you train.
00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:05.200
Because if you can only do one thing, then you're not going to be needing to hire other people to train them how to do it.
00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:12.319
So I have this new thing called the Apprenticeship Stream Training Program, which the government was very, very, very progressive and smart in putting together.
00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:21.119
Uh, where if you want to make a movie here and there's not certain crew people available, you can bring in people from out of province as long as they're training local crews.
00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:22.880
Well, that's how we train local crews.
00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:25.200
That's how we get bigger productions here.
00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:31.680
That's how we get, you know, people who've been working on huge movies to come here and teach us their tricks.
00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:45.200
You know, so now workforce attraction, workforce development is less of an issue because we can bump up our crews and we have a mechanism in place for training and development and for apprenticing people to learn the skills of this industry.
00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:48.079
Um, so that's less of a factor.
00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:53.279
Um, and you know, and now it's just a matter of continuing to build that capacity.
00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:56.480
Um I use Manitoba as a really great example.
00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:56.799
Okay.
00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:03.279
I think I I mentioned that you know, we do about Between fifty and sixty million dollars a year worth of worth of uh production.
00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:06.400
Um that's where that's where Manitoba was a few years ago.
00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:08.799
Like probably about 10 years ago, they were about at that level.
00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:09.279
Okay.
00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:11.440
They're now a half a billion dollar a year industry.
00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:16.960
And it's because they use the same kind of um uh workforce development model that we're now using.
00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:22.160
I do know that a couple of within the past 10 years, they've got a couple of big uh Westerns film there.
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:24.319
Yeah, there's been a lot that's been happening, right?
00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:31.599
And the prairies in general, like there's a lot happening in Alberta, there's a lot happening in in in Manitoba, there's more and more happening in Saskatchewan.
00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.400
I'd argue this is gonna be our busiest year in years.
00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:39.839
Um and we can work together as a region to kind of to kind of grow, which I think is also a really great thing.
00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:40.480
Okay.
00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:46.319
Uh so we're so what does this tell us about where the organization, Screen SAS, is heading?
00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:47.839
Good question.
00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:48.319
Yeah.
00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.160
Um, so Screen SAS, like I say, we're a member-driven organization.
00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:53.759
We're an association.
00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:55.839
I work to serve the members.
00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:03.279
Um, I think for Screen Sask, a big part of our focus remains advocacy, making sure people understand uh what's going on.
00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:06.079
We actually want to be doing more at the civic and municipal level.
00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:14.240
We want to make sure that every town and every city uh understands the value of welcoming film and television production into their area.
00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:14.559
Okay.
00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:15.440
Because you know what?
00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:21.039
Like, again, I was saying how like, you know, Regina's probably gonna have$20,$30 million dropped in the next little while.
00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:21.440
Right.
00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:29.680
Well, that can also go to Moose Jaw, and that can also go to Esteban, and that can go to other places because with film and TV, you want the locations.
00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:36.960
We want to go, like, we need cool barns, we need haunted houses, yeah, we need old factories, we need, you know, all kinds of things.
00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:38.319
Cool landscapes.
00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:39.759
We need cool landscapes.
00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:45.519
Well, when they show up, you know, a movie's gonna drop one, two hundred grand a week in your town.
00:23:45.680 --> 00:24:03.359
So what we want to do is more advocacy with um the with communities, make them understand the value of making sure we know about their beautiful things, that they're putting their um you know, their photos on the location gallery at Creative Saskatchewan so people know to look for these things, um, that they know what to do when a film producer calls.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:04.960
So that's a big focus.
00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:09.920
We're still working on the workforce development over the next while, like again, continuing to build up our crews.
00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:21.359
And we're also um we want to do more work around export development because um this is a business where producers, you know, they're the entrepreneurs who are coming up with the ideas.
00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:28.960
They got to go to markets, they've got to go to conferences, they've got to make those connections with those people who are gonna buy the projects so they can bring the money back.
00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:35.200
So we are working to help them build up their export skills, um, to give them access to better intelligence.
00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:41.920
Um, we want to partner with organizations like STEP, who are absolutely brilliant in the work that they do.
00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:46.880
Um, we're really fortunate in that Saskatchewan has trade offices in countries around the world.
00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:54.880
So there's opportunities there for us to connect and say, okay, let's figure out how we're gonna get Korean co-productions happening here in Saskatchewan.
00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:55.279
Wow.
00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:56.319
That's what we want to focus on.
00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:57.279
Yeah.
00:24:57.599 --> 00:24:58.160
This is serious.
00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:01.519
You got to really have this plan for the future.
00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:03.039
It's all part of our plan.
00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:04.160
And it's not screens application.
00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:06.319
It's a big part of that plan to begin with.
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:10.160
Like any business, you've got to educate the public on why we need these services, why you need this product.
00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:10.640
Exactly.
00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:11.519
What it can do for you.
00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:12.319
Trevor Burrus, that's exactly it.
00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:22.240
And so it's not just Screen Sask, it's Screen Sask with Creative Saskatchewan, with the government, with our union partners, the Directors Guild of Canada, uh IATSE, the Actors Union.
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:24.480
We all work together to build this industry.
00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:24.720
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:25.119
Wow.
00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:26.240
That's great.
00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:37.759
Um what separates a good idea from a from a pitch that makes an executive, a broadcaster, streamer, or investor say, I need to hear more?
00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:39.519
Aaron Powell That's a great question.
00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:41.279
And there is no one answer.
00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:41.519
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:42.480
Because you've been everywhere.
00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:44.319
I've seen it all, you've heard it all.
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:46.480
I have developed a lot of TV shows over the years.
00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:48.720
Like I've had a really fortunate career in the Aaron Trevor Burrus, Jr.
00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:50.559
I'm sure you had the pitch and you've also heard pitches.
00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:53.680
Trevor Burrus, Jr.: I've heard pitches, I've made pitches, I've created TV shows.
00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:53.920
Right.
00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:59.279
Um, you know, I've created TV shows that have not gone anywhere, and I'm like, why doesn't anybody like this idea?
00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:00.720
This is such a great idea.
00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:05.680
Um and then sometimes I've like, you know, looked at projects and been like, why did that sell?
00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:09.200
Here's the thing: it has to be fascinating.
00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:10.240
Why do you like?
00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:24.480
I don't know if you watch TV, but if when you've got a few minutes to spare, it's like eight o'clock at night, the kids are in bed, you're tired, you've done, you've finished folding the laundry, you want to relax, you're gonna click that thing around, you're gonna find something that's interesting.
00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:27.119
That's the first key, is it has to be interesting.
00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:30.640
It has to be a unique take on an existing idea.
00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:34.480
It has to have a great character, it has to be a thing that makes you go, like, oh, I gotta watch this.
00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:35.519
This is really cool.
00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:36.160
Yeah.
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:39.039
And then you have to have an audience for that.
00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:40.480
Who's gonna want to watch this?
00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:42.640
You know, who's gonna watch this on Netflix?
00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:44.799
Who's gonna watch it on CTV or CBC?
00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:47.759
And so you then have to align with your buyers, you know?
00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:53.920
It's like you're creating a product that has to be sold to somebody who's gonna distribute it, and a demand for it.
00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:57.440
And then yeah, and maybe an uh emerging market, emerging demand.
00:26:57.599 --> 00:26:57.680
Yeah.
00:26:57.920 --> 00:26:59.759
And then it comes down to what we call packaging.
00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:02.240
It's like, well, what's gonna make that more appealing?
00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:04.559
Well, there's this actor who wants to star in it.
00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:16.319
Oh, we've got the writer from this thing who, you know, won a uh you know, a Canadian Screen Award or an Oscar, you know, and so you build up this talent package, and people go, Okay, I think this could be a winner.
00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:16.799
Okay.
00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:18.880
And then you assemble the money and you make it.
00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:19.519
Wow.
00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:21.680
And then you and then you hope.
00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:23.440
Well, like everything else, yeah.
00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:24.319
Well, that's a great answer.
00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:29.759
Um What has changed most dramatically about the business of television since you started?
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:30.880
So much change.
00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:32.079
That's what we mean.
00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:33.759
You started like a couple years ago.
00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:35.680
Yeah, I haven't been doing this for very long.
00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:40.000
No, I guess um I have been in this business for 35 years, I think.
00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:40.319
Yeah.
00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:41.119
You've seen a lot.
00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:42.319
I I've seen a lot.
00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:44.480
What has changed is everything.
00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:45.200
You know?
00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:46.240
I mean, think about it.
00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:51.440
We used to just turn on there was seven channels, and then there was all these specialty channels where you're like, oh, there's comedy networks.
00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:54.960
You know, like uh do I watch TV?
00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:57.359
Honest truth is, I don't watch TV anymore.
00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:59.599
I watch online, I watch YouTube a lot.
00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:03.359
Which I I find exactly what I need when I want it.
00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:04.880
And that's the new TV.
00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:05.279
Yeah.
00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:05.759
Yeah.
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:10.480
So what's been interesting is um, you know, the change in the business model.
00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:12.880
We could have an entire podcast about the change in the business model.
00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:14.400
We'll bring you back uh at the end of the season.
00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:15.519
Yeah, no, I I'm in.
00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:16.000
I'm in.
00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:25.039
But it's basically we've gone from like, you know, uh, you know, there being channels to there being uh what we call aggregators and streamers, the YouTubes, the Netflix's all of that.
00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:27.599
So that's what's really changed in a big way.
00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:32.240
Um and there's just, you know, the dollars are tighter, the competition's higher.
00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:34.880
But the beautiful side of it is the audience has changed.
00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:38.559
It used to be you made a show for Canada and you hoped that somebody else saw it.
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:41.039
Well, now we watch all we all watch shows from around the world.
00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:42.079
International.
00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:43.039
Absolutely.
00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:44.319
I have made shows.
00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:53.200
Uh I made a show, it was for History Channel, and it ended up on Netflix, and it was the number one show in New Zealand on Netflix for weeks.
00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:53.839
Really?
00:28:54.079 --> 00:29:00.160
And it was the number one show in Ireland and in all kinds of places around the world, and that was really cool.
00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:03.359
Ten years ago, 20 years ago, never would have happened.
00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:04.720
You wouldn't have access to those markets.
00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:05.119
No.
00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:08.240
You'd you you'd have to actually you'd have to actually be there in person.
00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:09.519
You'd have to walk no.
00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:15.039
So walks I would hit the door hit the doors for distributors and all that stuff, and no, it's quick and easy.
00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:19.920
Um so this whole so our industry is changing rapidly, but where there is change, there is opportunity.
00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:22.000
Could you tell us the name of that show?
00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:23.599
Oh, it was called Big Timber.
00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:24.400
Big Timber.
00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:25.119
Big Timber.
00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:42.880
It was on History Channel, uh, and it was about a uh guy named Kevin and his wife Sarah, who run a sawmill in on Vancouver Island, and they had their own logging uh operation, so they would go and log trees and bring them down to the mountain and do whatever they could to keep the mill alive.
00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:48.160
And um, yeah, it was a it was a it was a great Canadian story and uh and it was a hit.
00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:48.640
Yeah.
00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:49.440
Great.
00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:50.960
Uh uh awesome.
00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:57.519
So we talked about what has what has changed, but what hasn't changed in the industry?
00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:01.519
What things are still the bread and butter, still this certain processes you still have to do?
00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:03.920
Good ideas, good talent.
00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:04.240
Okay.
00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:07.839
You need talented people on camera and behind the camera.
00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:10.960
You need to have a really good idea that's rooting on everybody.
00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:18.799
You know, screenplays, scripts, anybody who's who's watching who you know likes to read a script for fun, some people like to read a script for fun.
00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:19.200
Okay.
00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:22.160
Those scripts are the blueprints for making products.
00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:24.000
You need a great script.
00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:29.279
You need great people on can on to star in it, and you need really great directors and team.
00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:30.640
So talent never goes away.
00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:31.279
Okay.
00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:42.640
Um Do you think Saskatchewan should try to become known for a particular kind of content, or should the goal simply be to become exceptionally good at producing all types of content?
00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:44.400
Great question.
00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:46.319
Um that's not for me to decide.
00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:46.640
Okay.
00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:47.440
I don't fair enough.
00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:52.960
Ultimately, it comes down to uh this is an industry driven by entrepreneurs.
00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:53.119
Okay.
00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:55.279
What do they want to sell?
00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:56.960
You know, what does the world need?
00:30:57.200 --> 00:30:57.279
Yeah.
00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:02.480
You know, maybe the world needs more game shows, maybe it needs more feature films, maybe it needs both.
00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:03.279
Absolutely.
00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:03.839
Okay.
00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:10.400
Uh what's the business opportunity in Saskatchewan's screen sector that you think is currently most overlooked?
00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:18.640
Uh okay, so there's been a lot of work in this in Saskatchewan in documentary series.
00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:18.880
Yep.
00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:22.160
And in fact, this company makes some really great documentary series.
00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:29.279
Uh feature films are also a really good opportunity, and so we see a lot of growth happening in terms of feature film production.
00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:35.119
Um, we do see you know opportunities in things like competition series and game shows and that kind of thing.
00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:42.480
We have a beautiful, beautiful studio in Saskatchewan that's ripe for you to, you know, to make a uh big cooking competition series.
00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:43.519
That's in Regina, right?
00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:44.160
That's in Regina.
00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:44.720
Yeah, yeah.
00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:49.359
The big soundstage was the John Hopkins soundstage in Regina is one of the best in Canada.
00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:49.759
Okay.
00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:51.119
It's a it's a hidden gem.
00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:52.880
Um, you know, we have opportunity.
00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:57.519
So we have opportunities for those kind of shows, I think, as well, uh, to happen.
00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:02.960
And um, yeah, and I think, you know, the opportunities abound in all areas, you know.
00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:04.319
Absolutely.
00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:05.920
Um what's harder?
00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:11.440
Getting people to agree on a vision or getting them to believe that a vision is actually possible.
00:32:12.079 --> 00:32:13.039
That's a hard question.
00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:14.079
You are gonna make me cry.
00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:15.519
There you go.
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:18.799
Um I think it's I think it's the same thing.
00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:28.799
Yeah, you know, I think if you create a vision and and uh and enough people agree with it and are passionate about it, then that's the key.
00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:32.000
If you create a vision and nobody cares, then you haven't created a vision.
00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:33.359
Wow, really?
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:34.319
Think about it.
00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:35.119
Okay.
00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:37.599
I I have a little slogan I like to use.
00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:38.480
Okay, what is it?
00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:40.160
Imagine the possibilities.
00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:41.599
I like people to do that.
00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:44.960
Like, stop and think about what the possibilities are.
00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:49.440
And a very good friend of mine has a great line that she uses.
00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:50.000
Okay.
00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:51.759
What does good look like?
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:53.920
What does good look like?
00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:54.960
What does good look like?
00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:58.240
So, whatever you're doing, think about like what is the good we're trying to do?
00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:00.799
What is the good thing we're trying to achieve?
00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:06.000
Think about what good looks like, and then you can imagine the possibilities to get there.
00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:09.680
And that actually is like every day I get up and I think about those things.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:10.480
Wow, wow.
00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:13.759
You know, I'm thinking you should put a little book together and put a bunch of sayings in there, you know.
00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:15.119
I'll put all my mysteries.
00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:15.839
Sayings to live by.
00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:16.480
Yeah, yeah.
00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:17.519
Maybe I can sell some hats.
00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:18.319
Life's nuggets.
00:33:18.559 --> 00:33:19.119
Yeah, exactly.
00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:19.680
Wow.
00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:20.400
Uh okay.
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:23.680
Um how do you lead when you don't have direction?
00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:29.440
Or or how do you lead when you don't have direct authority over most of the people you need to bring along?
00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:31.039
Inspiration.
00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:31.920
Inspiration, I think.
00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:32.799
It's all about inspiration.
00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:36.400
It ties into being uh our effective leader, a good leader, inspiring people.
00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:36.880
Yeah.
00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:39.119
I mean, hey, look at my the role I have.
00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:41.759
I'm the executive director of a member-driven organization.
00:33:41.839 --> 00:33:42.319
Yeah.
00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:45.279
My members don't work for me, but I have to help lead them.
00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:49.440
You know, in fact, I work for them, and my job is to help them succeed.
00:33:49.839 --> 00:33:50.960
So absolutely.
00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:51.920
No, that's great.
00:33:52.079 --> 00:34:00.640
Uh have you ever changed your mind um on a major str major strategy issue because someone else convinced you they were right.
00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:01.440
Oh yeah.
00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:02.240
There you go.
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:04.240
I mean, here's the thing.
00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:13.280
I think in life it's very important to uh stand by your convictions, but also be very open to the possibilities that other opinions can be right, you know.
00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:15.599
I mean, I'm I'm a great believer in that.
00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:17.840
Uh it sucks to be wrong.
00:34:18.880 --> 00:34:26.000
It can be humiliating to be wrong, but um, the greatest success has come from you know, looking at your failures.
00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:27.599
There's a term I love.
00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:32.639
Um, some people think this is a really negative thing, but we always talk about we always talk about blue skying, right?
00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:41.280
Like let's, you know, you're you're planning an event, you're planning a corporate retreat, you're gonna do a conference, whatever, and you're like blue sky all the things that could be.
00:34:41.679 --> 00:34:45.119
What people don't do is they don't gray sky all the things that could go wrong.
00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:46.159
Absolutely.
00:34:46.559 --> 00:34:55.280
And that's how you prevent failure is by imagining how could we fail before you get there, and then you can um come up with solutions to help prevent failure from happening.
00:34:55.440 --> 00:34:59.440
So I'm a great believer in going like, what are the good things we can do?
00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:01.280
What are the bad things that could happen?
00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:03.519
How do we avoid the bad and get to the good?
00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:04.320
That's great.
00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:11.840
We have uh um a person that works here uh in accounting who has that same philosophy when it comes to any business venture or anything.
00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:13.599
He said, What is the dark side?
00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:15.199
Can you live with that dark side?
00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:17.840
The doubt or the downside of that decision.
00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:20.559
If you can, then you can maybe proceed.
00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:21.360
Yeah, exactly.
00:35:21.760 --> 00:35:23.599
If you can't, we shouldn't proceed.
00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:25.519
And that's what makes a great accountant.
00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:26.239
Yeah.
00:35:26.559 --> 00:35:27.119
He's good.
00:35:27.360 --> 00:35:27.519
Yeah.
00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:27.920
Oh yeah.
00:35:28.400 --> 00:35:28.880
Like, wow.
00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:29.199
Yeah.
00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:34.159
Um Why do you think great leaders owe the communities they're working in?
00:35:35.760 --> 00:35:37.039
That's a great question.
00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:42.000
Um I think the great leaders actually give back a lot to their community.
00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:52.000
They help support their growth, they help to use their experience and knowledge and connections to help leverage things for the community good.
00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:58.400
Um, yeah, and I think honestly, I feel like for really great leaders, that just comes innately.
00:35:58.559 --> 00:36:02.480
Like, I don't think people necessarily need to be forced into that.
00:36:02.639 --> 00:36:09.440
But I think that if you're a good leader, you do see the benefit of like helping others succeed around you.
00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:13.199
But maybe I just, you know, I'm too much of a fan of Warren Buffett.
00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:15.760
A lot of people are a fan of Warren Buffett.
00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:16.239
Yeah.
00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:27.119
Um if we recorded this conversation again in 2031, what would you hope has changed about Saskatchewan's film and television industry?
00:36:27.760 --> 00:36:28.880
Uh I hope it's grown.
00:36:29.039 --> 00:36:29.199
Okay.
00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:34.239
I hope that uh it has a lot of people working in it and it has a lot of successful companies.
00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:41.920
Um and I hope that I am watching that from afar from Thailand or Vietnam or, you know, a beach in Mexico.
00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:42.559
Wow, yeah.
00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:43.039
Yeah, yeah.
00:36:44.239 --> 00:36:45.519
I'm older than I look, so you know.
00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:46.480
Yes, yes.
00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:48.480
Uh that's a great exit plan too.
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:50.559
Exactly.
00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:57.119
Uh what does stable public investment make possible that the private sector can't accomplish on its own?
00:36:57.519 --> 00:36:58.800
That's a great question.
00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:00.239
Uh stability.
00:37:00.400 --> 00:37:12.239
Um, and uh, you know, and just markets need to know that they have support, you know, and that they can go to a place and it's not gonna, you know, the rules aren't gonna change.
00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:15.599
So, you know, that kind of rules both paste order is I think really important.
00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:20.239
And that's one thing I will say for Saskatchewan is like there's a really great system in place.
00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:22.400
The government's very supportive of it.
00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:25.039
Um, you know, the opposition's very supportive of it.
00:37:25.280 --> 00:37:26.559
Everyone is very supportive of it.
00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:28.800
Um, and it works, you know.
00:37:29.199 --> 00:37:36.800
And the other piece of it is I get it when I think about our industry, it's about um managed growth, you know?
00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:42.320
Don't uh don't try and bite off more than you can chew too often, you know.
00:37:42.480 --> 00:37:46.480
Like if you're gonna eat an elephant, it takes some time to do it.
00:37:46.880 --> 00:37:47.199
Wow.
00:37:47.360 --> 00:37:47.599
Yeah.
00:37:48.079 --> 00:37:50.320
Boy, all those uh so many platitudes, I know.
00:37:51.280 --> 00:37:52.079
But I believe all these things.
00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:53.280
That's great.
00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:53.760
Wow.
00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:54.239
Okay.
00:37:54.480 --> 00:38:05.840
Um what would you like a Saskatchewan business owner listening to this podcast to understand about the opportunity in the screen industry?
00:38:06.239 --> 00:38:07.199
Great question.
00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:14.159
Um I think what I'd like people to understand is that uh we're an industry where everyone is a part of it.
00:38:14.480 --> 00:38:16.639
We buy lots of different things.
00:38:16.800 --> 00:38:20.960
We if you run a bakery, we're gonna show up and we're gonna buy a bunch of croissants.
00:38:21.199 --> 00:38:24.159
If you run a hardware store, we're gonna buy a bunch of plywood, you know.
00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:27.760
Um, I know of one company that's looking for metal fabrication right now.
00:38:27.840 --> 00:38:27.920
Right.
00:38:28.320 --> 00:38:35.440
We are, you know, and and we might be like, hey, your business is a really cool location for us to film a scene.
00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:36.800
Can we come film with you?
00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:42.960
You know, so again, I would say be open to the possibilities of like, how can we work with you um for everyone's mutual benefit?
00:38:43.119 --> 00:38:44.800
Uh don't be scared of us.
00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:51.519
And um, you know, and that's the main thing that I would say to people is like be interested.
00:38:51.679 --> 00:39:01.519
And if people really are interested in having their business or their home or their school used as a location, Creative Saskatchewan has a great locations library.
00:39:01.679 --> 00:39:03.119
I encourage people to go there.
00:39:03.280 --> 00:39:08.079
You can submit uh photos and details about a property, and then it's just on this list.
00:39:08.239 --> 00:39:14.320
So when like when the directors are looking for a place to shoot, they can be like, oh, there's this really cool building here.
00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:17.039
Or we need a we need a cool courthouse.
00:39:17.280 --> 00:39:20.320
Oh, this town has a really cool courthouse, you know?
00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:22.719
And that's how you can that's how you can really connect with us.
00:39:23.119 --> 00:39:23.760
That's interesting.
00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:25.519
I didn't realize you guys had something that system like that.
00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:27.119
Well, we don't, Screen Sask doesn't have it.
00:39:27.199 --> 00:39:27.920
It's Creative Saskatchewan.
00:39:28.079 --> 00:39:28.480
Okay, cool, cool.
00:39:28.639 --> 00:39:32.079
But it's really tell us the difference between Creative Saskatchewan and Screen Sask.
00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:36.559
Yeah, so Screen Sask is uh an industry association made up of people who work in the industry.
00:39:36.719 --> 00:39:36.880
Okay.
00:39:37.039 --> 00:39:41.119
Creative Saskatchewan is the government's uh creative uh industry agency.
00:39:41.280 --> 00:39:42.239
So it is designed.
00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:44.239
Yeah, and it is designed.
00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:49.760
Think of it as it's an economic development agency designed to focus on building the creative industries.
00:39:50.000 --> 00:40:00.239
So uh film is part of it, books, um, you know, galleries, uh music, there's there's a number of organizations that are all representing different um creative industries.
00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:00.559
Right.
00:40:01.039 --> 00:40:07.679
And the I always like to say there's art for art's sake, and there's art for profit sake.
00:40:07.920 --> 00:40:08.159
Okay.
00:40:08.480 --> 00:40:10.079
We're all about art for profit sake.
00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:22.880
We're about employing technicians and artists and tradespeople to make really cool cultural products, films, books, video games, that kind of stuff, and help people make money from it and build careers.
00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:32.239
So that's the that's what Creative Saskatchewan and all the industry associations are about is about help helping people make money making cool things.
00:40:32.800 --> 00:40:34.400
Okay, great, great answer.
00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:43.760
This next one, something I've always thought about, uh I grew up in Saskatchewan and I moved away and I came back and it it it back when maybe about 15 years, it always bugged me.
00:40:43.840 --> 00:40:43.920
Yeah.
00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:45.199
I'm gonna ask you this question.
00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:56.880
What do you believe Saskatchewan could become if we stopped thinking of ourselves as a small market and started thinking of ourselves as a place where big things can be built?
00:40:57.679 --> 00:40:59.679
Well, we can build more big things, can't we?
00:40:59.840 --> 00:41:00.559
Yeah, that's the key.
00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:01.840
The mindset's always the mindset.
00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:03.119
It's all about the mindset, yeah.
00:41:03.280 --> 00:41:06.239
I mean, people in power and policymakers and all that stuff.
00:41:06.719 --> 00:41:14.079
Well look at it, like you kind of have to have a really good sense of the world and where you fit into it and to see those possibilities.
00:41:14.320 --> 00:41:20.400
Um yeah, and I mean, you know, also on the prairies, the tall poppy syndrome is a bit of an issue still.
00:41:20.639 --> 00:41:20.960
The what?
00:41:21.199 --> 00:41:22.159
Tall poppy syndrome.
00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:23.199
Okay, explain it to me.
00:41:23.519 --> 00:41:23.599
Okay.
00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:27.440
So uh sometimes the tallest poppy gets cut down.
00:41:27.679 --> 00:41:32.480
You know, I think on the prairies we sometimes have a little, we're a bit like, he's a little too big for his britches.
00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:33.280
Yes, yes.
00:41:33.599 --> 00:41:39.440
And I think what we had we need to do is instead of you know cutting people down when they got a dream, support a dream.
00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:40.559
Support yeah, support a dream.
00:41:41.360 --> 00:41:43.920
Support the success of certain uh businesses or industries.
00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:46.800
It only reflects positively on the problems.
00:41:47.039 --> 00:41:47.199
Exactly.
00:41:48.159 --> 00:41:52.639
And we also like, here's the thing, like be open to different kinds of businesses and ideas, right?
00:41:52.719 --> 00:41:58.079
Like like, you know, we have we have the things that make a you know a lot of money and employ a lot of people here.
00:41:58.239 --> 00:41:59.599
Food, fuel, fertilizer.
00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:02.239
Well, film can be the fourth F in that, you know?
00:42:02.480 --> 00:42:05.440
And there's you know, video games could fit into that.
00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:08.000
Like there's all kinds of cool things we can make that will make it.
00:42:08.480 --> 00:42:08.800
Exactly.
00:42:09.280 --> 00:42:13.039
And and that's why we need the visionaries, the dreamers who to at least get us there.
00:42:13.280 --> 00:42:13.360
Yeah.
00:42:13.599 --> 00:42:18.400
And then we have uh if we have the foundation and the infrastructure to support those initiatives.
00:42:18.800 --> 00:42:19.760
Hey, sky's the limits.
00:42:20.079 --> 00:42:20.239
Exactly.
00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:25.119
And one thing I will say for Saskatchewan, what I one of the things I love about this province, I've lived in five provinces, right?
00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:26.159
Like I've lived in one of the city.
00:42:26.320 --> 00:42:27.920
Okay, so you've lived in uh what Ontario?
00:42:28.320 --> 00:42:32.000
I've lived in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and BC.
00:42:32.079 --> 00:42:32.639
I've done the West.
00:42:33.039 --> 00:42:34.320
You could be an ambassador for Canada.
00:42:34.559 --> 00:42:35.519
I could be an ambassador for Canada.
00:42:35.599 --> 00:42:35.679
Yeah.
00:42:35.840 --> 00:42:36.559
But you know what I've realized?
00:42:36.719 --> 00:42:37.920
You can get stuff done here.
00:42:38.239 --> 00:42:46.719
Saskatchewan is a it's like the right size, and the people who I think are the leaders in this province want to make stuff happen.
00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:54.400
So if you need to make something happen, you can find the people, you can you can find the will, and you can make stuff happen more quickly than I think you can in other places.
00:42:54.880 --> 00:42:56.400
Do you think that's more of a recent thing?
00:42:56.480 --> 00:42:58.719
Or do you think it's I I've I grew up in Saskatchewan.
00:42:58.800 --> 00:42:59.599
I didn't think it was always there.
00:42:59.679 --> 00:43:00.480
I think it's more of a recent thing.
00:43:00.800 --> 00:43:01.119
Oh, I don't know.
00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:03.119
I only moved here 18 months ago, man.
00:43:03.280 --> 00:43:05.280
Like I'm having been that much.
00:43:05.599 --> 00:43:06.079
So I don't know.
00:43:06.159 --> 00:43:06.639
You tell me.
00:43:06.719 --> 00:43:06.880
Oh, yeah.
00:43:07.039 --> 00:43:08.000
Is this a recent thing?
00:43:08.079 --> 00:43:09.440
No, Saskatchewan's got it going.
00:43:09.599 --> 00:43:14.320
Like honestly, there is a lot of will to succeed here, which I think is fantastic.
00:43:14.800 --> 00:43:17.760
I think that means a lot come from someone like you who've been to the biggest centers.
00:43:18.079 --> 00:43:18.639
What do you think that's going to be?
00:43:19.679 --> 00:43:20.559
Holy smoke, really?
00:43:20.800 --> 00:43:21.039
Yeah.
00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:24.480
See, I I think I fall into that Saskatchewan mindset without even knowing.
00:43:24.559 --> 00:43:28.320
It's like I didn't realize that we were uh come from the mover shaker.
00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:29.360
You can make stuff happen.
00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:30.400
You can make stuff happen here.
00:43:30.639 --> 00:43:31.119
That's good to know.
00:43:31.280 --> 00:43:31.599
That's good.
00:43:31.840 --> 00:43:32.320
Absolutely.
00:43:32.559 --> 00:43:38.480
Um what's the best piece of of what's the best piece of career advice you've ever received?
00:43:39.039 --> 00:43:40.960
You've said you had many mentors in your life.
00:43:41.039 --> 00:43:42.639
Um maybe we can tap into that.
00:43:43.440 --> 00:43:44.480
That's a great question.
00:43:44.719 --> 00:43:47.119
I've had so much great advice from so many people.
00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:51.119
I've also had some dumb advice from people, but I'd probably give some of that out too.
00:43:51.360 --> 00:43:59.039
Uh I would say uh one thing that I actually I talk a lot to young people about um getting into the industry, but also just building careers.
00:43:59.119 --> 00:43:59.280
Okay.
00:43:59.440 --> 00:44:09.199
And one One thing I actually always tell people is uh get over yourself, get over your anxiety, get over your fear, get over the things that limit you.
00:44:09.440 --> 00:44:10.320
Because guess what?
00:44:10.559 --> 00:44:16.719
Everybody else feels anxiety and fear, and you are the only person that you have to spend the rest of your life with.
00:44:16.960 --> 00:44:21.519
So you need to look at what's good in you and you need to turn that into a superpower.
00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:26.559
Like that's what you gotta do to succeed, whether it's in business or if you want to play hockey or whatever.
00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:29.519
You are the person who's gonna make you succeed.
00:44:29.920 --> 00:44:32.800
Other people may try and help, but it's gotta be you.
00:44:32.960 --> 00:44:41.519
And so if you know, if fear is in your way, if anxiety is in your way, um, you gotta figure out how you're gonna move past that, you know, and it never goes away.
00:44:41.760 --> 00:44:51.039
I'm a very anxious person, you know, like I'm constantly living with with those things, and I but I I I know that about myself and I've embraced it.
00:44:51.119 --> 00:45:00.639
So I think that's my career advice for anyone is you know get over yourself and also don't worry about trying to find the right thing to do.
00:45:00.800 --> 00:45:01.920
Try a whole bunch of things.
00:45:02.000 --> 00:45:04.320
I've had a varied career because I like trying different things.
00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:11.280
Yeah, you end up finding out where you can have you know an impact, where you can find purpose and where you can make things happen.
00:45:11.679 --> 00:45:12.480
That's great.
00:45:12.639 --> 00:45:15.039
Um, so where can I pick up this book?
00:45:15.599 --> 00:45:17.039
Well, it's rooted here.
00:45:17.679 --> 00:45:19.840
Well, I'm just gonna come back and do we'll do this.
00:45:20.159 --> 00:45:22.880
We'll have to open up a bookstore to have you have your book on there when you write it.
00:45:23.280 --> 00:45:23.519
Okay.
00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:24.000
Okay.
00:45:24.159 --> 00:45:29.920
Uh what's a piece of advice you believe that you no longer believe?
00:45:31.199 --> 00:45:33.119
I don't think Oh, I don't know.
00:45:33.760 --> 00:45:47.440
The things we kind of develop over the years, like, oh yeah, we gotta I gotta push, push, push, but you realize no, and sometimes in life you gotta come and hold back a bit and you know, I think uh when I was younger, I think like a lot of young men, I was probably a bit pushy and a bit full of myself.
00:45:47.760 --> 00:45:52.000
Uh and I think I've come to realize that I'm not the most important person in the room.
00:45:52.960 --> 00:45:53.679
That's a big lesson.
00:45:53.840 --> 00:45:55.599
That's a big realization as a leader.
00:45:55.920 --> 00:45:56.159
Yeah.
00:45:56.320 --> 00:45:58.719
And you know, I probably had a bit of an ego.
00:45:58.880 --> 00:46:03.920
And uh, you know, my mother used to say, Don't try and be the great I am.
00:46:04.079 --> 00:46:06.000
I didn't know what that meant, but now I've kind of figured it out.
00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:06.960
The great I am.
00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:07.599
I don't know.
00:46:07.679 --> 00:46:08.400
I think it's from a book.
00:46:08.719 --> 00:46:09.840
Wow, okay, interesting.
00:46:10.079 --> 00:46:10.320
Okay.
00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:17.679
Um What trait do you truly do the truly exceptional ones tend to share?
00:46:19.199 --> 00:46:20.079
The truth is.
00:46:20.320 --> 00:46:23.119
What traits do the truly acceptual ones tend to share?
00:46:23.360 --> 00:46:26.639
Exceptual leaders, the great people in whatever industry.
00:46:27.199 --> 00:46:32.159
I think it's the ability to create a vision, you know, and to be able to maintain that vision, you know.
00:46:32.559 --> 00:46:34.480
I think vision will be the title of just this episode.
00:46:34.800 --> 00:46:35.119
Vision.
00:46:35.199 --> 00:46:35.920
You gotta have the vision.
00:46:36.239 --> 00:46:39.360
Gotta have vision an idea, and then you everything else should fall into place.
00:46:39.599 --> 00:46:45.199
Well, I think you also gotta realize that uh the smartest thing you can do is surround yourself with people who are smarter and better than you.
00:46:46.239 --> 00:46:47.119
And help motivate them, right?
00:46:47.199 --> 00:46:47.920
Like Absolutely.
00:46:48.159 --> 00:46:48.320
Yeah.
00:46:48.480 --> 00:46:49.760
Don't try and do everything yourself.
00:46:49.840 --> 00:46:51.519
Don't think you know how to do everything.
00:46:51.679 --> 00:46:54.880
Um enough to talk to the people that know better than you.
00:46:55.119 --> 00:46:59.760
And I will tell you, like in the world of film and television, you know, we talk a lot about the director, right?
00:46:59.840 --> 00:47:00.960
Well, what does a director do?
00:47:01.119 --> 00:47:04.239
A director directs other people to fulfill their vision.
00:47:04.559 --> 00:47:05.119
Exactly.
00:47:05.360 --> 00:47:09.760
They direct the actors, they direct the crew, they direct the production designer.
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:11.360
Directors direct.
00:47:11.519 --> 00:47:16.079
And it's all about fulfilling a vision that was created by a writer who made the script.
00:47:16.639 --> 00:47:17.679
Well, there you go.
00:47:17.760 --> 00:47:19.119
So, you know, and absolutely.
00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:24.400
I mean, without the team or the support, you don't you don't have a product.
00:47:24.480 --> 00:47:25.840
You don't have film.
00:47:25.920 --> 00:47:28.079
You don't have to No, like that's the thing I always say.
00:47:28.239 --> 00:47:30.639
Making a movie is like if you're playing hockey, not golf.
00:47:30.880 --> 00:47:30.960
Yeah.
00:47:31.280 --> 00:47:31.440
You know?
00:47:31.920 --> 00:47:32.000
Yeah.
00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:32.559
Yeah.
00:47:32.719 --> 00:47:33.440
Oh, that's great.
00:47:34.000 --> 00:47:40.639
Um What's a professional failure or disappointment that ultimately taught you something valuable?
00:47:41.039 --> 00:47:44.559
Oh I know you've never had failure, but I have had so many failures.
00:47:44.960 --> 00:47:48.800
And I actually I'm like that was another thing I learned is like embrace your failure, right?
00:47:48.880 --> 00:47:50.559
Like if you're never gonna succeed in anything.
00:47:50.960 --> 00:48:01.360
So a big part of my career has been developing, coming up with ideas for TV shows, working with other people who have ideas for TV shows, and developing those TV shows and trying to sell them.
00:48:01.840 --> 00:48:10.880
I have had so many TV shows that I love not happen because it was just like the wrong not the right time, or people didn't get it, or it was gonna be too expensive, or whatever.
00:48:11.039 --> 00:48:11.119
Right.
00:48:11.360 --> 00:48:13.760
So I've had a lot of like those kind of like project failures.
00:48:14.079 --> 00:48:17.679
That's gonna be hard when you fall in love with an idea or a story or something, and then no one else wants it.
00:48:17.920 --> 00:48:18.159
Yeah.
00:48:18.239 --> 00:48:25.440
And I, you know, I learned to say, uh, you know, it's you know, it's gonna go on the shelf for now, but it's not gone forever, right?
00:48:25.599 --> 00:48:32.880
Um, I've had projects that I loved that didn't sell, and then 10 years later I get a call and it's like, hey, we sold that show.
00:48:33.039 --> 00:48:35.280
You know, so it's like never give up.
00:48:35.599 --> 00:48:44.559
But so I think I've had a lot of those kind of failures, and what I've learned from them is just try and figure out why people didn't like it.
00:48:44.719 --> 00:48:45.679
Why did it fail?
00:48:46.079 --> 00:48:47.119
What can you learn from failing?
00:48:47.760 --> 00:48:49.920
And like you said, maybe it's just simple things, just bad timing.
00:48:50.079 --> 00:48:50.239
Yeah.
00:48:50.400 --> 00:48:54.079
It's but it might be a great story, a great book, a great whatever product, just bad timing.
00:48:54.239 --> 00:48:54.320
Yeah.
00:48:54.480 --> 00:48:56.960
You may have to wait for another another time to try to bring it back.
00:48:57.199 --> 00:48:58.719
And sometimes maybe it's just a terrible idea.
00:48:59.039 --> 00:48:59.760
And I really, you know.
00:49:00.320 --> 00:49:02.880
Sometimes you can get a little too caught up in something and believe in it too much.
00:49:02.960 --> 00:49:08.880
So what keeps you curious after 25 plus years in the industry?
00:49:11.599 --> 00:49:13.039
I'm fascinated by people.
00:49:13.280 --> 00:49:13.519
Okay.
00:49:13.760 --> 00:49:13.920
Yeah.
00:49:14.079 --> 00:49:16.800
I'm always curious about what makes people tick, what drives them.
00:49:17.199 --> 00:49:19.119
Well, that's part of you being a storyteller, though.
00:49:19.360 --> 00:49:19.760
Oh yeah.
00:49:20.079 --> 00:49:21.360
To make stories, good stories.
00:49:21.440 --> 00:49:22.559
You need to understand people.
00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:23.199
Oh yeah.
00:49:23.280 --> 00:49:24.400
I am personalities.
00:49:24.800 --> 00:49:29.440
I meet people and I chat with them, and then I'll just be like, wait, what?
00:49:29.599 --> 00:49:30.559
Tell me more.
00:49:30.800 --> 00:49:32.800
You know, and I just started writing things down.
00:49:33.039 --> 00:49:33.360
Oh yeah.
00:49:33.440 --> 00:49:34.960
And it's just like a recorder.
00:49:35.199 --> 00:49:35.920
Yeah, exactly.
00:49:36.079 --> 00:49:39.280
It's like I'm just it's it's that innate curiosity.
00:49:39.519 --> 00:49:47.599
Um and what's funny in in film and TV, when you think about it, like we all, you know, you watch a movie, the character has an arc.
00:49:47.679 --> 00:49:49.199
You know, they've got a story they're following.
00:49:49.679 --> 00:49:51.360
Life doesn't have an arc.
00:49:52.320 --> 00:49:55.199
Not normally a visible arc or a thing you actually see.
00:49:55.280 --> 00:49:59.360
It's just a series of uh experiences.
00:49:59.840 --> 00:50:03.440
But what I love, I like I love documentaries and documentary TV.
00:50:03.519 --> 00:50:03.599
Yeah.
00:50:03.840 --> 00:50:05.039
Because what do we do in those cases?
00:50:05.199 --> 00:50:14.079
We take ordinary people and we, you know, we find their arc, we find what makes them heroic, we find what makes them a villain, and we emphasize that and we get to tell their story.
00:50:14.239 --> 00:50:15.599
I I just I love that.
00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:16.800
Wow, that's great.
00:50:17.440 --> 00:50:20.800
Uh what are you still trying to get better at?
00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:22.000
Everything?
00:50:22.320 --> 00:50:25.199
Wow, that's that's a good answer, yeah.
00:50:25.760 --> 00:50:29.760
I mean you open to up the possibilities of life, yeah, a career.
00:50:30.239 --> 00:50:34.239
Yeah, I mean, so in this role, you know, I do a lot of advocacy work.
00:50:34.320 --> 00:50:35.679
I do a lot of working with people.
00:50:35.760 --> 00:50:38.880
Um I'm constantly trying to get better at you know my management skills.
00:50:39.039 --> 00:50:39.199
Okay.
00:50:39.440 --> 00:50:42.559
Um I'm, you know, uh accounting and financing.
00:50:42.719 --> 00:50:43.599
I'm a writer, man.
00:50:43.760 --> 00:50:44.320
Yeah, it's actually.
00:50:44.559 --> 00:50:46.639
But you know, it's like, okay, this is something I have to focus on.
00:50:46.800 --> 00:50:52.079
So I'm always like, it's like, what is the thing that I don't know and how am I gonna get better at that?
00:50:52.239 --> 00:50:53.599
Like, I don't know.
00:50:53.679 --> 00:50:57.280
I'm also I just get really curious about like how things are done.
00:50:57.440 --> 00:51:00.239
Like uh I've been learning a lot about vibe coding lately.
00:51:00.480 --> 00:51:01.039
About what?
00:51:01.280 --> 00:51:02.079
Vive coding.
00:51:02.320 --> 00:51:03.039
Vib coding?
00:51:03.199 --> 00:51:07.360
Yeah, you know, like making stuff using AI and whatever.
00:51:07.519 --> 00:51:10.400
Like, you know, you gotta you gotta be like, okay, this is how stuff is happening.
00:51:10.480 --> 00:51:12.480
You need to learn about the things you don't know.
00:51:12.800 --> 00:51:13.440
Absolutely.
00:51:13.679 --> 00:51:14.000
Yeah.
00:51:14.559 --> 00:51:15.760
Take away some of that fear factor.
00:51:15.920 --> 00:51:16.320
Yeah.
00:51:16.559 --> 00:51:29.679
Um what are you most optimistic about right now, personally, professionally, or about Saskatchewan as a whole?
00:51:30.239 --> 00:51:31.519
Great question.
00:51:31.920 --> 00:51:35.920
Um I'm really optimistic.
00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:43.440
Uh I'm really optimistic about the future, about the possibilities of you know, growth that can happen.
00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:56.880
Um, you know, these are very difficult times economically and politically, and in terms of all the things that are happening in the world, but I'm optimistic that as Canadians we can all kind of band together and like succeed together.
00:51:57.199 --> 00:51:57.519
Absolutely.
00:51:57.760 --> 00:52:00.559
Uh I'm excited by the things that I see happening there.
00:52:00.800 --> 00:52:08.159
Um, and you know, so I'm excited by the possibility of seeing like Saskatchewan like do more with other provinces.
00:52:08.320 --> 00:52:17.360
I'm excited about, you know, um the possibilities of um of us figuring out how to how to grow our economy, you know.
00:52:17.519 --> 00:52:21.199
Uh like these are the kind of nerdy things that I get kind of excited about.
00:52:21.360 --> 00:52:23.119
So Okay, that sounds great.
00:52:23.519 --> 00:52:28.400
Uh surprisingly, here's the final question before we do our rapid session round.
00:52:28.960 --> 00:52:29.840
You're gonna make me cry.
00:52:30.079 --> 00:52:31.039
No, no, no, no.
00:52:31.119 --> 00:52:31.280
Okay.
00:52:31.360 --> 00:52:31.920
No one ever cries.
00:52:32.159 --> 00:52:36.800
You're not gonna ask me about my question.
00:52:37.199 --> 00:52:44.800
See, the last question I'm gonna ask you is what would success look like look look look like to you five years from now?
00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:49.440
Success for me personally or for the industry or whatever.
00:52:50.320 --> 00:52:51.119
You you you could pick.
00:52:51.199 --> 00:52:55.519
You could you could be uh career-wise, uh, with screens asked, or we could talk about you personally.
00:52:55.760 --> 00:52:56.079
Yeah.
00:52:56.480 --> 00:52:57.760
Whatever you feel comfortable talking about.
00:52:58.000 --> 00:53:04.639
I feel like so, in terms of like for the industry and for Saskatchewan's film and television industry, uh, it's that slow managed growth.
00:53:04.880 --> 00:53:12.480
You know, it's like seeing things inc incrementally growing in and heading in the right direction, uh, and seeing that growth continue.
00:53:12.719 --> 00:53:20.239
It would be, you know, more people working in the business, it would be more jobs, it'd be bigger businesses, it would be more businesses, it would be that kind of thing.
00:53:20.559 --> 00:53:27.440
For me personally, um it's just new opportunities and challenges.
00:53:27.599 --> 00:53:32.800
Like I love the idea of saying, like, okay, what's the next thing we need to do in order to make this happen?
00:53:32.880 --> 00:53:35.360
And how can I dig my teeth into it?
00:53:35.760 --> 00:53:41.280
Um, so success for me is actually always about like having something fascinating to work on.
00:53:41.599 --> 00:53:50.320
Um, you know, and obviously with that, hopefully you get paid and you get to have a good life and you know, all the things that that come with that kind of success.
00:53:50.719 --> 00:53:55.840
Um, but for me, success is like less financial, more emotional in a way.
00:53:56.159 --> 00:53:58.639
Like, you know, actually I thought of another question.
00:53:58.800 --> 00:53:59.199
Mm-hmm.
00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:00.639
Making me nervous.
00:54:01.199 --> 00:54:03.280
What would you want your legacy to be?
00:54:04.079 --> 00:54:05.440
I don't want a legacy, man.
00:54:06.159 --> 00:54:08.239
I don't really know.
00:54:08.400 --> 00:54:09.119
And why is that?
00:54:10.480 --> 00:54:11.119
I don't know.
00:54:11.199 --> 00:54:12.079
It's not about me.
00:54:12.480 --> 00:54:12.800
No.
00:54:13.599 --> 00:54:18.880
I would like my legacy to be for people to look back and go, oh yeah, he was a nice guy.
00:54:19.039 --> 00:54:19.199
Yeah.
00:54:19.360 --> 00:54:20.719
He helped do some good stuff.
00:54:20.960 --> 00:54:21.280
Yeah.
00:54:21.599 --> 00:54:22.079
That's all.
00:54:22.719 --> 00:54:23.119
That's good.
00:54:23.280 --> 00:54:24.639
What do you want your legacy to be?
00:54:24.960 --> 00:54:27.119
Well, that'll be what I come on to your show.
00:54:28.559 --> 00:54:29.519
You should come on my show.
00:54:31.920 --> 00:54:32.320
Absolutely.
00:54:32.480 --> 00:54:35.360
Um okay, so now we're into the final round, the rapid fire round.
00:54:35.519 --> 00:54:35.679
Okay.
00:54:35.840 --> 00:54:40.880
Some fun little questions, get a little note a little bit more about Robert here, and uh let's go.
00:54:41.039 --> 00:54:44.000
Uh, favorite Cicatrian place to clear your mind.
00:54:44.639 --> 00:54:45.360
Oh my gosh.
00:54:45.440 --> 00:54:52.159
Um I would say I am a big fan of um of the campgrounds in this province.
00:54:52.800 --> 00:54:53.039
Absolutely.
00:54:53.280 --> 00:54:53.360
Yeah.
00:54:53.519 --> 00:54:55.119
We were just talking earlier like we love camping.
00:54:55.280 --> 00:54:56.960
We've camping hiking a lot of good stuff.
00:54:57.280 --> 00:54:57.599
Oh, yeah.
00:54:57.760 --> 00:54:57.920
Yeah.
00:54:58.159 --> 00:55:02.639
Like I love wandering through a good sand dune or like just a really good yeah.
00:55:03.199 --> 00:55:05.920
Uh your favorite movie of all time.
00:55:06.880 --> 00:55:07.920
So many I know, but what?
00:55:08.239 --> 00:55:08.480
All right.
00:55:08.559 --> 00:55:09.760
My favorite movie, I got two.
00:55:12.079 --> 00:55:15.360
When I was seven years old, my parents took me to a movie for my birthday.
00:55:15.519 --> 00:55:15.679
Okay.
00:55:15.840 --> 00:55:17.599
It's called Star Wars, it had just come out.
00:55:17.840 --> 00:55:18.400
I've never heard of that.
00:55:18.480 --> 00:55:19.199
Can you tell us more about it?
00:55:19.920 --> 00:55:21.840
I may have seen it 40 or 50 times in the theater.
00:55:22.159 --> 00:55:22.960
I've seen it a lot of times, yeah.
00:55:23.199 --> 00:55:29.840
Yeah, so I'm a bit of a fan of that, and I know it's very controversial, but on every Christmas Eve, I like to watch Love Actually.
00:55:30.400 --> 00:55:31.440
Love Actually, really?
00:55:31.840 --> 00:55:31.920
No.
00:55:32.000 --> 00:55:32.639
It's a very special thing.
00:55:32.880 --> 00:55:35.199
I think I've seen it like once that's got a document section on it.
00:55:35.280 --> 00:55:36.719
I got it on my phone if you want to watch it.
00:55:37.199 --> 00:55:37.840
We'll talk later.
00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:42.480
But anyways, um a show you could watch again and again.
00:55:42.880 --> 00:55:44.000
Oh my gosh.
00:55:44.159 --> 00:55:45.039
That's a great question.
00:55:45.360 --> 00:55:52.079
I mean, I guess it could be like a broadcast series or uh a YouTube series or something like something you can watch all the time.
00:55:52.800 --> 00:55:53.280
Maybe a movie.
00:55:53.360 --> 00:55:53.519
I don't know.
00:55:53.760 --> 00:55:54.400
You know what's really funny?
00:55:54.559 --> 00:55:58.559
So like again and again, I am one of those people that like, I will watch something and I'll be like, okay, I'm kinda done.
00:55:58.719 --> 00:55:59.760
Like other than Star Wars.
00:55:59.840 --> 00:56:01.519
You know, though that was a slight obsession.
00:56:01.679 --> 00:56:02.639
But I was a kid.
00:56:02.880 --> 00:56:07.119
Um I tend to watch a show or a movie once.
00:56:07.280 --> 00:56:09.920
But you know what I do watch over and over is um music videos.
00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:10.960
I love music videos.
00:56:11.199 --> 00:56:11.920
Oh, yeah, me too.
00:56:12.079 --> 00:56:12.559
Oh yeah.
00:56:12.719 --> 00:56:14.079
Like, yeah, like you.
00:56:14.960 --> 00:56:17.519
So for me, especially soundtracks are tied to movies.
00:56:17.760 --> 00:56:18.320
Oh my gosh.
00:56:18.480 --> 00:56:19.920
The interstellar soundtrack.
00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:24.000
Whenever I need to just like focus, I just put that on.
00:56:24.480 --> 00:56:24.719
Absolutely.
00:56:24.960 --> 00:56:25.440
Great, great.
00:56:26.000 --> 00:56:29.199
Um best business book you've read.
00:56:29.599 --> 00:56:30.960
Oh my gosh.
00:56:31.519 --> 00:56:35.920
Uh The Personal MBA was a really good book.
00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:36.960
I can't remember who wrote that.
00:56:37.280 --> 00:56:38.079
Personal MBA.
00:56:38.320 --> 00:56:38.639
MBA.
00:56:39.119 --> 00:56:44.239
Yeah, and it's just like it's like a the basics of business, like everything you need to know, just like very top level.
00:56:44.400 --> 00:56:47.199
Um, and another one that I love, again, I can't remember the name of the author.
00:56:47.280 --> 00:56:49.920
It's called uh Think Like a Lawyer, Don't Act Like One.
00:56:50.320 --> 00:56:50.800
Interesting.
00:56:50.960 --> 00:56:51.119
Yeah.
00:56:51.360 --> 00:56:51.920
Okay, wow.
00:56:52.079 --> 00:56:53.440
We'll have to check those out.
00:56:53.679 --> 00:56:56.320
Um morning person or night owl?
00:56:57.039 --> 00:56:58.400
Depends on what I need to do.
00:56:58.559 --> 00:56:58.719
Okay.
00:56:58.880 --> 00:57:03.199
But I will tell you in the summer, when the sun's coming up so early, I am up at 5 a.m.
00:57:03.440 --> 00:57:03.599
No problem.
00:57:03.840 --> 00:57:04.559
I am a 5 a.m.
00:57:05.679 --> 00:57:06.239
Rudy Riser.
00:57:06.719 --> 00:57:08.159
Uh coffee or tea?
00:57:08.559 --> 00:57:11.360
Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon.
00:57:11.679 --> 00:57:12.239
Oh, okay.
00:57:12.400 --> 00:57:13.199
There we go.
00:57:13.440 --> 00:57:16.239
Big idea or great execution.
00:57:18.320 --> 00:57:20.159
Not mutually exclusive.
00:57:20.559 --> 00:57:20.880
Okay.
00:57:21.199 --> 00:57:22.800
But uh you gotta start with the big idea.
00:57:22.960 --> 00:57:23.519
Yeah.
00:57:23.840 --> 00:57:25.920
Risk or certainty.
00:57:26.320 --> 00:57:26.880
Risk.
00:57:27.199 --> 00:57:27.519
Okay.
00:57:28.400 --> 00:57:29.760
Boardroom or set.
00:57:30.400 --> 00:57:31.519
Boardroom or set?
00:57:31.760 --> 00:57:32.639
Like a movie set.
00:57:33.119 --> 00:57:33.280
Oh.
00:57:34.239 --> 00:57:36.079
Um I'll take a set.
00:57:36.480 --> 00:57:36.800
Set?
00:57:36.880 --> 00:57:37.039
Okay.
00:57:37.280 --> 00:57:38.320
Especially if it's a boardroom set.
00:57:38.639 --> 00:57:40.159
Writer, producer, or director.
00:57:40.400 --> 00:57:41.599
I am a writer at heart.
00:57:42.800 --> 00:57:44.960
Favorite part of making television?
00:57:49.280 --> 00:57:51.119
Just literally seeing it all come together.
00:57:51.440 --> 00:57:52.719
Okay, the final end product.
00:57:53.039 --> 00:57:53.280
Yeah.
00:57:53.360 --> 00:58:03.199
I also used to do live events, and I love it when, like, you know, you're putting on a festival or a conference, and all the people are in the room, and that's starting up, and you're like, wow, we got here.
00:58:03.360 --> 00:58:03.920
I love that.
00:58:04.239 --> 00:58:04.639
Wow.
00:58:04.880 --> 00:58:05.199
Okay.
00:58:05.679 --> 00:58:09.519
Uh, one skill every young entrepreneur should develop.
00:58:10.159 --> 00:58:12.239
Um humility.
00:58:12.480 --> 00:58:13.039
What's that?
00:58:13.280 --> 00:58:13.840
Humility.
00:58:14.159 --> 00:58:14.800
Humility.
00:58:14.960 --> 00:58:15.280
Okay.
00:58:15.840 --> 00:58:16.800
Great, yeah.
00:58:17.039 --> 00:58:20.400
Um, one thing Saskatchewan needs to get better at.
00:58:23.360 --> 00:58:23.920
I don't know.
00:58:24.239 --> 00:58:25.039
This is all constructive.
00:58:25.199 --> 00:58:26.000
Yeah, I don't know.
00:58:26.159 --> 00:58:26.559
I don't know.
00:58:27.039 --> 00:58:27.119
Okay.
00:58:27.360 --> 00:58:27.599
All right.
00:58:27.840 --> 00:58:29.039
Again, supporting ourselves.
00:58:29.199 --> 00:58:29.440
Okay.
00:58:29.760 --> 00:58:30.960
Really standing up for each other.
00:58:31.280 --> 00:58:35.679
Uh the person you most like to have dinner with, living or dead.
00:58:36.079 --> 00:58:36.559
Mmm.
00:58:36.800 --> 00:58:37.039
Wow.
00:58:37.840 --> 00:58:40.159
Go back and do a little DeLorean and talk to someone.
00:58:40.800 --> 00:58:43.760
Uh Tim Robbins, the writer.
00:58:43.920 --> 00:58:44.480
I don't know why.
00:58:44.719 --> 00:58:45.679
Just came into my mind.
00:58:45.920 --> 00:58:46.719
Tim Robbins?
00:58:46.880 --> 00:58:47.039
Yeah.
00:58:47.280 --> 00:58:47.519
Really?
00:58:47.679 --> 00:58:47.840
Okay.
00:58:48.639 --> 00:58:48.960
All right.
00:58:49.119 --> 00:58:49.760
Interesting.
00:58:50.000 --> 00:58:56.239
Uh, the best advice you've given someone trying to break into the film and television industry today.
00:58:56.559 --> 00:58:57.840
Get over your anxiety.
00:58:59.599 --> 00:59:01.519
Uh finish the sentence.
00:59:01.840 --> 00:59:05.760
The future of Saskatchewan is bright and shiny.
00:59:06.079 --> 00:59:07.039
Okay, good.
00:59:07.360 --> 00:59:08.400
Last question.
00:59:08.960 --> 00:59:12.719
And finally, what does rooty here mean to you?
00:59:13.840 --> 00:59:15.199
It means opportunity.
00:59:15.440 --> 00:59:15.920
Honestly.
00:59:16.079 --> 00:59:23.280
It's like I love that you're bringing people together to talk about success and to talk about uh like how to make things grow, right?
00:59:23.440 --> 00:59:26.719
Because you know, you need big roots to make beautiful things grow.
00:59:27.119 --> 00:59:27.360
You do.
00:59:27.760 --> 00:59:28.000
Absolutely.
00:59:28.320 --> 00:59:28.480
Beautiful.
00:59:28.719 --> 00:59:29.199
No, I think it's great.
00:59:29.280 --> 00:59:29.519
I love it.
00:59:29.760 --> 00:59:29.920
Perfect.
00:59:30.239 --> 00:59:30.800
Good answer.
00:59:31.119 --> 00:59:32.079
Well, thank you, Robert.
00:59:32.320 --> 00:59:32.960
Thanks for having me on.
00:59:33.199 --> 00:59:33.599
Not a problem.
00:59:33.679 --> 00:59:34.719
We'll have to bring you back again.
00:59:35.039 --> 00:59:37.840
Talk about what all new things are happening down for us.
00:59:38.239 --> 00:59:38.639
Okay, cool.
00:59:38.960 --> 00:59:39.119
Cool.
00:59:39.280 --> 00:59:39.599
All right.
00:59:40.880 --> 00:59:43.760
Rooted here, business and leadership podcast.