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Dear friends and colleagues,
Breakout West was held in Victoria earlier this month, and it was incredible. Our Music Programs Director, Stephen Carroll was there and said the Manitoba artists who showcased delivered outstanding performances. Plus, several MFM-funded artists and producers were among the winners of the Western Canadian Music Awards.
The JUNOS are just six months away – follow our Instagram for an exciting announcement on Nov. 9. If you're an artist hoping to be a part of the JUNO Awards, check out From Submission to Spotlight: Navigating the JUNO Awards (Nov. 9). RSVP is required. Our CEO Lynne recently spoke about the process of bringing the JUNOS to Winnipeg at the Tourism Talks summit held by Winnipeg Economic Development and Tourism - see pictures from the event here.
Lynne and Steven Foster also made a trip to NYC, where they met with producers with projects for Winnipeg and attended Roll Call: Workforce Development for Film Commissioners put on by Bloomberg Media and MNN. They even spotted Manitoba's Summer H. Howell on a billboard in Times Square. (Check out Summer's interview about the Carrie season 1 finale.)
We are proud to have announced the recipients of our inaugural Manitoba Indigenous Short Film Fund. Chosen projects include: The Thing Is (Jessie J. Willard, Paige Frost), Soulless (Tyshana Hobson, J.J. Neepin), and ‘POUF’ (Junior Whitefish, Oliver Darrius Merrick King (ODMK), Charlene Moore). Learn more about their projects here.
Anything you want to add to our newsletter? We can’t include everything, but we certainly try! Please send your news to info@mbfilmmsic.ca before the 15th (subject line: Newsletter).
~From the team at MFM
Elena Sturk-Lussier on winning the Prix Gémeaux de la relève (Emerging Talent Award)
At the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television’s gala in Montreal on September 13, Manitoban Elena Sturk-Lussier received a high honour: the Prix Gémeaux de la relève (Emerging Talent Award) for local production Les faillites d'Astrid. Elena was the first Manitoban to be awarded the prize. We talked to her about her career, the awards, and what’s next.
How did Les faillites d'Astrid come to be, and what role did you play?
I first wrote Les faillites d’Astrid during an online screenwriting course during the pandemic, put it in the proverbial drawer, and took it out three years later to submit it to the Independent Production Fund’s short form series development program. It’s a series based on my own, and many others’, experience moving back in with my parents as an adult and feeling like a failure. I wrote and directed the entire series.
What was the most ‘Manitoba’ or ‘Winnipeg’ moment you experienced while filming?
We filmed the entire series within a two square kilometer radius — all within St-Boniface. We filmed in real places that are important to our community. Probably the most Winnipeg, or Francophone community moment during shooting was when we shot at the Festival du Voyageur. Folks kept coming up to crew members to say hi — we just kept running into people we knew from the community!
You’re the first Manitoban to win this award and said, “Vive le Manitoba!” in your acceptance speech. Tell us how Manitoba plays a part in your story.
Manitoba plays such a huge part in my career and in the stories I tell. I mostly work in French — the Francophone community has given me many opportunities and continues to support and promote my work. I’m so grateful to them. Not only do I tell stories based in my community, but many of them are set in the Manitoban wilderness: our prairies and lakes and forests have deeply impacted me.
MFM was a funder of an earlier project – Slurp – tell me a bit about that project. Where can people find that?
Slurp is a short gastronomic thriller shot at my parents’ cabin on Lake Manitoba, made by an entirely women and non-binary cast and crew. We all slept over at the cabin and my mother came to help me cook the meals for everyone. I was able to try out some food horror sequences and just had so much fun doing it. The film has finished its small festival run and is available on my Vimeo page.
You shared a demo for a future project called Le Garage – tell us what’s next?
Yes! I once again received development funding from the Independent Production Fund to develop a new short-form series called Le Garage. Just like Les faillites d’Astrid, the series is in French and set in St-Boniface. It’s about a young woman trying to revive her community’s crumbling dive bar — based on the real Garage Café, formerly on Provencher — and each episode is told from the perspective of a different employee.
Otherwise, I’m in the financing stage for my first feature film.
MFM is proud to have supported Elena (and Sturk Films); we supported Les faillites d'Astrid through our Television and Web-Based Development Fund and Television and Web-Based Production Fund, Slurp through our Grant Program for Emerging Talent, and the development of Le Garage through our Television and Web-Based Development Fund, with Ninis Productions Inc. We can’t wait to see what’s next!
Heads up! MFM’s film tax credit policy is changing in 2027 – here’s what you need to know
Changes are coming to the Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit for productions beginning principal photography or key animation on or after January 1, 2027.
These changes reflect amendments passed by the Manitoba government in The Income Tax Act (Manitoba) and are intended to modernize the program, improve tax credit forecasting, provide clarity on professional standards, allow for earlier access to tax credits for deemed labour on multi-year productions and strengthen the tax credit program integrity.
So, what’s changing? Here are the highlights:
- New Pre-Certification requirement: Productions intending to claim the tax credit must provide MFM with key financial estimates no later than 30 days after principal photography or key animation begins, unless they have already applied for a Registration Certificate by that time.
- New defined professional standards: Eligible productions will be required to meet industry recognized professional technical, artistic or creative standards. The legislation also clarifies certain excluded production types, including e-sports and music videos.
- Greater advances for productions using deemed labour: Multi-year productions will be able to include eligible non-resident (deemed) labour at the Advance Certificate stage, potentially providing producers with a larger tax credit advance and earlier access to tax credit value.
- Stronger program integrity: New provisions strengthen program integrity by allowing MFM the discretion to withhold certification in cases involving intentional omissions, misrepresentation or overdue payments.
More updates to come: Additional policy changes are currently in development and will be announced before the updated Cost-of-Salaries and Cost-of-Production Tax Credit Guidelines are published later this fall.
What isn’t changing?
The tax credit rates are not changing! Our competitive incentives of up to 65% on eligible Manitoba labour or up to 38% on eligible productions costs are staying the same. The new changes primarily affect eligibility, certification, reporting and administration of the program.
The new changes will apply to projects beginning principal photography or key animation on or after January 1, 2027. Productions beginning before that date will continue under the existing rules.
We know you’ll have questions as the changes come into effect, and MFM will work with industry to support a smooth transition.
Read the full list of FAQs for more information or contact MFM at taxcreditapplications@mbfilmmusic.ca to discuss how these changes might affect your production.
More to explore:
Manitoba-made Lucky Strikes now available on Apple TV, Prime Video and more.
Manitoba-shot Sundown screening at Beyond Fest.
Director Karen Lam talks about Armageddon Road with CBC.
Zoot Pictures’ documentary Angkor: Hidden Jungle Empire has been selected to compete in the 2026 Arkhaios Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Film Festival, Oct. 12-18.
Winnipeg-filmed and co-produced by Thin Stuff Productions, A. Rimbaud will screen at the Dave Barber Cinematheque, Oct. 23, 24 and 28. Oct 23 and 24 screenings will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Patrick Wang.
Winnipeg actor Justin Otto chosen for the Canadian Film Centre's CBC Actors Conservatory.
MFM Programs
Music – Indigenous: IMPACT: Deadline Nov. 12
Music – Promote Program: Open now
Music – Perform Program: Open now
Various Film & TV funding programs without deadlines: Open now (including Development Loans, Emerging Talent Grants, and Feature Film Marketing Funds)
Partner Opportunities
ACTRA Manitoba's AGM – Sep. 29
Volunteer with OurToba: Board Member and Media Team Member. Application deadline: Oct. 1.
One Stop Business Workshop, presented by CBC, CAVCO and CMPA (FREE) – Nov. 17 & 18
Spotlight
So very cool (and creepy): The new Carrie series, adapted from Stephen King’s 1974 novel, and starring Manitoban Summer H. Howell premieres on Prime, Oct. 7.
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