Latest news with #Manitoba-made
Winnipeg Free Press
23-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘This challenge is beyond our control'
Manitoba brewery closures are a growing concern among some in the industry — and members have renewed calls to change government policy. 'We're seeing a bunch of breweries right now who are very, very pinched,' said Colin Koop, president of Devil May Care Brewing Co. Expansion has paused at his Winnipeg company. It's 'not a good time' for hiring or growing, he said. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Devil May Care co-owner Colin Koop said expansion has paused at his brewery. Over the past few years, Koop and fellow business owners have endured a global pandemic and rapid inflation. Now, amid trade wars, brewers are bracing for higher costs. Koop joined 20 other Manitoba brewery executives in signing a letter last month expressing their concerns to Premier Wab Kinew. They're urging a review of provincial beer markups, which increase drink prices. 'We strive to be resilient and adaptable, but this challenge is beyond our control,' the joint letter states. 'Without change, the long-term sustainability of Manitoba's craft beer industry is at risk.' Manitoba's price increases are restrictive compared to Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta; they hinder competitiveness and are unhelpful in the economic environment, the brewers argue. Per the April letter, the signatories produce more than 95 per cent of Manitoba-made beer. Twenty-five per cent tariffs — or higher — on aluminum cans could be incoming. Canada and the U.S. have placed 25 per cent tariffs on each other's steel and aluminum. Often, the production chain of an aluminum can spans both countries. Hops, adjuncts and equipment not found in Canada are also subject to tariffs, impacting local brewers. 'If one day we go to buy cans and they're 25 per cent more expensive, that money's got to come from somewhere,' Koop said. 'We have to make sure we have enough reserve. 'I think anything that we can do as an industry to get some of that markup back into (our) own hands, that's a good thing.' Koop shared his general markup experience: if a can of Devil May Care beer is on local liquor store shelves for $4.25, roughly $1 of the price is provincial markup. Breweries producing 20,000 hectolitres or less see a total markup of 36 per cent and a surcharge of 10 cents per litre. (A hectolitre is 100 L.) Lower government markups elsewhere propel companies outside Manitoba to grow, local brewers told the Free Press. Ontario just slashed its rates. Starting in August, it'll cut its basic tax rate applicable to local microbrewery-made beer in half to 19.88 cents/L from 39.75 cents/L for non-draft beer and 17.98 cents/L from 35.96 cents/L for draft. The axing is among a suite of changes affecting Ontario brewers announced in the province's 2025 budget. Large multinationals are better positioned to take hits from sudden cost increases — like tariffs — than their smaller competition, the Manitoba breweries' letter reads. 'A reduction in (markups) can be implemented quickly and would immediately offset the increased packaging costs we are facing,' the letter continues. '(It would) provide relief to local businesses and consumers alike, while ensuring our industry can continue growing.' A provincial government spokesperson directed comment to Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corp., who sets the markup rates. Markups microbrewers face are much smaller than the total 75 per cent increase seen by large-volume producers, an MLL spokesperson stated. There isn't a markup for liquor purchased in local brewers' taprooms and farmers markets. 'The alcohol retail, pricing and distribution model differs from province to province and, as such, direct comparisons are difficult,' the spokesperson wrote in an email. '(MLL) believes that Manitoba offers a very fair and supportive operating environment for local craft liquor producers.' In 2014, two craft brewers operated in Manitoba. More than 50 craft liquor producers call the province home now, the spokesperson highlighted. MLL evaluates its micro producer program annually and considers feedback from craft producers, the spokesperson added, noting the Crown corporation made a 20-point support strategy aimed at fostering growth last year (following consultations with industry). Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Aligning Manitoba beer markups with other provinces would cost government approximately $1.26 million in revenue, an October 2024 economic impact assessment commissioned by the Manitoba Brewers Association reported. The association did not pen the letter to Kinew. However, it supports 'all efforts to collaborate with the province, and the (MLL), to help grow the small producers in Manitoba,' director Brad Chute wrote in a statement. In 2023-24, Manitoba held 26 brick-and-mortar breweries and another 12 contract breweries. The sector contributed $14 million to the provincial GDP directly and another $10 million indirectly. Industry members have been lobbying for lower markups for years. Gabrielle PichéReporter Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle. Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Spotlights shine on local productions at Asian-Canadian film festival
Faustina Dalmacio spends her workday behind the counter, but the Transcona pharmacist has always dreamed of getting behind the camera — to fill the frame instead of filling prescriptions. Two years ago, she bundled up in the January cold to shoot her debut short film, a comedic odyssey of two sisters (Riley Gregorio and Quinn Paredes) lost in Winnipeg's West End after the final bell rings in the halls of the fictional Victor Wolfe Elementary. To make After School, Dalmacio relied on a $10,000 Cinematoba grant from the National Screen Institute and the Winnipeg Foundation, an award accompanied by ongoing mentorship from producer Rebecca Gibson of Eagle Vision. SUPPLIED Director Ian Bawa (left) speaks with Mandeep Sodhi, star of The Best, during filming. 'It was inspired by an experience I had as a child,' says Dalmacio, 30, who moved to Manitoba from Bulacan, Philippines, in 2006. After a cousin's basketball game, she got separated from her sisters and temporarily stranded before one of the team parents drove her home. Her new home was harsh in climate, but welcoming and generous in spirit. That diasporic experience drives Dalmacio's short, one of 13 Manitoba-made pictures set to screen at this weekend's FascinAsian Film Festival, a multi-city event celebrating Asian-Canadian contributions to the film and media landscape. After screenings in Calgary and Edmonton earlier this month, the national festival wraps up in Winnipeg as Asian Heritage Month nears its end. Throughout filmmaker Ian Bawa's career, the festival has been a constant source of support for his projects, including his latest short, The Best, an 'accidental sequel' to his upcoming feature-length film Strong Son, itself an adaptation of an earlier short that's currently in post-production. SUPPLIED Filmmaker Faustina Dalmacio. Bawa will be interviewed by CBC's Faith Fundal during a Behind the Movies conversation and retrospective on Saturday (11:15 a.m.) at the WAG's Ilipvik Learning Steps. Bawa, whose films have screened at festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival and Slamdance, says FascinAsian continues to help Asian filmmakers feel empowered to tell their own stories in their own voices. 'Sometimes I feel alone, telling stories about a turban-wearing guy, but then I watch 10 other films with characters like that,' says Bawa, whose short will screen Sunday alongside Dalmacio's in the Family Matters showcase at the WAG. (1 p.m.). 'People want these stories now, and it wasn't like this 15 years ago when I started. Now I know I'm not alone in this.' Also screening Sunday afternoon is a profile of local drag artist Ruby Chopstix. Becoming Ruby tells the story of the Vietnamese-Canadian queen, who in 2023 became the country's first drag artist-in-residence, working out of the Winnipeg non-profit Sunshine House. SUPPLIED After School is a comedic odyssey about two sisters. It's the latest short by documentarian Quan Luong, whose works includes Tailor-Made, about Ellice Avenue stitchmaster Tam Nguyen. 'For me as a filmmaker, I try to only make films that otherwise wouldn't be made, so stories like these really pull my attention. Luckily, Ruby and their family opened up to me,' says Luong, a 27-year-old Manitoba filmmaker who was born in Ho Chi Minh City. While the film will be having its local première this weekend — both in Sunday's program and at a special Saturday screening (11 a.m.) at the Park Theatre, with both Luong and Chopstix in attendance — Becoming Ruby recently screened at Toronto's Hot Docs International Film Festival and at both Edmonton and Calgary's FascinAsian showcases. Themes of travel, American dreaming and queer identity come to the fore in filmmaker Razid Season's Elijah, which was inspired by the director's volunteer work with the South Asian trans community through New York City non-profits. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. Set in the Big Apple, Elijah follows Bengali Muslim cab driver Haider (Ajaz Alam), who deals with the plummeting value of his taxi medallion as his daughter Shoshi (Mithila Gazi) embraces her trans identity. SUPPLIED Becoming Ruby focuses on Vietnamese-Canadian drag artist Ruby Chopstix. 'Stories like these are often invisible. It's fiction, but it's inspired by real people,' says Season, 38, a Bengali director who was raised in the United Arab Emirates before studying film at City College in New York. Other festival offerings include Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller's Mawtini, about Nawal, a young Palestinian woman, and Tanya, an Indigenous senior, who battle their building managers to plant a garden on their apartment block's lawn (Saturday, 1:45 p.m.). On Saturday at 4 p.m., after the screening of Paper Flowers at WAG-Qaumajuq, stars Olivia Liang (Kung Fu, Legacies) and Kapil Talwalkar (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist) will join audiences for a virtual Q&A moderated by radio programmer Iris Yudai. SUPPLIED Filmmaker Razid Season. SUPPLIED Elijah is set in New York City. SUPPLIED Mandeep Sodhi in Ian Bawa's film The Best. Ben WaldmanReporter Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University's (now Toronto Metropolitan University's) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben. Every piece of reporting Ben produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
07-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
New firm Media Ventures Capital drawn to Manitoba film financing by tax credits potential
Manitoba-made movies are in the sightline of a new investment company touting itself as risk-free. Media Ventures Capital Inc. recently began its hunt for investors. The fledgling corporation aims to fund films shot in Manitoba for Lionsgate, Netflix and other Hollywood notables. 'Winnipeg is … a great place to shoot,' said Byron A. Martin, a Toronto-based film producer with titles including American Pie sequels under his belt. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES American actor Bob Odenkirk works during a scene on the Nobody 2 film set at Winnipeg Beach last year. Nobody 2 is scheduled for North American release in August. He said he's created several films in Manitoba. Now, he's hoping to produce movies Media Ventures Capital finances. He and another producer have been working with Frank Szafranski, Media Ventures chief executive (and the producers' friend), to build the company over the past year. The crew researched financial incentives for the film industry across Canada; tax credits drew them to Manitoba. Media Ventures plans to stack various provincial and federal tax credits; its leadership believes the structure will cover film production costs. It's an easy way to guarantee investors get full returns on their money, the founders relayed. 'I think it's brilliant,' Szafranski said. 'A sophisticated investor — someone who has the ability to put in a half-million dollars — they can see that their money is protected and has potential to do a lot better.' Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Sign up for The Warm-Up Szafranski moved to Manitoba after selling his Alberta business, Grande Prairie Valve and Fitting. Manitoba's film and video production tax credit can hit 65 per cent. It's considered a competitive advantage within the local industry. Media Ventures Capital hired KPMG to ensure it could stack tax credits in Manitoba; the Free Press reviewed a comment letter from the accounting firm. The next step is attracting investors, per Media Ventures leadership. The company is trying to raise $10 million. Its goal is to draw major investment by the end of the year, Szafranski said. Supplied Frank Szafranski, chief executive of Media Ventures Capital Inc. 'It's a bit of a chicken and egg,' he said, considering the balance between accumulating financing and committing to films. 'We're trying to do it simultaneously.' Two Lionsgate movies are in the works. Filming will begin as soon as Media Ventures raises enough money, Martin said. It could take a couple years for investors to see a return on their equity, Szafranski noted. The company is targeting an annual return between 12 and 20 per cent, its officials said. Media Ventures Capital's launch time has arrived amid a trade war between Canada and the United States. On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to place a 100 per cent tariff on movies produced outside the country. It's unclear how the levy — if it transpires — will affect the local film industry, Szafranski said. 'I think the industry is going to continue to grow in Manitoba regardless of what happens south of the border,' he said, adding the proposed U.S. tariff won't hurt Media Ventures financially. Meantime, Manitoba film executives are watching news from the south 'very closely,' said Kenny Boyce, City of Winnipeg manager of film and special events. Boyce said Tuesday he hadn't received many details about Media Ventures Capital. Often, production companies finance their projects through banks, he noted. 'Anything (that) helps take out some risk for local filmmakers or visiting filmmakers, I'm sure, will be a great asset to the community,' Boyce said. He's anticipating 2025 to be a 'banner year' for film production in Manitoba. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Media Ventures Capital Inc. recently began its hunt for investors. The fledgling corporation aims to fund films shot in Manitoba for Lionsgate, Netflix and other Hollywood notables. Eighty-six film and television productions shot in the province last year. The cumulative production budget neared $435 million, according to Manitoba Film & Music projections. Lynne Skromeda, the organization's chief executive, credited the province's film and video production tax credit for growing the industry. 'It's virtually one of the best ones in North America,' she said of the credit. 'People know that.' She hadn't heard of Media Ventures, nor could she think of a company using multiple tax credits in Manitoba for a similar purpose. Media Ventures Capital doesn't yet have a website. It's liaising with potential investors over email (mediaventurescapital@ and requires parties sign non-disclosure agreements before detailing its tax credit plan, officials said. John Heimbecker, an owner in agriculture company Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd., is one of two investors so far, according to Media Ventures's founders. Heimbecker didn't respond to an interview request by print deadline. Gabrielle Piché Reporter Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press . She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News , before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle. Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press 's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press 's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
