Roll Cameras on the Birth of an Industry

In northern Minnesota, when you think of “industry” you might envision our mines, our ports or perhaps our blossoming aviation businesses or our equally high-flying craft breweries. But some hardy souls – both local and from the two saltwater coasts – are cultivating a new industry for the Big Lake region: film and television productions.

Among the leading groups tackling this regional work is the Upper Midwest Film Office, based in Duluth and formed in 2020. Shari Marshik, executive director and co-founder of UMFO, notes incentives and infrastructure as two necessary components for such an industry to grow and thrive here. "We’re creating the ecosystem for that to exist in northern Minnesota and in Minnesota in general."

This year alone, three major projects have done production in northern Minnesota. The pilot for "Canusa Street," a candidate for streaming or network television distribution, shot in Chisholm in late spring. The crew filmed along main street and took advantage of the Lost Forty Studios, founded with the stated goal "to become every producer’s first stop for quality film, television and digital production services in Minnesota," as well as bringing job diversity to the Iron Range. Chisholm was also the locale for the shooting of "Cash for Gold," a micro-budget independent film done in February.

"Merry Kiss Cam," an independent feature film that will air Nov. 1 on Hulu, did its filming in June, mainly in downtown Duluth.

In these following stories, we chat with the folks responsible for a couple of the productions, plus look at the future of this blossoming of the big-screen and little-screen storytelling done in our northern region.

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A Production from Script to Shoot

by Bick Smith

A chilly early spring – late winter, really – morning this April, I sat down with comedy writer/filmmaker Zack Morrison at Lost Forty Studios in Chisholm, Minnesota, to discuss how a New Jersey boy with connections to the TV and film industry on the East and West Coasts came here for his big break on an independent production.

But first, let’s set the scene … which one should always should do when talking about a production.

For close to two weeks, Zack and his crew had been shooting the pilot for his comedy series at the new studio behind Chisholm City Hall. I happened to be cast in the pilot, working on set for several days.

The seed of this story, though, goes back to spring 2020 when Zack had been plying his script-writing trade in Los Angeles. That spring, as we all remember, cities began shutting down to fight the pandemic.

Shut up at home and newly unemployed, Zack felt something many of us did  in those pandemic days – pent-up creative energy. Plunging into what he calls “a writing exercise,” he jotted words on pages to keep his writing muscles in shape, and a comedy series formed. He called it, “Canusa Street Blues.”

“I never thought we’d shoot it,” Zack admits. “It was a ‘Who cares?’ project.”

I asked Zack to give me his elevator pitch – that concise summary of a show’s plot meant to interest potential investors and often delivered with sweaty palms and jittery innards by the writer. His pitch for “Canusa Street Blues” went like this: “A half-hour sitcom set in a small town absurdly divided by the U.S./Canada border. The story follows a U.S. border patrol agent who has a fierce rivalry with her twin sister in the Canadian Mounties.”

It might sound a little far-fetched – not a bad thing for a comedy – but believe it or not, a real-life Can-USA Street exists. It’s a strip between Vermont and Quebec, and the actual international border runs down the middle of a street between two towns. Drivers heading west are traveling through Canada; drivers going east are in the United States. For Zack, that’s a setting ripe with comedic possibilities.

Zack’s original title, “Canusa Street Blues,” paid homage to the famed 1980s TV police drama, “Hill Street Blues,” but he found few people understood the reference. (Really, was the ’80s that long ago?) So Zack shortened the title to “Canusa Street” and organized a table read – a test run for the pilot script done, of course, via Zoom. It went well, but Zack still wasn’t ready to discuss any logistical project potentials. “Canusa Street,” he insisted, was just for fun.

But others started to gather on – or rally around – “Canusa Street.” Zack’s original plot had the lead characters as mayors of the U.S. and Canadian border cities. His friend and later producer, Carver Diserens, would suggest something different: Offer the roles to two of his L.A. friends who just happened to be comedy actors and twins. Lauren and Sierra Tothero accepted, and the characters Holly and Harley were born.

That plot twist led to alterations. Zack then sent the script to several festival competitions, reaching the quarter and semi-finals for solid, but not yet brilliant, showings. But already the wheels were rolling to carry Zack’s “writing exercise” in a Los Angeles apartment to a full-blown production in a northern Minnesota town.

One year later, March 2021, Zack moved home to central New Jersey. By August that year, he was working as a script coordinator at NBC's The Kids Tonight Show. (He had previously been a writer’s assistant for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.")

Later in 2021, Zack got a call from the Catalyst Festival in Duluth. The festival, organized by the Catalyst Story Institute, brings makers of “episodic,” or series productions, together from around the country and the world. Catalyst founder Philip Gilpin told Zack his script would be in the festival’s contest for October. Zack had only one question, “Which script?”

Zack had forgotten he'd submitted the script in 2020 and Catalyst, like so many gatherings, was cancelled that year.

Despite that momentary memory slip, “Canusa Street” won for Outstanding Comedy Script at the festival. In Duluth, Zack met Shari Marshik and Riki McManus, respectively the executive director and the chief production officer for the Upper Midwest Film Office. He mingled with local film-scene managers. He got a call from an investor who had heard about the Catalyst win. They met in Philadelphia a couple weeks later.

About the same time, positive reviews started  popping up from The Black List, a national rating system screenwriters can use to get noticed and to which Zack had sent “Canusa Street.” As Zack describes it, “The script briefly goes viral on The Black List, gets dozens of downloads and high scores.”

Later in October, Zack is back in New Jersey, working on “America’s Big Deal,” a Shark Tank-like game show. He continues to revise “Canusa Street,” pitches his friend Carver on producing for the project, and Carver suggests shooting a full pilot. That changed production of “Canusa Street” from “if” to “how and when.” Less than six months later, Carver and Zack had applied for state and county and other production rebates, completed fundraising and began shooting the TV pilot on Minnesota’s Iron Range with a crew of dozens from Duluth and the Twin Cities.

Enter me in the cast and Zack, the writer-turned-director, chatting with me in Chisholm about his own life plot turns. “It’s insane how fast it all happened,” Zack exhales as he laughs. “But you have to follow the rules of Improv 101. Life presents an opportunity, and you say, ‘Yes, and …’”

Zack grew up absorbing movies made by great filmmakers like Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola and Scorcese. As a youngster, he carried around video cameras and shot short films and sketches. A student of comedy, he tuned into the early years of “Saturday Night Live,” topped off by the Dan Akroyd and John Belushi movie, “The Blues Brothers” – a movie that solidified what he wanted to do with his life. He only needed to persuade his parents … and it would take more than an elevator pitch.

“Convincing my mother of this was easy. She’s where I got my artistic genes. My father was another story. He has a business mind and works in computers. I had to convince him.”

Zack’s dad came around after his freshman film at Rutgers University won a campus film festival. "It was the first of many small victories," says Zack. "Still, that’s when my dad finally said, 'All right, you’re doing this, but you better work hard and be the best.'"

Later, his master's thesis film, “Everything’s Fine: A Panic Attack in D Major," at Columbia University’s Film School earned a Television Academy student Emmy. If there was any doubt that his parents were on board, both arrived in Chisholm and spent time on set getting to know the cast and crew of “Canusa Street.”  

Zack and Carver rave about shooting an episodic story in northern Minnesota. Screenwriters often must adjust their story vision to accommodate the resources at a shooting location. Not so in Chisholm, says Zack about his Canusa Street. “Lake Street downtown looks exactly like I thought it would. After half a day of location scouting, Carver and I have found every location we need here.” Residents welcomed the film crew, opening their homes to shoot scenes. Restaurants and taverns downtown enjoyed the crew during, and after, shooting. “It’s a real blessing to be here,” says Zack.

Zack would love to shoot more projects around Duluth and the Iron Range. The film incentives in St. Louis County have made film production a reality, and Lost Forty Studios reports a busy schedule around Chisholm. But for the moment, Zack is moving into the next phase with his TV pilot. The show is edited and he’s shopping it around to networks and streaming services as well as to festivals, including the famed Sundance Film Festival, which like many film festivals, has created new categories for “episodics” due to the popularity of streaming services.

No matter what happens next for “Canusa Street,” Zack remains optimistic about the future … and happy about what his cast and crew have already accomplished. “Even if ‘Canusa Street’ doesn’t get picked up, we’ve made this thing,” Zack says. "That’s why you do it."  n

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Making Offers They Can’t Refuse

by Konnie LeMay

Ever watch the almost endless credits roll by at the end of a movie and ask yourself, “Where do all those people come from?”

“Right here” is the answer that the Upper Midwest Film Office, Catalyst Story Institute, Lost Forty Studios and other local production promoters want to hear.

Los Angeles-based producer Mandy June Turpin wants to hear that answer, too. She produced a holiday film, “Merry Kiss Cam,” in and around Duluth this summer and has plans to return again … and probably again. You may have seen the cameras and crews along the streets with “stage snow” covering the sidewalks in June or shooting in Carmody’s Irish Pub.

“It couldn’t have been a more welcoming place to shoot,” says Mandy. “There were bumps along the way, there were learning curves on both sides … we hired as many locals as we possibly could – out of Minneapolis, out of Duluth.”

Mandy’s commitment to helping grow this region into a hub for film and television productions included plenty of on-the-job training for “Merry Kiss Cam.”

The production brought in experts in a wide variety of areas and had them lead and teach locals the production's needs from wardrobe, to lighting, bookkeeping to location coordinating.

“It’s a team sport,” says seasoned producer and actor Mandy. “You really have to be in shape for it.”

She smiles to remember the observations of some local younger people hired. Despite not needing to go into overtime on the five days of filming, Mandy says, “A lot of the kids were like, ‘This is a lot of work.’" She agreed, "Yeah, making a movie is a lot of work.”

Making work – a lot of work – while making a movie or a television show is what motivated several government entities to pony up with production rebates that suddenly made Minnesota, especially our northern tier, an attractive locale.

"The No. 1 thing that everyone needs to understand," says Shari Marshik, the  Upper Midwest Film Office executive director, "is without incentives, they won’t come here."

Riki McManus, chief production officer for UMFO, has spent decades attracting productions to Minnesota. She agrees that something has changed for the better: "The new piece is that we have productions that are looking at us all the time, and it’s only because of the incentives."

Tax rebates and other types of incentives have become the major lures for states fishing for film productions, Shari notes. "There are incentives in 36 other states."

Last year, Minnesota got a boost of attention when it could offer not one kind of incentive, but four that could be stacked for a production. The Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board offered a program allowing up to 20% reimbursement for some production costs. St. Louis County offered reimbursement of up to 25% of production and post costs. The city of Duluth with the Duluth Economic Development Authority offered rebates up to 25%. The state of Minnesota offers both a production rebate and transferable tax credit program.

All of those rebate programs require money first be spent within the eligible locations, and they certainly have worked to attract multiple productions.

"The nice thing is, they get nothing on the front end," says Riki. "After they've spent in St. Louis County, on the Iron Range, in Duluth or in the state, once they produce those receipts, they get a percentage back."

That said, if the amount dedicated to the rebates runs out quickly and is not renewed, according to Shari, our attractiveness as a location also runs out because we are competing with big money in other states. "We cannot play and we cannot expect productions to come unless we have incentives that are stable. … That doesn’t create an industry."

The state and IRRRB dedicated $500,000 in incentives, and St. Louis County totaled $1 million for the year. Duluth earmarked $200,000, says Riki, but "we got rid of that in three weeks."

What does create an industry, in addition to such incentives, is an available workforce able to cover all aspects of a production. Helping to grow that workforce was one mission Mandy took on when she brought the production of "Merry Kiss Cam" to town. It would not be going too far to say Duluth fell in love with the production folks and they reciprocated that love.

"I keep telling people about Duluth," Mandy says. "We’re bringing another movie back there (in October) or we’re coming back, no matter what, next year."

Mandy met the city of Duluth during a fall Catalyst festival. " I had produced a web series called 'Doxxed,' and we were a finalist in the festival. … All the stars aligned; we won the festival on the comedy (Outstanding Short Comedy Series)."

Duluth and the folks she met won Mandy's heart. "I stayed the entire time and just had a ball."

When looking for a place to film a romantic holiday comedy "with a little bit of hockey in it," Mandy and her crew looked at Duluth … and at those incentives. " That’s why I keep pitching Minnesota … the incentives are crazy, they are so good. They deserve to have productions there."

Merry Kiss Cam director Lisa France and the writers also embraced the city and its locations. "The script was originally set in Chicago," notes Mandy. "We had the writers and directors rework it,  set everything in Duluth."

Those revisions feature the University of Minnesota Duluth hockey instead of the Blackhawks, multiple business titles – like Duluth Coffee and Duluth Candy Company – plus at least one character name change when Carmody's Irish Pub became a focal locale. The lead male character, a pub owner, became a Carmody … with the real pub owners' permission, of course.

The region embraced the production, Mandy says.  "I was surprised how enthusiastic everyone was to have production here and just how hard-working. … If we had a problem, we could call everybody. … It was just the 'Minnesota nice' thing. Everybody showed up and everybody was like, 'We want to help.'"

That enthusiasm spanned newbie hires to union folk, like the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Teamsters, she marveled.

That prevailing attitude gave her extra latitude.

"The producer is the parent who says no," she joked about her role. "That was the wonderful thing about Minnesota." Here, she could say "Yes."

Still, finding seasoned behind-the-scenes crew – all those names on the end credits – was among the major challenges. "It’s always crew because it’s super important that you have people who are experienced."

So the company planted its own seeds for future productions, according to Mandy, hiring and training local newcomers in all areas of production under experienced people brought in from out of town.

"I believe that we changed a couple of people’s lives on this. We gave them opportunities, we gave them possibilities," she says, citing one note from a new hire that read: "Thank you for trusting me."

"That’s what makes it worthwhile," Mandy adds.

Northlanders could long listen to Mandy's praise of our region, and she has a long list both on and off set.

"We drove up the coast," says Mandy, "It was just amazing up there. It’s hard to explain to people what Lake Superior is like."

She has an easier time explaining how she enjoyed the food. " I’m going to be totally honest with you, I and my production staff, we never had a bad meal."

And the new-to-the-region, younger crew members found plenty to do after work, she beams. "On the beach, rock climbing … they’d come back with these pictures. It was beautiful. Oh, and you gotta kayak, oh my gosh, in Minnesota, everybody has a kayak."

Best of all, though, Mandy and the Merry Kiss Cam crew have become Northland promoters.

Riki says as they were filming this movie, MarVista, the home production company, was so impressed with the fast turn-around and support, they've green lighted future productions here. "They are very thrilled, so now they keep giving her scripts," says Riki, and asking Mandy, "Can we make this in Duluth? Can we make it in the Northland?"

That means "right here" names from the Big Lake neighborhood could continue showing up among those end credits.

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From the Studio

In April, Bick Smith, actor/tour guide/videographer from St. Paul, reported for duty as the father on a pilot for a series about twin daughters living on either side of the U.S.-Canada border. He is also a frequent contributor to Lake Superior Magazine. Here he shares notes about the production.

As I sit on a couch somewhere in the expanse of Lost Forty Studios in Chisholm, an eager woman draped in a pile of garments over her shoulder approaches me. It’s Kerry Riley, head costume designer for “Canusa Street.”

“So, you’re Bick! Pleasure to meet you. Can I see what you brought today?”

And so it begins … the costume-fitting, one of the first orders of business when an actor shows up on set. I show Kerry the clothes I’d packed in St. Paul for possible use in the show pilot. In the end, I mostly wear costumes shipped in from Los Angeles.

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Such a large ensemble in such a small town. I’ve been an actor on dozens of film, TV and commercial sets, but “Canusa Street” was at a whole new level. A bevy of costumers and make-up artists accompany dozens of crew members as we shoot scene after scene indoors and outdoors around Chisholm. Every detail is covered in the process, yet the production moves along at lightning speed, without any real tension that is often a part of the filming process. Many of us credit this to the seamless partnership of writer/director Zack Morrison and assistant director Carver Diserens.  

On most film sets, actors do not carry on conversations with the director. But Zack is always open to scene discussion. If a debate goes on too long, Carver steps into the action and announces, “Okay, let’s shoot this.”  Filming a half-hour comedy sitcom is a lengthy process, with lighting, sound, camera set-ups, actors, dialogue, inquisitive neighbors, etc. But Canusa Street’s mix of professionalism and collaboration energizes the crew and actors, generally resulting in better and fewer shot takes.

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At the end of my week in Chisholm, I sit on that same couch conversing with one of Canusa Street’s leads, Sierra Tothero – my daughter in the pilot. I blurt out that this was the best filming experience of my life. She blurts out that she agrees. Upon return home, I rave to my agent at Moore Creative about filming an episodic in northern Minnesota.  She tells me she’s heard the same thing from many others working on Canusa Street …adding, “Let’s hope this series gets picked up!” n

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From the Sidewalk

Duluth artist Bekah Rush, manager of Lake Superior Magazine’s Canal Park Gifts and owner of Wonderfully Made, stepped into a familiar role for Merry Kiss Cam in early June. She became an extra in a “winter” festival scene as a vending artist (no acting stretch there). Here’s her short take on her day of fame:

“The morning we were shooting the outdoor winter market scene, it was around 80 degrees. All the actors and extras were suited up in winter wear – hats, mittens, boots – it was scorching. But so, so much fun! The crew was amazing to work with.”