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Screenwriting is a delicate alchemy of boundless imagination and rigorous discipline. As a professional screenwriter, producer, and the creative force behind HatChap Productions, my mission has always been to craft stories that are vital, entertaining, healing and emotionally powerful. To achieve that level of cinematic excellence, you need tools that match your ambition.

For decades, southern Alberta has been one of the film industry’s best-kept secrets. We've got the sweeping coulees, the iconic High Level Bridge, and a downtown that can double for almost any era. But for a long time, bringing a production to Lethbridge meant navigating a maze of red tape without a central map (it may have just blown away). That all changed with the launch of the Screen Lethbridge initiative in September 2025.

A new, or perhaps just renewed, way of and reason for attending the cinema is the only way it will survive. One that delivers memorable, tangible, meaningful and transformational experiences; practical social currency and fosters genuine community growth for audiences.

Why not all Four? our release plan for a prairie noir pilot Finishing a film feels like the end. It isn’t. It’s the moment your project changes from “a thing you made” into “a thing the world might actually meet.” For There Are No Squirrels in Lethbridge , we’re building a release plan with four phases: Festival circuit Self-distribution Theatrical tour Broadcast release (December 2026) Here’s how we’re approaching it—and what we’re building along the way. Luke Hubler-Mcmanus

For There Are No Squirrels in Lethbridge, post-production was also intensely personal because I handled the entire pipeline—editing, coulouration, sound design, mixing and mastering, finishing, and composing the full score.

What it’s like producing and starring in a neo-noir pilot on a micro-budget—switch techniques, performance lessons, and why the edit changes everything.

“Union” is one of those words that makes micro-budget filmmakers either puff up with confidence or quietly back away from the room. Here's what I learned.

How Conner Christmas and I (Nick Bohle) made a TV pilot of a ~$38K micro-budget.

Follow the production journey for one of Lethbridge's first ever television pilots and series pushes.