$23 million investment in Nova Scotia’s film industry has money for a soundstage

The provincial government is putting a total of $23 million into the local film industry, premier Tim Houston announced today. Eight million of the funds will support a soundstage that, according to a press release from the province, “will increase the industry’s capacity, create more jobs and allow productions to continue year-round.”

The remaining $15 million will be put into a new funding pool for local TV and filmmakers. Titled the Nova Scotia Content Creator Fund, it “will provide $3 million per year over five years to eligible Nova Scotia-led productions, supporting local directors, writers, actors and performers,” the release adds.

Screen Nova Scotia will administer the fund and lead the soundstage facility’s development. The soundstage is expected to be 50,000 square feet and cost $20 million total, with the balance after the province’s $8 million coming from private investors and other partners.

The announcement comes on the heels of a record-setting year for the film industry in Nova Scotia, which the government says contributed about $180 million to Nova Scotia’s economy in 2021-22, an increase of nearly 100 percent from the year before. Later this week, Houston is going on a trade mission to Los Angeles, where he and Screen Nova Scotia representatives will meet with Netflix, Disney and other studios. The PC premier is setting a much different tone about the film sector than the previous Liberal government, which infamously killed a vital funding program in then-premier Stephen McNeil’s first term in office.