When it comes to #NSFilmJobs, business is definitely booming—or at least, so says the province: "The film industry contributed about $180.8 million to Nova Scotia’s economy in 2021-22 up from about $78 million in 2019-20 and $91.6 million in 2020-21,” a release from last June stated. Now, as another banner year in the industry unfurls, Team Coast is keeping tabs on what’s shooting where, what series are screening and streaming, and what’s next in the scene.
Here, an update for early May.
No Jack
Sadly, it’s time to quell the rumours that Jack Reacher—an Amazon series about a Sherlock Holmes-meets-Hulk type hero who busts up big crime in small American towns—might end up shooting its second season in Halifax. After industry talk in February said the show was considering relocating here from Pickering, Ontario, those on the inside are now telling The Coast the production has decided against Nova Scotia, since a specific type of building required by the story wasn’t available here.
See Bystanders
Halifax writer-actor-director Koumbie’s feature film debut, Bystanders, continues its limited theatrical run this week, which means local fans can see it at Cineplex Park Lane until at least May 4—perfect if you missed its premiere at last fall’s FIN Atlantic International Film Festival. The flick follows the ripples of intimate partner violence across a friend group, asking, as Koumbie herself told The Coast in 2022, “What do you do when someone you love does something you hate?” Tickets and showtimes are available via the film’s listing on Cineplex’s site. Check out the trailer below.
Washington Black coming back
Word has it that the Disney+ and Hulu series Washington Black—which tells the story of George Washington “Wash” Black, an 11-year-old who escapes an 1800s sugar plantation in Barbados, and his mentor Medwin Harris, a leader in Halifax's Black community—is returning to Halifax to film this July. The show’s first season was set to premiere late last year, but reshoots are required, hence the return to HRM. The new air date for the series is TBA as of press time.
Crossing into the States
American TV network The CW—longtime home to top-shelf teen dramas and primetime soaps—has picked up the shot-in-Halifax series Sullivan’s Crossing, as Deadline reports. The CTV series, based on a book series of the same name, follows a neurosurgeon who returns to her hometown in rural Colorado, only to become embroiled in drama as she's forced to take over her family's general store. Shooting of the show’s first season (which airs Sundays on CTV) took over Agricola Street last June, with Scott Patterson (of Gilmore Girls fame) snapping selfies in front of Luke’s Small Goods, while Patterson’s costar Chad Michael Murray (the One Tree Hill alum) was routinely camped out at Hali Deli, a main location in the series.
From season 3
In the coming weeks, the series From is set to return to Nova Scotia for filming. The sci-fi horror series debuted last September and immediately won over critics and audiences alike, delivering a story that swirls around a small town in middle America where things are decidedly....off, as all who enter the town are then trapped there in a Hotel California-type situ.
TPBoys go to Jail
Another series returning for a second season is Trailer Park Boys: Jail, a spinoff mockumentary of the original TPB series that streams online via TPB’s Swearnet site. Shooting is currently underway in the HRM, with an as-yet-unannounced air date.
