Nova Scotia injects $23m to boost film and TV production and new studio

The Nova Scotia government will inject $23m to help boost the Canadian province's film industry and generate economic activity year-round.

Premier Tim Houston revealed it will invest $8m toward a soundstage that will increase the industry’s capacity, create more jobs and allow productions to continue year-round. In addition to a $15m investment for a new Nova Scotia Content Creator Fund that will benefit local film and television productions.

The Nova Scotia Content Creator Fund will provide $3m per year over five years to eligible Nova Scotia-led productions, supporting local directors, writers, actors and performers. Screen Nova Scotia will administer the fund and lead the development of a 4,645 square-metre (50,000 sq. ft.) soundstage facility costing $20m in total.

The premier and Screen Nova Scotia representatives will also travel to Los Angeles from March 12 to 16 to meet with decision-makers from Disney, Netflix, NBC Universal and other studios to attract more productions to the province.

“Film is a crucial and growing part of Nova Scotia’s economy – creating jobs, bringing international investments and showing the world what Nova Scotia has to offer,” said premier Houston. “These investments will help show international producers that Nova Scotia is a great place to film, while making sure local creators have the resources they need to thrive.”

“This investment marks an exciting and pivotal moment in time for our sector,” added Laura Mackenzie, executive director, Screen Nova Scotia. “While our industry has worked hard to build back production volume in Nova Scotia over the past seven years, a soundstage and a content creator fund are two critical pieces of infrastructure that will propel us towards our full growth potential.”

Nova Scotia has recently hosted the productions of Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse, Hulu's Books of Blood, Netflix's The Mist and Epix's Chapelwaite.