Changes to film tax credit starting to show: Producer

HALIFAX – A major producer is threatening to leave the province, two months after the government cut tax incentives to lure filmmakers to Nova Scotia.

The Producer of the ‘Jesse Stone,’ TV series starring Tom Selleck, has said financial uncertainty around the changes to the Film Tax Credit, means they may have to move away from province.

The series have been shot in Nova Scotia for a decade, but its producer said changes to the tax credit ‘caps,’ are causing them to rethink where they’re shooting.

John Wesley Chisolm is a TV producer and the President of Arcadia Entertainment, and says the industry is still reeling from the changes, and we’re starting to see the fallout.

“I was originally hopeful, this new tool will cover us through until the next election cycle, where I’m positive all the parties will run on the notion of putting everything back together,” said Chisolm.

“Now, I’m worried the two-year gap is just too long, but what took twenty years to build, is really going to be destroyed in two.”

Chisolm said he doesn’t think the Liberal government intended to kill the industry but he says that’s the road they’re heading towards.

Haven, a TV show shot on in the Chester area on Nova Scotia’s south shore, recently announced it will wrap up shooting for good after its current season.

There’s no indication changes to the film tax credit was the reason the network decided to pull the plug.