#Republic of doyle tv show episodes series#

вЂњMaudie,вЂќ it turns out, came along just after the province began its pullback of monetary encouragements to film makers.Д«y then, however, cinema funding was percolating impressively in Newfoundland. Why, we might ask did that happen? Well, in 2014 in Nova Scotia the Liberal government of Stephen McNeil decided to drop some of the existing incentives that the province offered to encourage film production. This was a part of TrudeauвЂ™s forward-thinking vision that is too often overlooked these days.Д«ut I set out in this column to focus on the Maritimes and the success of вЂњMaudie,вЂќ a quintessential Nova Scotia story that was filmed in Newfoundland. He credits Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau back in the 1970s with helping to create Telefilm and to seed the basic conditions needed to grow a film business in Canada. Then comes the complex technology of filmmaking, the availability of studio facilities for production, the training of people who can work effectively and efficiently behind the scenes, and access to money from a variety of sources. It begins with our basic need for and interest in stories (we all enjoy stories and relate to them). Michael gave me a seminar by phone this past week on what film work and film production is all about.

#Republic of doyle tv show episodes series#

As well he did much of the preparatory work with Patrick Watson on вЂњThe Heritage MinutesвЂќ series that began in the early 1990s and continues to make important Canadian figures and historical events freshly available to viewers. вЂњThe Terry Fox StoryвЂќ (1983) starring Robert Duvall was one of the films he executive-produced with Robert Cooper of HBO. He has typically sought and managed to keep a low profile in matters of business and social recognition. HeвЂ™s a Toronto entertainment lawyer, literary agent and executive producer who has worked in and helped to grow the film business in Canada since the 1970s. My ear to the ground is my old and dear friend Michael Levine. The вЂњMaudieвЂќ story is a case in point, illustrative of what can and canвЂ™t be done under particular circumstances. Overall, the film business is flourishing today in many locales across Canada because of the weaker Canadian dollar, the availability of skilled Canadian film workers and technicians (add actors to the menu), and attractive business opportunities available through federal and provincial tax credits as well as equity funds, and through tax treaties between Canada and other nations (there are over 55 of them). We experienced that special boost before we left Ontario when вЂњMurdoch MysteriesвЂќ chose a house opposite us on Homewood Avenue to film an episode this past June. So the money that comes into the local economy is an important spinoff of film production. The large cast and crew of вЂњThe SinnerвЂќ have in fact used our nearby Ovens Natural Park as their base on and off for much of the summer, providing many kinds of cash infusions into the local economy. It is clear then that film production is once again flourishing in Nova Scotia. The first is вЂњThe SinnerвЂќ (season five) starring Bill Pullman and the second is the third season of the semi-Gothic вЂњLocke and Key.вЂќ In both instances the Lunenburg area effectively stands in for settings in Maine and Massachusetts. Around our south-shore Nova Scotian home this summer we have seen two film companies actively at work on their respective, ongoing series. The back story of how Maud Lewis became a covert Newfoundlander is a parable of sorts having much to do with the complexity of film funding. And Maud Lewis became an even better known cause celebre in Canada. The film after all made close to $10 million against production costs of $6.6 million and it won major awards for Sally Hawkins as Maud, Ethan Hawke as Everett Lewis, and its Irish-born director Aisling Walsh. Certainly what happened was regretted in Halifax, especially after the fact. Strange things happen in the film business for various reasons, but in the case of вЂњMaudieвЂќ it had to do with underlying truths of film financing and competition nationally and internationally. But as Maud was an impoverished Nova Scotian who never left her native province, it is an irony evident to some viewers that the landscape and the places behind the scenes were not hers. In 2016 the life story of Maud Dowley/Lewis, the untrained but famous Nova Scotia folk artist, was filmed near Trinity Bay in Newfoundland.