New Brunswick is very busy of late, with three feature films on the books for spring and summer.

Irish Eyes Are Crying, a service production (with Moncton producer Dreamsmith Entertainment), is shooting through part of May and into June; Max and the Lioness, a three-province picture started the Moncton shoot in April and wrapped in late May; and another interprovincial project, At Shepherd Park, wrapped in Moncton in late March.

But these ‘nice-sized’ productions have not put undue strain on the province’s ability to supply crew, according to Ray Wilson, executive director of New Brunswick Film. ‘These productions have been going on one after the other, so we’ve been able to accommodate it quite well,’ he says.

‘Last year production was good [$40 million], double from the year before. I expect to be on track, to be about the same this year. I think it’s going to be a good year,’ says Wilson.

The theatrical release At Shepherd Park, starring Katharine Isabelle and Nicholas Campbell, is a coproduction between Calgary’s CHAOS, a film company, and Moncton-based Dorenavant Productions.

At Shepherd Park, which was triggered through the National Screen Institute’s Features First program, has ‘a very Maritime feel to it,’ says CHAOS producer Carolyn McMaster. ‘Robert Cuffley, the film’s director and cowriter [with Jason Long], grew up in New Brunswick and that was one reason [to shoot in the province]. Because of the Maritime feel, it was appropriate to shoot in Moncton. It was appropriate to the script, I firmly believe that. Everything else flowed together nicely financially. I really enjoyed doing this coproduction; for us it worked out extremely well.’

Post-production will take place in Alberta.

The crew of almost 50 was comprised of roughly two-thirds New Brunswick personnel, about eight or nine ‘come from aways’ brought in from Halifax, and the remainder, including various keys, from Alberta.

‘Granted there’s only so much personnel [in New Brunswick], and if there are other productions going on you have to supplement the crew. We brought a number of Alberta production crew along to Moncton,’ says McMaster.

With New Brunswick crew sometimes tapped for Nova Scotia productions, McMaster had no choice but to import from nearby provinces. ‘If there’s a gig going on in the province, people are going to be hired wherever they’re from. We were looking at some people [to crew on the film] who were on a shoot in Nova Scotia; they weren’t available.’

‘New Brunswick is only so large in terms of feature film crew available, and if people are busy on other shoots we need to supplement [what is available in province] and they need to have some training put in place,’ says McMaster.

‘[The province] has a little shortfall in key positions, but through mentorships and programs and people coming in and doing coproductions they’re [addressing that]. They’re trying to put a [training] infrastructure in place. We had several positions that were mentor positions [on the shoot].’

Nevertheless, McMaster has nothing but nice things to say about her experience in New Brunswick, singing the praises of ‘very experienced crew [and] a very co-operative government – people were extremely co-operative. It went very smoothly and I certainly would consider shooting there again. It was a very friendly atmosphere; everyone was very welcoming.’

‘I think New Brunswick’s industry is in its infancy, but I think it’s growing, and at a healthy pace. It’s not just features being shot there, several series are being produced out of Moncton, so it may not all be dramatic film production, but it is production. The more they do the more the city grows and the more the province will prosper.’ *

-www.gov.nb.ca