Nova Scotia has updated several guidelines regarding its new Nova Scotia Film and Television Production Incentive Fund, including bonuses for productions that use local actors and financing set aside for first-time producers.

The Nova Scotia Film and Television Production Incentive Fund was introduced after the provincial government scrapped its labour-based film and television tax credit this spring. The fund, which will start officially accepting applications on July 2, will offer financing under two streams: one for indigenous and coproductions, and the second for service and foreign productions.

Under the indigenous/coproduction stream, productions can receive a base funding amount of 26% of all eligible Nova Scotia costs, while foreign shoots can receive a base amount of 25% of all eligible Nova Scotia costs. The fund is based off a similar model deployed in Alberta for film and television production and will be administered by Nova Scotia Business Inc., the province’s private sector-led business development agency.

A set of draft guidelines for the new incentive fund were released on June 2, and were open to the public for comment. Following the consultation process, the government reduced the minimum amount productions must spend in the province from $40,000 to $25,000. The reduction in the minimum spend was to make sure the fund could be accessible for new filmmakers, said Bernie Miller, Nova Scotia’s deputy minister of planning and priorities. “You didn’t want the spend to be an insurmountable amount,” he told Playback Daily.

The updated guidelines also include several Nova Scotia Content Incentive bonuses for producers applying to the fund. An extra 1.5% will be added to productions where at least 60% of the cast are from Nova Scotia (not including background actors), and an additional 1.5% if productions meet three of seven possible Nova Scotia-content requirements, such as 75% of post work being done in the province or a Nova Scotian holding the title of principal writer or director on a project. Productions applying for each stream can also receive a 1% bonus if the shoot lasts for more than 30 days.

The maximum amount of money any one production can access through the fund is $4 million. An overall funding cap for this fiscal year has not yet been set, Miller said. Instead, the province will wait to see how many applications come through, and consult with industry organization Screen Nova Scotia in the fall to see what could reasonably be committed to the fund within the first year.

Marc Almon, chair of Screen Nova Scotia, said the organization is overall satisfied with this final version of the fund. However, Screen Nova Scotia continues to have some concerns about the animation tax credit and will be consulting with government on making additional changes to the credit. In May, the provincial government announced it was adding a new stream to its Digital Media Tax Credit to include animation.

Almon also stressed that the elimination of Film and Creative Industries Nova Scotia also continues to be of concern, and the organization is working with government to see if some sort of replacement can be developed.

“It is important they have a place where people who are interested in filming in Nova Scotia…have a partner here on the ground that helps guide them and shows them what kind of resources are available,” Almon said.

The sentiment was echoed by Top Sail Productions president Mike Volpe. In addition to providing services for producers, Film and Creative Industries also administered development and equity financing funding programs, both of which are no longer available in the new system, Volpe said.

“We had to do triage on the tax credit and that was immediate and important, and the next step is to find some sort of replacement for Film and Creative Industries where young filmmakers can be supported,” Volpe said.

Miller said there has been discussion about how location scouting services can be provided since the closure of Film and Creative Industries. He said there have been some talks about Screen Nova Scotia taking over those location scouting duties working in conjunction with Nova Scotia Business Inc. If Screen Nova Scotia did take over those duties, they would receive support, Miller said.

“We don’t anticipate going back to having a specific Crown Corporation specifically for film,” Miller said.

Halifax skyline image: kevin brine / Shutterstock.com

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the base amount foreign/service productions can receive via the fund is 26% of all eligible Nova Scotia costs.  Foreign/service productions can receive a base amount of 25% of all eligible Nova Scotia costs via the fund. Playback regrets the error.