One frame at a time: The road to reviving New Brunswick's film industry

There's been a lot of buzz in Saint John about a new feature film being shot in the Port City, and while the project is big news on its own, it could have even greater influence.

Stephen Foster, president of Media New Brunswick, said there was a huge exodus of people who were working full-time jobs in the industry when the provincial government cancelled the film tax credit in 2011.

He said those people left and went to places with a stronger film industry.

Now, Foster says the industry is rebuilding, and he hopes to see that continue with more of the younger generation sticking around and working on productions in the province.

"We need to have a consistent amount of shows — whether that's feature films or TV series — basically, we need to have things that are shooting in New Brunswick consistently," said Foster.

"What's happening now is you'll have a crew come in and they'll shoot for two months … but then it's downtime for four or five months until the next thing comes along, and that makes … working in film full time very, very challenging."

Stephen Foster, president of Media New Brunswick and co-producer of the movie Unseen, said getting rid of the cap for film and TV grants is a great step. (Michael Heenan/CBC)

Foster said that's because people in the film industry can't make a reliable income if there is only work every two or three months.

He said in order to achieve that consistency, the province needs to be on par with other regions in the country in terms of how funding works.

But he thinks progress is being made with New Brunswick's grant system — a step toward reviving the industry.

WATCH | 'We've rebuilt our industry here':

Unseen, a feature film, is being shot in multiple locations in Saint John. (Michael Heenan/CBC)

Before this year, film and TV production projects had a grant cap of $1.5 million per project or $2 million per producer, according to a spokesperson with the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture.

Foster said this was a challenge because if a larger production with a bigger budget wanted to come to New Brunswick, it would sometimes be more financially wise to go to a neighbouring province with fewer restrictions on assistance.

But as of this year, the grant caps have been removed, a spokesperson with the department said.

"Now those projects can come here," said Foster. "I'm hoping what will happen is, as they come here, they'll keep coming back and we'll have that consistent work for all of the folks."

Taylor Olsen, director, writer and actor, wanted to tackle the topic of homelessness in this film. (Michael Heenan/CBC)

Foster said this is important, not just for the directors, producers and actors in the film world, but the other people that shooting a movie requires, including costume designers, painters, electricians, accountants, drivers and caterers.

"It's so all-encompassing that if you have a strong industry, you're going to have a strong economy."

Homelessness key theme in movie

Foster is also the co-producer on Unseen, a feature film being shot in Saint John. It's being shot in multiple locations around the city and is funded by Telefilm Canada, Crave, the Canadian Media Fund and the governments of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The movie follows Gideon, a swim coach who falls on hard times and is forced to live in his van. The character, played by Canadian actor Taylor Olsen, tries to hide the fact that he's homeless from everyone in his life.

Olsen, also the film's writer and director, said the film drew from some of his own experiences. When he was 19, he said he was living out of a van while driving across the country swimming and coaching. After that, he said he ended up in Halifax working with the homeless community.

Sandy Hunter, co-producer on Unseen, said the film has a $1.3 million budget, which is tiny in the film industry. (Michael Heenan/CBC)

"The houseless community is growing larger and larger day by day, and the housing crisis is getting worse day by day," said Olsen. "This is an opportunity to see a story of helplessness and visible helplessness, in this case, through the eyes of one person [and] hopefully create empathy for folks who are dealing with this."

This winter, several people who were homeless in New Brunswick died, and the homeless population has nearly doubled in each of the province's three major cities over the past two years.

Sandy Hunter, the film's other co-producer, said he hopes to have the film become available around mid-2025, depending on film festival schedules.

He said there will also be a local premiere and it will be available in theatres before going to the streaming platform, Crave.

Hunter said the biggest challenge with getting the film off the ground has been personnel. He said they brought in people from four provinces in order to make it happen.

Unseen is also being done with a $1.3 million budget, which Hunter said is tiny in the film industry,

"I mean, that's probably like the sword budget in an episode of Game of Thrones."