If there has been a singular defining characteristic of Stephen McNeil’s career as premier of Nova Scotia, it is his righteously self-righteous confidence in the rightness of whatever he says is right, damn the consequences, dismiss the naysayers, dump on the media. Sometimes, that has served him — and us — well. Start, of course, […]
Stephen McNeil says there’s “lots” of film activity; the facts tell a different story
IATSE Local 849, the union that represents most film technicians in the province, has statistics showing its members worked 40,687 days in 2014, earning $11,120,665 in gross pay and pensions. In 2017, those numbers had tumbled over a cliff: just 13,454 days worked with gross pay and pensions — $3,842,454 — 65 per cent lower than in 2014.
There is something vaguely Trumpian in Premier Stephen McNeil’s continuing, reality-be-damned insistence his government’s 2015 consultation- and logic-free decision to dump a longstanding, working-well film tax credit, then replace it with a more restrictive, less incentivizing “Nova Scotia Film and Television Incentive Fund” is all working out just fine, the way we planned it, thank...
How Canada has failed Abdoul Abdi and other child immigrants: Morning File, Tuesday, January 9, 2018
News 1. Abdoul Abdi Halifax Examiner contributor El Jones has long raised the issue of people brought to Canada as children who then become wards of the state. Bounced between foster homes and group homes, they are not raised in a stable, supportive environment, and so some become involved in the criminal justice system. Then they […]
Epilogue, Maudie: Take 4
“I think it was a huge missed opportunity for the province,” said Maudie co-producer Mary Young Leckie. “It’s a Nova Scotia story.” She spoke to the Halifax Examiner this week about the decision in the late spring of 2015 to shoot the highly acclaimed feature film about Nova Scotian artist Maud Lewis in Newfoundland. Leckie […]
Correction: Maudie, take three
Editor Tim Bousquet’s note: I’m increasingly uncomfortable with this article. It relies on one source — the article by Elissa Barnard in the Local Xpress — and I’m not sure how reliable that is. I’ve been contacted by several people who tell me that the decision to film in Newfoundland was made previous to the […]
How Halifax city council screws working people: Morning File, Wednesday, December 14, 2016
News How Halifax city council screws working people Two issues of note were discussed by city council yesterday. The first was a plan to award “density bonusing” to developers who include a few units of “affordable housing” in their new buildings. I’ll return to that momentarily, but first I want to speak about the second issue […]
Nova Scotia’s film industry just won’t die
After a disastrous season last year, filmmakers have seen uptick in productions this year. But will the work keep coming?
News of the Nova Scotia film industry’s death may have been exaggerated. When the McNeil government slashed a generous tax credit for TV and film production in the spring of 2014, it triggered a blockbuster of a backlash. It snowballed into a combination of public protests by well-known local figures in the industry and public...
Dissolution of Film and Creative Industries ‘a slap in the face’ for film students
Although much of the attention in the aftermath of the provincial budget has been devoted to the reduction in the Film Tax Credit, students of NSCAD and NSCC say they’ll be just as much affected by the elimination of Film and Creative Industries NS. The latter provided resources for students making their final-year thesis films,...