Quiet on the set: Major TV show rolls cameras in Saint John, N.B.

Steve Foster and Greg Hemmings, executive producers of Hemmings Films, are pictured. (Source: Greg Hemmings)

Greg Hemmings says he’s seen an uptick in new arrivals at the Saint John Airport in recent weeks, and he’s at least partially responsible for some of the travellers touching down in the Port City.

“We’ve got a lot of airplane tickets,” he said.

Hemmings, a founder of New Brunswick-based video production company Hemmings House, is welcoming the arrivals from Toronto. They represent a wide swath of talent from the world of film and television and Hemmings is hopeful they can share their skills with the burgeoning East Coast video industry.

“They train up the local crew so we can build up capacity,” Hemmings said. “It’s really exciting. We’ve got a crew that’s developing here.”

Hemmings and his team have a chance to develop their capabilities in real-time and with a major project this fall. Hemmings Films – a division of Hemmings House – is co-producing the new SyFy show “Revival” in and around Saint John.

“We’ve really been courting other larger production companies to produce their content here,” Hemmings said. “We found a partner called Blue Ice Pictures and they really like New Brunswick.

“There’s a willingness from government right now to rebuild the film industry. As a result of us being co-owners of the project, we can access New Brunswick film incentives to bring the project here.”

“Revival,” which is based of a popular horror comic series, focuses on the return of several dead people in a Wisconsin town. The main cast includes Melanie Scrofano (who starred as the title character in the show “Wynonna Earp”), Romy Weltman, David James Elliott and Andy McQueen.

Hemmings said the show might be set in Wisconsin, but they’re able to use different parts of New Brunswick to evoke the feeling of that state without filming there.

“A story is written for a certain jurisdiction but it makes sense to shoot it in a different jurisdiction,” he said. “The show takes place in a lot of rural places and a city. With Saint John, we’re not angling the cameras to the bay.

“All of us Atlantic Canadians will be able to identify some locations. For anybody on the outside, this could by anywhere.”

Earlier this year, Hemmings House – which was incorporated in 2006 – was involved in the production of the movie “Unseen,” which was the biggest English-language film in New Brunswick in more than a decade.

“We’ve never dipped our toes in scripted content until we did ‘Unseen,’” Hemmings said. “That gave us a taste of what producing dramatic features feels like.”

Hemmings said there are roughly 100 people on the crew and more than 60 of them are locals. They will be producing 10, one-hour episodes and will be filming until early December.

Camera operator James MacDonald and grip Khristopher Harvey work on the set of "Revival" in New Brunswick. (Source: Greg Hemmings)

Hemmings notes the influx of cash from the United States for the show can create a sizeable economic impact for the province.

“This is new money that is being dumped into our economy,” he said. “All the local hotel rooms are booked out, all the car rentals, all the restaurants. It’s very positive in how the money trickles down. We have 100 people here and they’re spending money in the uptown.”

A 2015 report on the New Brunswick film industry found the provincial motion picture and video production sector generated 72.4 cents worth of gross domestic product in New Brunswick for every dollar worth of industry output.

The report also noted average film and video productions were valued at $28.9 million from 1999 to 2003, which were the biggest years for the industry. Hemmings worked in the business in 1999 and said he was always busy. He’s hoping to bring that level of activity back to the province.

“We’re very versatile as an urban centre and we’ve got the rugged coastline that can be anywhere on the East Coast,” he said. “I feel hopeful for New Brunswick. I think there’s a new breath of hope for the industry.”

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