News release

Jesse Stone Production Back in Nova Scotia

Film Nova Scotia (Nov. 2007 - Nov. 2012)

Emmy Award winner Tom Selleck has returned to Nova Scotia to shoot Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt which started production on May 20.

The eighth entry in the CBS series of movie adaptations of the late Robert B. Parker's novels will once again use Blue Rocks and some venues in Halifax to substitute for the fictional Paradise, Mass. The U.S. production will shoot over 20 days.

"We are happy to welcome the Jesse Stone production back to Nova Scotia," said Economic and Rural Development and Tourism Minister Percy Paris. "Attracting these kinds of investments creates good jobs for our talented workforce and helps to grow our economy."

The series, which has been filming in Nova Scotia since 2004, follows the life of Jesse Stone, an alcoholic Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective-turned-Massachusetts police chief as he deals with the divorce of his wife while managing a town filled with big league crimes.

"This will be our eighth visit to Nova Scotia to film the Jesse Stone series and we always enjoy our time here," said Jake Rose, head of Sony Pictures Television Movies and Mini-Series Production. "From great cast and crew to strong financial incentives, Nova Scotia always proves to be one of the optimal filming locations for our productions."

To date, the Jesse Stone series has spent $17 million of a $52-million budget in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia's Film Industry Tax Credit, coupled with film commission services provided by Film Nova Scotia, were two factors responsible for bringing the project to the province. Film Nova Scotia offers services such as helping to choose shooting locations, building location websites and working with local producers and crew. The province has contributed $3.9-million in tax credits to the series.

Innocents Lost, the seventh of the Jesse Stone series, filmed in Nova Scotia during the fall of 2009, aired on Sunday, May 22, on CBS.

"Using our strong tax credit and film commission services, we have been able to attract many foreign productions to Nova Scotia," said Ann MacKenzie, president and CEO of Film Nova Scotia. "We are proud to maintain our strong relationship with the Jesse Stone team and are happy that they are able to continue to fulfil their production needs here in Nova Scotia."

This is Tom Selleck's ninth visit to Nova Scotia as he also filmed Reversible Errors in the province in 2004, which spent $6-million during a 42-day visit.

Film Nova Scotia is a provincial Crown corporation reporting to the Minister of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism. The corporation provides a wide range of programs and services to support the province's audiovisual industry. With an industry that employs almost 3,000 and contributes upwards of $100 million to the economy annually, Nova Scotia is among the largest production centres in Canada.