Disney is on its way to Nova Scotia as pre-production gears up for Washington Black, a new mini-series based on Esi Edugyan’s bestselling novel.
Location scouting began in Shelburne last summer and production should begin this spring, barring any new Covid-related restrictions.
Harold Locke, Mayor of Shelburne, is excited about what this could mean for the community. Details of the project have yet to be released, but it seems that at least a portion of filming will take place in the Shelburne area.
Of course, film production is not new to Shelburne, films like The Scarlet Letter and Moby Dick centered their productions there in decades past, offering a boost to the local economy.
Washington Black follows a young boy, Washington “Wash” Black, who flees life as a slave at a Barbados sugar plantation, eventually meeting his mentor in Nova Scotia. The title role will be played by relative newcomer Ernest Kingsley Junior.
The star power of the show comes from multiple Emmy award winner, Sterling K. Brown of This is Us. Brown has been cast as the de facto Mayor of Black Halifax, Medwin Harris, who travelled the world after the trauma of childhood as a black refugee in Nova Scotia.
Air dates and additional production details have not yet been released. Washington Black is being shot for the Disney owned streaming service Hulu, which is currently unavailable in Canada.
A production of this caliber could be a boost to the local economy and could add to Nova Scotia’s already positive reputation as a filming location for major productions.