Potato Fields and Snowmobiles Provide Fertile Ground for Cultivation Pictures
FREDERICTON — “It’s a hybrid of the A-Team and Fargo” says Sandy Hunter, producer of the TV pilot Justus: Seaghan Destroy shot in Florenceville. “It’s a team of vigilantes… it features you know, fist fights, explosions, ski-doo chases.”
The short film provides a starting point for what Hunter and his collaborators anticipate will be a funny, action packed, entertaining program showcasing New Brunswick. And it’s got all the elements, starting with a stolen snowmobile and a burned-out truck.
“What we filmed is the backstory of one of our characters.. he’s the fighter of the group. It’s what triggers him to become a vigilante,” Hunter explains of Justus, one of the many productions he has underway with his company Cultivation Pictures.
Cultivation is a partnership between Fredericton based Hunter, and Clem McIntosh of Saint John. But while the 110 km distance between the two cities might seem a bit daunting, it’s nothing compared to a few years ago when Hunter was the head of Apple TV Canada, and living much further away in Toronto.
During Covid, Hunter took a second look at New Brunswick as a place to do work he really was passionate about.
That pause opened his eyes to the possibility of coming back to the province and leveraging the knowledge and connections he has in the film world to help build the industry here. And in 2021 he made the move.
And it’s paid off.
Justus has been identified, along with two other projects as a “project on the roster for development and production” by the Bell Slate Development Fund, which awarded Cultivation $75,000 to develop its slate of projects. “Seaghan Destroy” was produced with additional support from the Government of New Brunswick.
The production company also has some documentary opportunities on the go throughout the province, and they’re working on a script for a film called Rum Runner which they’re in the process of writing the script for.
“It’s set in 1927, New Brunswick at the height of prohibition. A widow is forced to take on her dead husband’s rum running business to pay off her debts to the mob,” Hunter explains.
Then there are the projects Cultivation has already completed, like a series of commercials for New Brunswick tourism featuring Fundy National Park’s majestic waterfalls.
And on CBC Gem, Cultivation produced Wabanaki Modern, which premiered in February. It tells the story of the Micmac Indian Craftsmen , part of the hugely successful Indigenous art collective in the 1960’s from Elsipogtog First Nation. The movement was the subject of a book and was an active exhibit at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton. The documentary was filmed, directed and produced all in New Brunswick.
Hunter says it took a few years to build up his network in New Brunswick, despite already having ties here from his early life. He says a lot of industry people from other parts of Canada are coming the province and he’s enjoying getting to meet with them, find out what they’re working on, and explore potential collaborations.
His experience in the industry from his Toronto days is also getting recognition. Drop the Needle is a documentary about Toronto’s fabled Play de Record music store where legendary DJs and artists found the inspiration.
“It was the heart of the hip hop and dance music scene for 20 years,” Hunter explains of the film subject, which was produced by his other company Cazador, a hybrid film/tv/digital consulting and production company.
Drop the Needle has been picked up by a major streaming service, and should be available for people to watch in the months ahead.
That street cred has led to Hunter being named the board member for New Brunswick of the Documentary Organization of Canada.
In this post covid era of remote work, Hunter is finding that being in New Brunswick has lots of advantages and not as many drawbacks as in years before.
“We love country living,” he says. “[People] see what a great opportunity for a wonderful lifestyle here. [Between] Zooms, I can be in Toronto in an hour and a half or Montreal in an hour if I need to be there.”
For the foreseeable future, his dance card for Atlantic Canadian based television production is remaining full.
“I’ve got six or seven other projects in development right now. Probably the most noteworthy one, in association with Hemmings Films … is a feature film directed and written by Halifax filmmaker Taylor Olson and is intended to be filmed in Saint John next spring,” Hunter says.
“Our mission at Cultivation Pictures is to tell New Brunswick stories.”
Alex Graham is a Huddle reporter in Saint John. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].
Editor’s note: This story was last updated on April 18 at 9:36 am.