John Dunsworth, Cathy Jones filming web series teaser in pitch for funding

Two well-known East Coast actors are in Halifax filming a new web series, or rather, a teaser for the series, which will be used to try to drum up funding for the project.

JohnDunsworth, best known as the irreverent Mr.Laheyfrom the Trailer Park Boys, and 22 Minutes comedian Cathy Jones, are both taking part in a shoot for "Nichols AndDimez," created by filmmakerCaleyMacLennan.

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The show concept centres on a long-time drug dealing family in the fictional fishing town of Skag Harbour.

MacLennansays it's a realistic story about a family in a rural Nova Scotia town, with the added touch of the supernatural with a ghost of the murdered patriarch.

"On the surface it's a very funny, kinda whacky show, but underneath it there's some very strong themes about modern family, about grievance and taking responsibility for yourself," he said Sunday.

MacLennanhas written six 12-minute episodes, as well as six half-hour episodes, in hopes of later re-purposing the web series for television if there's interest. Generating that interest means promoting the teaser and the series before it's shot.

New revenue models

MacLennan, who is writing, directing and co-producing, says the first challenge is securing funding. He says the two-minute teaser was developed with the Independent ProjectionFund in mind because it has money availablefor Canadian web drama series.

The way filmmakers pitch and market their projects has changed dramatically in recent years, he says. With the advent of Netflix original programsand a constant stream of videos on YouTube, the days when new television shows wooed audiences over weeks and months are all but gone.

"Anyone with money and that has a larger platform, they want to see something that already has momentum because things are hitting the ground running when they do end up getting picked up," he said.

"To try to to elevate yourself above a very large pack is to come to somebody with an audience already built. With a web series, we've already been doing that."

MacLennansays the plan will be to pitch the project to online distributors, broadcasters and if needed, crowdsourcefunding to ensure the web series gets made.

Limited crew and equipment in Nova Scotia

Adding to the challenges,he says changes to the Nova Scotia's film tax credit mean it's a far different environment for shooting a project.

MacLennansays it's been harder to find a production crew andhe's ordereda camera from Toronto, whereas in the past, he might have rented one here for a discount because there were plenty in the province for other projects.

Despite the leg work required to get a project off the ground, MacLennansays presenting an idea in development allows people to respond and give feedback, something that can shape the story.

"Good or bad, the audience is right there and ready," he said. "In the end, you need to be ready for that because that's where the enjoyment is going to come from."