Leigh House in Qualicum Beach transforms into Sally's Cafe for production of Chesapeake Shores as crews ready for actors to arrive on set. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION

Major TV production Chesapeake Shores returns to Parksville, Qualicum

Apr 15, 2021 | 5:33 AM

PARKSVILLE — Cameras are rolling on the first major television production in the Oceanside region since before the pandemic.

A total of 10 episodes of Chesapeake Shores will be shot through the spring and early summer at locations across Parksville and Qualicum Beach.

Dan Paulson, executive producer for Chesapeake Shores, told NanaimoNewsNOW their production is reaping the rewards from watching other shows and movies navigate new COVID-19 guidelines last year.

“We’re not the rats in the cage experimenting, we just follow protocols that are common sense. We have technical advisors on set keeping people socially distanced, everybody must wear a mask, everything is cleaned and re-cleaned.”

Masks won’t feature on the show itself, meaning actors will wear them in between takes but take them off when cameras are rolling. Paulson said show’s namesake town is an “idyllic community, COVID doesn’t come to Chesapeake.”

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He added it’s in their best interests to ensure the production is safe and filming can continue. Cast and crew coming into the country were quarantined for two weeks and the entire production is tested multiple times a week.

“It’s probably safer being on set than it is in the general public,” Paulson said.

The Chesapeake Shores production filmed in Qualicum Beach early in the week and will take over Parksville’s Community Park for the entire day on Thursday, April 15 with various park and road closures from 7:00 a.m. to dusk.

It’s the beginning of many disruptions in the Oceanside region to accommodate the production over the coming months.

Joan Miller, film commissioner for the Vancouver Island North Film Commission, said planning for productions has changed drastically since COVID-19.

Different departments who would ordinarily intertwine are now forced to stagger their work, while one of the biggest hurdles was insulating the on-screen talent from the virus as they weren’t as replaceable compared to some crew positions.

“They test before you come to work for that company, there’s testing going on all the time, there are different levels of testing for actors who have to have masks off in speaking roles. It’s made a lot of changes to how production flows.”

The inconvenience seems to be worth it for both the production and the town’s they shoot.

Both the City of Parksville and Town of Qualicum have touted these productions as big economic drivers for their communities.

“(Productions) come over and they book thousands of hotel room nights, each one of those people is given per diem to go out and eat dinner or do whatever,” Miller said. “It goes into the laundromats, the stores to buy this and that, especially on a series when you’re going to be here for months and months.”

She added spin-off effects last years after production wraps with destination tourism spawned by fans of the show visiting locations featured in episodes.

Plans are in the works for a ‘Chesa-con’ convention, bringing cast, crew and fans together on the Island, once it’s safe to do so.

Filming for the 5th season of the show is expected to wrap in the region by the end of July.

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alex.rawnsley@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley