OCEANSIDE – The television series ‘Chesapeake Shores’ is returning to film in Parksville-Qualicum Beach for a third season.
The show has been a ratings smash for the U-S based cable network, the Hallmark Channel, since it first went to air in 2016.
The show has provided hundreds of jobs across the mid-Island. Jacqui Kaese of the Spotlight Academy in Nanaimo expects that to continue through courses offered by North Island College and the Vancouver Island North Film Commission.
“My department employed more than a thousand people last year, just in casting,” said Kaese. “This year we’re preparing grips and lighting technicians and production assistants. So there are all these courses happening right now.”
According to Kaese, about 30 percent of the jobs were filled by locals last year.
Casting may begin in March. Depending on the weather, filming on season three could begin as early as mid-April with the first of ten episodes going to air in the summer.