'This is going to be a big production': Amazon Studios sci-fi TV series to film in Manitoba
Tales From the Loop is based on the work of Swedish artist Simon Stalenhag
A multimillion-dollar Amazon TV series, Tales from the Loop, is coming to Manitoba.
The drama is spawned from the work of Swedish artist Simon Stalenhag, who blends elements of futuristic science-fiction with images of rural life.
It is a very large series and there will be a number of sets built.- Nicole Matiation, On Screen Manitoba
According to Variety, the series is to be executive produced by Nathaniel Halpern, who is the writer behind the FX superhero fantasy TV series Legion.
There's no word yet on when it will start shooting or who will star in the series.
But Nicole Matiation, executive director director of the industry association On Screen Manitoba, said the production — co-produced with Fox 21 Television Studios — is a serious coup for the province and will result in hundreds of skilled jobs.
"We know that they're going to be shooting in multiple locations. They're in a variety of different spaces in Winnipeg, building sets, because it is a very large series and there will be a number of sets built," she said.
"This is going to be a big production."
According to a description of the Tales from the Loop narrative art book, the story is a "journey through various country and city landscapes — from small towns in Sweden and the deserts of Nevada to the bitter chill of Siberia — where children explore and engage with abandoned robots, vehicles, and machinery large and small, while dinosaurs and other creatures wander … roads and fields."
Stalenhag's paintings and stories take place in an alternate version of Sweden in the '80s and '90s and involve the development of the Loop, a large particle accelerator, and its side effects.
Matiation believes Manitoba was chosen because the province's tax credit for film and video productions is now permanent and producers can count on it year after year.
The province has also recently been the shooting location for TV series like CBC's Burden of Truth and NBC's Channel Zero.
Amazon Studios has produced acclaimed TV series such as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Man in the High Castle.