Web series starts filming on P.E.I.

Filming has begun in Charlottetown on a new web series about two Islanders who get stuck in Toronto on their way to find work in Alberta.

The producers are filming 12 eight-minute episodes of Just Passing Through. The story starts when a broken-down car forces two Islanders on their way to the oil patch to seek refuge in the apartment of a cousin struggling to make a living as a journalist in Toronto.

"It's always been my goal, my dream, to make things in P.E.I., because I want to tell P.E.I. stories," said co-creator, producer and director Jeremy Larter.

"This is where I feel like my storytelling comes from, so it's really important for us to hire Island talent, hire Island crew to make this, because we're incredibly capable here."

The series has created jobs for about 40 people, most of them Islanders. The P.E.I. government is helping fund the project with $100,000 from Innovation PEI. The Independent Production Fund, an industry-operated agency, pitched in a further $50,000.

Only two of the 15 projects funded in the last round of projects supported by IPF were from Atlantic Canada. Larter believes his experience in creating web series helped land the funding.

"We've done a lot of web-based shows before," he said.

"I think that last four to five years of making web series has really contributed to the success of this project."

The plan is to launch Just Passing Through on the web in May or June.