Promotional image for the Crave comedy I Kill the Bear, which was filmed in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, in 2025.
Photo credit: Bell Media / Crave
Jared Keeso’s new Crave comedy I Kill the Bear was filmed in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, with provincial production records identifying Garson as the location. Bell Media announced the Sudbury shoot in October 2025, bringing Keeso and New Metric Media back to the Northern Ontario region where Letterkenny and Shoresy were also made.
Garson and the 2025 filming schedule
Ontario Creates’ October 17, 2025, list of productions filming in the province identifies the show as I Kill the Bear, also listed under its earlier working title, Untitled Jared Keeso Project. The provincial agency names Garson, a community within Greater Sudbury, as the location and gives a filming schedule of October 1 to November 4, 2025.
Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION), which serves the regional screen industry, lists the series in Sudbury. Its production registry records preparation from August 27 to September 9, 2025, and principal photography from October 1 to November 3. The two schedules differ by one day at the end; both place the scheduled finish in early November.
Garson’s location within Greater Sudbury accounts for the different place names in the provincial, regional and Bell Media announcements. The production listings identify the community rather than individual buildings, streets, outdoor sets or studio facilities.
Who worked on the Sudbury production?
Ontario Creates and CION list Ursa Major Productions Inc. as the production company. Bell Media credits New Metric Media with producing the comedy in association with Play Fun Games and in partnership with Crave. New Metric is also the company behind Keeso’s Letterkenny and Shoresy.
The Ontario Creates listing names Mark Montefiore and Kara Haflidson as executive producers and Dan Skene and Sean Skene as directors. Martin M. Smith is identified as production manager and Tessa Sawchuk as production coordinator. CION also credits Haflidson as producer and Smith as line producer. Bell identifies Keeso as the series’ creator, writer, star and executive producer, with the Skene brothers serving as executive producers as well.
Northern Ontario’s film industry and the NOHFC
Greater Sudbury has an established screen-production sector. The city’s film office describes the municipality as having Northern Ontario’s largest film crew base and lists the Northern Ontario Film Studios, a 16,000-square-foot studio facility, among the resources available to productions. The city also provides film-location support and information about regional crews and equipment services.
Bell Media confirms that the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) participated in I Kill the Bear. Through its Film and Television Program, the fund supports eligible production spending in Northern Ontario, including qualifying labour, goods and services, and post-production costs. Bell’s announcement does not specify the amount contributed to this series.
Keeso’s earlier Sudbury productions
Sudbury’s relationship with Keeso’s television work predates I Kill the Bear. The City of Greater Sudbury includes Letterkenny and Shoresy in its list of productions filmed locally, recording Letterkenny during 2016–2022 and Shoresy during 2021–2026. Both shows were produced by New Metric Media, which returns for the new Crave comedy.
Is I Kill the Bear set in Sudbury?
Bell Media describes the fictional Thibaults as a fourth-generation Franco-Ontarian family whose work involves handling bears for film productions. Having spent much of their lives isolated in the bush, the family intends to leave the business after its current film.
The official premise does not identify Sudbury or Garson as the family’s hometown. Garson is a location where the series was made, rather than an established location within its fictional story.
