THE MOVIE INDUSTRY:
Note: Due to dynamic nature of this industry,
some of the following information may be outdated. I appreciate
anyone in the industry correcting me or sending me updates. E-Mail
Vancouver is third largest film production
centre in the world. As of 1998, about 20 series and 50 movies
are filmed here each year. This has mushroomed during the last 5
years or so, mainly due to the weak Canadian Dollar and generous
Tax incentives. It is currently growing at the incredible rate of
about 25% per year, and it is getting to the point where
facilities and available skilled personnel are becoming stretched
to the limit. This means there are opportunities for employment
in this industry if you have some previous experience. Movie and
TV producers have found that Vancouver offers far more range of
filming opportunities, due to its varied topography, than does
Los Angeles. It is very easy to make Vancouver stand in for
virtually any other American City. Its mild climate also allows
for year round filming, despite the winter rain. A wide range of
auxiliary services such as post production facilities, sound
stages and animation studios have further cemented the cities
future as a movie centre. Most of Vancouver's film industry is an
offshoot of the American Film industry rather than home-grown
Canadian productions. Most of these are based in central Canada.
There has been considerable lobbying by that segment to the
federal government to change Canada's tax laws in their favour,
at the expense of the Vancouver industry. If successful, this
would possibly kill or severely curtail the industry in
Vancouver, costing the economy about a billion dollars a year,
plus several thousand related and indirectly related jobs. This
is one example of the frustration felt in Vancouver and other
western Canadian cities at the attitude of those in Central
Canada, that everything should be centered around Toronto.
(Canada's largest city)
Both Vancouver & Toronto lay claim to the title "Hollywood
North", however Vancouver's industry is larger than Toronto's & its geographic
closeness to Los Angeles will probably ensure it has a more valid claim to the
title.
The major studios are North Shore Studios in
North Vancouver , Bridge Studios at Boundary and Lougheed in
Burnaby, Lions Gate Studios, and Vancouver Film Studios at Boundary & Grandview in Vancouver.
Vancouverites have not yet reached the stage where they become
irritated at having to detour around Movie sets on downtown
streets. Producers are not as upset at unexpected visitors and
spectators as is the case in Los Angeles. I had a couple of
Belgian X-philes staying with me in the summer of 1997 and we
stumbled across a filming of the "Sentinel" while we
were scouting out X-File filming locales. They let us stand
behind the cameras and watch as they filmed the scene. Try that
in LA.
A pattern seems to have emerged over the last
couple of years. Vancouver seems to be becoming the favoured
location for Science Fiction series for some reason. Possibly its
a legacy from the X-Files.
Some Television shows filmed in Vancouver:
| X-Files (pre-1999) |
| Millennium (cancelled Fall
99) |
| Battlestar Galactica |
| The Sentinel |
| Stargate SG1 & its spinoffs |
| First Wave |
| Police Academy, The
Series |
| Adams Family |
| Poltergeist |
| V |
| The Outer Limits |
| Da Vinci's Inquest |
| Cold Squad |
| The Net |
| McGyver (Old series) |
| Harsh Realm |
| Taken |
| 7 Days |
If you are interested in the Film Industry in
Vancouver, here are a few links:
The Bridge Studios are
responsible for shows like Stargate SG-1, the Outer Limits and
Poltergeist.
Lionsgate Studios
Northshore & Mammoth Studios
ReelWest Online magazine for Vancouver's film industry.
British
Columbia Film Industry Resources
VFS offers
training in Film, 3D Computer and Classical Animation, Multimedia
and Acting for Film and TV. Vancouver
Film School. Training for jobs in the Movie Industry.
Welcome To
BCFilm.Com
Welcome to Hollywood North Film Links
Welcome to
Rainmaker Entertainment Group
British
Columbia film industry resources
Mandy's
International Film and Television Production Directory
Association
of Canadian Film Craftspeople
