Cameras on a roll in North Vancouver N orth V a n c o u v e r's thriv in g film in d u stry h a s he lp ed e s ta b lis h a $ 1 .2 billion-dollar film and television enterprise in British Colum bia m aking our province, the 3rd largest centre for production in North Am erica. North Shore Studios, along with Mam m oth Studios, located in Burnaby, have w orked together to help build our su c ce ssfu l film industry. M am m oth Studios ow ns Canada's largest full-service studio and North Shore Studios, located on Brooksbank Avenue, has attracted a num ber of other film -oriented businesses to our community. reported, 2 ,5 1 9 direct and indirect em ployees in 2 0 0 6 and 2 ,6 0 6 em ployees in 2 0 0 5 . T hese re sid e n ts of the North Sho re w ere em p loyed either full or part-tim e as actors, technicians and production staff. W ith each production shot in our area, the city c o lle cts a num b er of d ifferent fees so, everyone benefits from this worthw hile industry located in our community. Thanks to our am azing m ountain and ocean backgrounds a s w ell as our stunning forests, city skylines and industrial landscapes, North Vancouver is able to offer a variety of different areas suitable for filming. One of the m ost outstanding television productions for North Shore Studios w as the p o pu lar television se ries, The X -F ile s . It w as film ed in B C fo r five se a so n s from 1 9 9 3 until 1 9 9 8 and m any of the sc e n e s w ere shot in the Low er Seym o ur Conservation Reserve. M ore recently, The Dead Zone has continued to be a TV hit series and Scary Movie 4 (North Shore Studios) and Night at the M u seum (M am m oth Studios) are two recently released feature films. Som e of the more popular locations to film in North Vancouver include the brand new sta te-o f-the -art Pier in L ow er Lonsdale, W aterfront Park, Queen M ary School built in 1 914 , M ahon Park, P resentation H ouse built in 1902 , To give you an exam ple of how busy the industry has becom e, in 2 005 , North Vancouver supported and provided services for 14 feature film s, 5 TV series, 20 com m ercials, 4 m ovies of the week, 4 TV pilots and 4 student films. North Shore Studios President, Peter Leitch, recently spoke to C B C radio about our thriving film industry. He credited part of their s u c ce ss on com bined state of the art studio facilities as w ell a s skilled crew s and talented actors. "We are stronger than a decade ago," he com m ented. The only uncertainty at this time might be the dollar w e are experiencing. "It gets tricky w hen the dollar gets this high," he said. However, "w e bought our d ollars in advance for the m ost cu rre n t sh o w s now sh o o tin g ." C o n se q u en tly , they h a v e n 't encountered any negative effects so far. For N orth Vancouver, th is s u c c e s s has g en e rate d jo b s and revenue. EP Canada, a payroll com pany for c ast and crew w ho w ork directly in the film industry the Cem etery, City Hall and a num b er of heritage hom es and turn-of-thecentury com m ercial spaces. North Shore residents and businesses can also enjoy extra revenue if their hom e or business is chosen as a film site. W ith the increase in productions in our province, BC Hydro is working with the B C film in d u stry to he lp w ith g re en in itia tiv e s in the m otion p ictu re b u s in e s s . H ydro is p a rtn e rin g in a p ilo t p ro je c t fo r the in s ta lla tio n of perm anent pow er drops at "hub" centres that can be em ployed instead of diesel generators to power film trucks and sets w here appropriate. A s you drive by North Shore Studios on Brooksbank and glance into their com plex, it d o e sn 't appear to be too significant. Yet, inside the gates, there are 14 a c re s of s ta te -o f-th e -a rt so und sta g e s and over 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 sq uare feet of production office space. Ju st 2 0 m inutes from downtown, this facility has produced feature film s, independent productions, television se ries and com m ercials. It has played a major role in the su c ce ss of the film industry in BC and North Vancouver is fortunate that they are part of our community. w w w .a r ts - a liv e .c a July | August S