It was Christmas in Squamish for 10 days in May as a crew set up downtown to film the movie The Plum Pudding Mystery.
The film was shot in and around downtown Squamish, and for some downtown it was a gift to have them around – but not everyone was pleased.
Les McDonald, who is opening up a restaurant on Cleveland Avenue next month, said he considers the filming a boon for the district.
A section of Victoria Road next to his restaurant was blocked for equipment storage, and McDonald allowed the crew to store other equipment in his building.
“I am ecstatic,” said McDonald, who is an actor in addition to being a restaurateur and documentary filmmaker. “I think it is great. I think it puts us on the map, it gets people excited, and for me it is going to be really fun to have a photo on the wall who is a movie star who was at our place.”
McDonald met actress Alison Sweeney, the main character in the film.
“I just thought they were really professional and really friendly and I was even able to get a picture on set with the star.”
But others downtown were less excited about the shoot.
“They blocked the front of my store and they caused me all kinds of grief,” said Murray McCorriston, who owns the Squamish Native Arts Store on Cleveland Avenue.
The crew was using the Ledge Café building next to his store for about four days, he said, and they set up Christmas decorations outside his door. “I am a disgruntled businessman downtown because the municipality and everybody is saying the movie industry is great for Squamish, brings a lot of money in, but for a lot of businesses, they cost them money,” said McCorriston, who has lived in Squamish 43 years and has had a business downtown for 15 years.
On Saturday, he said, the filming took up parking stalls in front of his store.
He received compensation for one day, he said, but he wanted compensation for loss of business for four days.
“My store, I can’t subsidize the movie industry, I need to pay my bills too,” he said, adding he would not agree to let any other film crew film outside his store.
“They put a bad taste in my mouth where I don’t want the movie coming anywhere near my store, for any amount of money. They can go film in some other town.
“That’s it with the movie industry, they can just not come around my place.”
He said his sales plummeted due to the film shoot as people did not want to come close to the store, and he said people were directed away for a period of time so as not to interrupt a scene.
He said when he approached the location manager, he was given a form to fill out to prove he had lost money, but he said his store’s income varies widely so handing in a few days of receipts, as required, won’t reflect what he really made.
Nancy Larman, location manager for the shoot, said that she and her assistant made every effort to appease McCorriston.
She argued that on Saturday, filming didn’t begin until after 2 p.m., just hours before McCorriston’s shop closed.
She said the crew spent a lot of money at other local businesses, including spending hundreds of dollars on ice-cream cones and coffees at downtown shops.
She said McCorriston was given a “Loss of Business” form from Creative BC for owners impacted by filming.
“If there is any kind of can-be-proven situation, I mean film companies are happy to compensate people, but the onus is put back on the business owner,” she said.
McDonald said from what he saw, businesses seemed busier over the weekend thanks to the film crew.
Vanessa Carrington, the district film and event manager, said that filming has financial benefits district-wide.
“Filming provides many economic benefits for Squamish, including direct remuneration to property owners and businesses, donations to local organizations, expenditures by productions with accommodating their crews, and direct sales by crew members while in town,” she said.
Carrington also said the district tries to ensure that productions deal fairly with local businesses. “In some cases, this involves financial compensation and is determined on a case-by-case basis between the production and the business or individual,” she said, adding that the district also works with the Downtown Business Improvement Association to get an understanding of how business owners feel about filming and to help address any issues.
