The number of movies and other productions shot in Squamish almost doubled last year compared to the previous year.
On Monday (Jan. 14), the District of Squamish (DOS) released the municipality's 2012 production count. Last year, 22 productions rolled into town eight more flicks than in 2011.
The action resulted in more than $1.5 million being pumped into the community's economy and placed Squamish on screens around the world, district officials said in a statement.
Squamish has earned a well-deserved reputation of being accommodating and welcoming to the industry and this has translated directly into economic benefits to the community, Mayor Rob Kirkham stated.
The cash inflow was measured on production expenditures such as hotel accommodations, restaurants and location fees paid to residents and businesses. The municipality doesn't charge location fees, except for shooting on non-revenue-generating district land.
The film industry is an important contributor to our local economy and one that the District of Squamish has supported and facilitated for close to 20 years, Kirkham stated.
In 2012, the municipality surveyed production managers' satisfaction levels with filming in Squamish. About 60 per cent of the productions that visited the community completed the voluntary survey. Location managers handed the district an average satisfaction of rating of 4.73 out of 5 for its permitting processes and services.
All respondents said they would recommend Squamish to other location managers, DOS officials said.
Filming is an art form and often takes on a life of its own as it gets underway, Kirkham noted. As such, municipal staff recognize it's sometimes challenging to juggle productions', residents' and businesses' needs, he noted.
During one three-day period last October, three productions were located within three blocks of each other in downtown Squamish: Horns, a movie starring Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe; No Clue, a Canadian film featuring Brent Butt, Amy Smart and David Koechner; and another film titled Profile for Murder.
In December, some downtown business owners complained that the filming of the movie Suddenly was blocking the entrances to their shops during the height of the Christmas shopping season.
We appreciate all the efforts of local businesses and residents to accommodate productions to ensure this important industry continues to grow, Kirkham said.
The year 2013 kicks off with a production on which filming is set to start later this month. The creators of three more productions are currently scouting around Squamish as a possible filming location, district communications director manager Christina Moore wrote.
The year 2013 kicks off with a production on which filming is set to start later this month. The creators of three more productions are currently scouting around Squamish as a possible filming location, district communications director manager Christina Moore wrote.
Some film-industry workers, though, have launched a province-wide campaign to increase the tax incentives B.C. offers to production companies to stem the tide of film shoots headed to Ontario because of that province's more filming-friendly tax incentive program.
Glenne Campbell, a Squamish-based costume designer who has worked on a number of high-profile productions, this week emailed Squamish's mayor and council urging them to support an increase in the incentives offered in B.C.
We need to get the industry back to B.C. It's clean and green, there are 30,000 film craft workers in B.C., and the government is training more people to work in an industry that has gone east, she wrote.
Municipal staff will participate in Inside Edge's Jan. 24 forum on opportunities facing the Squamish film industry. District officials have also invited the B.C. Film Commission (BCFC) to discuss the state of the local industry at council's Committee of the Whole on meeting Feb. 12.
