Production companies can’t get enough of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows in an industry that shows no signs of slowing down heading into the spring and summer.
With two people working the production files at the City of Maple Ridge, film production liaison Marg Johnson and her assistant Draeven McGowan, have been run off their feet.
Productions are up this year – 18 so far this in 2021 compared to 12 during the same time frame in 2020, said Johnson.
“We’ve got lots of filming currently going on around town,” noted the city’s film liaison.
Popular locations have been at The ACT, stores along 224 Street, at Whonnock Lake, the Albion Fairgrounds and E-One Moli Energy.
This year Johnson has seen a lot of TV shows coming through town including Supergirl, Batwoman, Kung Fu, Big Sky, and The ‘J’ Team starring JoJo Siwa.
Even Ryan Reynolds was in town filming his latest feature The Adam Project in Golden Ears Park.
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Last week the production company Champlain Media Inc. was filming a movie called Admitted or Dead outside The ACT.
“Doesn’t look like things will be slowing down anytime soon,” said Johnson.
In Pitt Meadows this week there were three different production companies prepping and filming in town.
“But there are nine more productions that have 10 locations on hold to film at the end of March into April,” explained Carleen McDowell, manager of recreation and culture with the City of Pitt Meadows.
“That’s exciting for us,” she said.
And, she noted, if the city keeps up the pace with the number of permits that have so far been issued this year, they are set to match numbers from 2017 – the strongest year for filming in the city – which was 202 filming days.
So far there have been 34 days of filming this year in Pitt Meadows, noted McDowell, which was with 15 different permits. In comparison, she said, in 2017, there were 202 days of filming and 83 permits.
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Generally the film companies are giving the city a few weeks notice and they are presently scouting for March and April.
Some of the productions that are filming in Pitt Meadows include the new reboot of Turner and Hooch, Superman and Lois, Batwoman, Kung Fu, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Legends and Debris.
The City of Pitt Meadows will also be reviewing the filming policy for Osprey Village.
Currently the village is off limits to production companies. In 2015 businesses and residents of the small community complained to city hall about the amount of movie productions filming there. A moratorium was placed on movie productions in the community and staff also gave the village a a “hot spot” designation to limit future filming.
“It was in our workplan to review the filming policy this year and in that process we realized those hotspots are still in place and they were supposed to be reviewed in 2018,” said McDowell.
McDowell confirmed the city will be doing that work this fall which will include community engagement to gather feedback.
“Then we’ll decide how to proceed from there,” she said.
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