The film industry in the Okanagan is “booming.”
That’s according to the Okanagan Film Commission (OFC), which said there is “no end in sight” to projects coming to the region.
Shooting has been taking place since the third week of lockdown and productions are booked “well into the summer of 2021.”
OFC’s commissioner, Jon Summerland, said one of the reasons for this success was his own organization’s forward-thinking.
He explained: “Because the Okanagan Film Commission initiated a proactive approach to COVID-safe film production and worked with WorkSafeBC to create protocols for the industry, which continue [to] grow now from the initial strategies, the Okanagan set an industry standard by being in the forefront of safe production and hence became the first region in Canada ‘to go to camera’ during COVID.”
The OFC estimates the economic impact of film production in the Okanagan to be about $35 million this year.
“We landed a slate of MOWs (movies of the week), i.e. Hallmark and Lifetime films, that are booked and will take production in the region significantly into 2021,” he explained.
Among productions planned for the region include two reality shows, dozens more MOWs and “multiple” features, OFC explained.
Productions being shot right now include Romance at Crystal Cove in Peachland, The Angel Tree in Kelowna and Under a Lover’s Moon, Love in Romance, Or and Love on the Vine in Vernon.
The filming of Romance at Crystal Cove in Peachland caused something of a stir last week after Old Glory temporarily replaced the Canadian flag.
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