Local film industry suffers minimal burns from wildfire season

Sep 30, 2017 | 11:14 AM

KAMLOOPS — The summer wildfires hardly torched the local film industry.

Vicci Weller with the Thompson-Nicola Film Commission says this year’s revenue remains strong.

“We generally have about the same amount of revenue as years past so around two-million to three-million in revenue in terms of direct spending in the area.”

While the wildfires forced a few companies to cancel or delay production, Weller says others were lured to the area because of it.

“The burnt forest, especially when it’s just burned, is a very unusual look,” said Weller. “It can stand in for another planet or a moonscape especially if it’s grassland, so it really lends itself to some really interesting looks companies seek.”

Close to half a dozen TV series filmed primarily in the Ashcroft and Cache Creek area during the wildfire season.

Weller says the TNFC worked with the CRD and fire workers to determine when it was safe to go in.

Weller says almost all of the productions shot throughout the Kamloops-Thompson region this year have been TV series including ‘The 100’ and ‘The Man in the High Castle.’