Image Credit: CFJC Today / Chad Klassen

By Chad Klassen

FILM PRODUCTION IN ASHCROFT

The Twilight Zone filming in Ashcroft boon to economy during off season

Feb 4, 2020 | 5:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Village of Ashcroft is gearing up for a busy year of film production. The town of 1,600 people is hosting nearly 200 crew members helping film an episode of the The Twilight Zone, a reboot of the iconic series from the 1950s and 60s.

It’s the first of at least four productions that are using the small town as its backdrop this year.

Hosting The Twilight Zone crew in Ashcroft is a thrill for the village’s mayor Barbara Roden, who’s a big fan of the show.

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“I’m a huge horror, ghost story fan. I have been for years. The first magazine I ever subscribed to was Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone magazine,” said Roden. “The Twilight Zone is such an iconic piece of TV history. Even if you’ve never seen an episode, you probably know the music, you know some of the plots.”

According the TNRD film commissioner Vicky Weller, the location manager of The Twilight Zone was looking for a quaint, small town feel for this particular episode. The manager was part of an X-Files episode that was filmed in 2017 and liked the village’s location.

There will be 175 crew members during the peak filming period, which will last the next two weeks. It means booming business for local shops.

“It’s huge for the economy of the town, especially this time of year right after Christmas,” noted Roden. “People are getting their Christmas credit card bills or tightening their belts a little bit. We’re two or three months out from tourist season, so it’s a real shot in the arm economically for the town and the businesses.”

At the Ashcroft Bakery, business is up significantly since crew members started arriving two weeks ago to build sets. Crews have been picking up coffees and eats to keep them going during long days.

“We’re getting a lot more customer base and we’re going through a lot more product because obviously we are selling out of things,” said Kayla Danielle at the Ashcroft Bakery. “We’ve seen about a 50 per cent increase in our sales as compared to what it was last year by having the movie crew in town.”

It’s not just businesses benefitting. The Royal Canadian Legion in Ashcroft is receiving several thousand dollars for renting out a lot, where crews built the facade of a church for the episode.

“Renting that spare lot that we have over there makes a big difference for us, especially at this time of year due to the post-Christmas slowdown for nearly all businesses,” said legion President Darrin Curran. “So having that extra income has been great.”

Minutes up the road, Cache Creek is also cashing in. Most of the crew is staying at hotels in the village. The Sandman Inn is at capacity, booking all 35 rooms when they are typically just half full in February.

“It’s great for revenue. For our housekeepers, they get more hours, so it’s great for them. For our restaurant, they’re busier, so it’s good for their revenue as well,” said Sandman Inn co-general manager John. “Then everybody in the surrounding area from gas stations to restaurants to anybody else in the service industry.”

The Sandman Inn expects to be busy in the coming months with at least three more crews scheduled to film in Ashcroft this year. A limited series based on Stephen King’s The Stand is supposed to begin filming later this month.