The popular video game-turned TV show, The Last of Us was a huge success for the Alberta economy.
According to a new report by Oxford Economics, $141 million was spent across the province to ensure the show became a reality, making it the largest series ever filmed in Canada.
“Including $70 million on labour and $70 million at local businesses, so that’s everything from hotels, airlines, lumber, paint, set (decorations), vehicle rentals, you name it, they spent a lot of money in the province,” said Brock Skretting, director of Creative Industries with Economic Development Lethbridge.
The Last of Us has also been nominated for 24 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, and helped employ talented workers like Chris Glimsdale from Claresholm, who was nominated in the Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling category.
Glimsdale says the biggest challenge during her time working on the show was keeping everyone organized and applying hair to the infected zombies.
“And HBO is very gracious in letting us have what we call ‘the boot camp,’ so the stylists would come in and practice how to lay hair and how to lay the pieces even though they had never done it before.”
The show was filmed in several southern Alberta communities, including Waterton Lakes National Park and Fort Macleod, and organizations in both towns say the future is looking bright for the film and television industry.
“When people are passing through town and it’s not through The Last of Us, they’re thinking of Interstellar, Brokeback Mountain, Fargo, you name it, they’re usually going and visiting those places,” said Mackenzie Hengerer, member of the Fort Macleod Heritage Tourism Alliance.
President of the Waterton Park Chamber of Commerce, Shameer Suleman says: “I think this is a great springboard for us and hopefully we’re able to parlay this into more films and TV.”
Overall, the first season of The Last of Us generated more than $182 million for Alberta’s GDP and helped support 1,490 jobs across the province.
Production for Season 2 will head west to Vancouver starting in January of 2024.