The Okanagan’s film industry has been steadily growing over the past few years and now they have a new place to shoot productions in the valley. A new Kelowna, B.C., film studio has opened its doors.
After only acquiring the property on July 1st, Kelowna Film Studios is ready for action.
“We have not just a sound stage here but we built this in mind that you can shoot anywhere you look. We wanted it to be Kelowna’s kind of everything, how can you get the production level up and still attract a lot of people in here,” said Kelowna Film Studios general manager, Ethann Hartwell.
The 3000-square-foot studio prides itself on its new technology.
“This is the idea of a lighting board right in your hands, so the DP can just walk around to each light and pick exactly what they want,” said Hartwell.
The studio aims to attract productions already filming in the Okanagan and keep them working here for longer.
“Right now you can’t go anywhere and shoot in a sound stage. You can’t get certain shots. You can’t get the throw of a lens so far that you can get the distance, so this whole idea of space is really paramount,” Hartwell said.
“You don’t have to look in Toronto, Calgary or Vancouver. You can actually do it right here.”
According to the Okanagan Film Commission, the new studio could also be the start of new companies coming to the valley.
“With what they’ve done, because they took it seriously and they built a very beautiful little setup, if they can do that and times it by 10 or 20, we will start getting Netflix, Amazon, Fox or Universal,” said Okanagan Film Commissioner Jon Summerland.
Summerland says the Okanagan isn’t far away from landing its first big production, especially after growth in recent years.
“Right now we’re the rom-com (romantic comedy) place, where you go when you make your Christmas movies. They would love to work on something that’s bigger budget, bigger stars and those are coming but things like this sound stage are going to help us do that,” Summerland said.
The Kelowna Film Studios says this studio is just phase one and they plan to keep expanding their spaces.