Why B.C.'s Interior is becoming a popular backdrop for holiday movie magic
CBC
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.
With snowy mountains galore and small towns filled with charm, the Interior has recently been the site of numerous Christmas movie film sets.
One community getting into the holiday movie magic is Penticton, B.C., where film crews for a Netflix Christmas movie set up earlier this month.
“They are filming on our outdoor skating rink and in Gyro Park and they are using our fantastic Christmas lights set up,” said Jeff Plant, city manager of recreation, arts and culture.
The movie, set to be released next year, is based on the book A Dogs Perfect Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron. It explores how a dog helps bring together a fractured family during the holidays.
It isn’t the first time Penticton has been the backdrop of a holiday film. The Lifetime movie The Christmas Yule Blog was shot mostly in the Penticton area, and was released in 2020. In the film, Penticton is transformed into Carte De Amor, N.M.
Plant said the city sees a lot of value in film production and they are in the process of completing their film and TV strategy.
“Penticton is open for business for film. We have great capacity to accommodate a variety of productions. We’ve worked with independent film previously and this is really nice to see a step towards more senior productions,” Plant said.
Other parts of the Interior have been hosting Christmas movie sets too.
The Netflix movie My Secret Santa was shot at Sun Peaks Resort and in Kamloops in February. The production even kept the name of the resort in the movie.
“It’s amazing, I’ve actually had a number of folks, friends and colleagues around the world that have made comments about that, about how many times they did say the words ‘Sun Peaks’, it’s outstanding," said Colin Brost, senior director of market development for Sun Peaks Resort. "It is not super common to have the actual location, or community named in the movie."
Since the movie was released earlier this month, Brost told CBC News, there has been a lot of community pride. Many community members played extras in the film and the resort even had a watch party to celebrate.
“We are just a laid back community that embraces it. It’s exciting, and the outcome, My Secret Santa, and the shots, it really captured the essence of what Sun Peaks is for our community and for our guests,” Brost said.
Experts in B.C.’s film industry say there are a few reasons productions are heading to the B.C. Interior.
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