Maple Ridge pub backdrop for Hallmark film – Maple Ridge News

a hallmark channel movie set in north carolina was shot in part on maple ridge.

the ranch pub and grill at the maple ride equi-sports center was used as a family dinner for movie of the week, sweet carolina.

Sweet Carolina stars Lacey Chabert, Tyler Hines and Gregory Harrison and is directed by Peter Benson.

The story revolves around a busy advertising executive whose sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident, leaving behind two children and a shocked family.

Josie, played by Chabert, travels back to her home state of North Carolina to help the kids and her family through their grief, while working to improve their family restaurant.

High school basketball coach Cooper, played by Hynes, gets involved while coaching the recently orphaned daughter. Josie and Cooper become close during this time and fall in love. The kids accept Josie as their new guardian as other family matters are resolved as well.

A crew of 75 worked on the production at Maple Ridge, plus a cast of nine.

There were 28 productions filming at Maple Ridge during the first quarter of the year, the highest number since 2016.

the city of maple ridge film production liaison, marg johnson, explained that there are several reasons for the increase.

First of all, film production was effectively shut down from early March to late June 2020, Johnson said.

In 2017 there was the threat of a writers’ strike. in 2018, filming just got off to a slow start with only nine days of shooting in January.

And in 2019, more productions chose to shoot on Vancouver Island and inland rather than the lower mainland, he said.

now, johnson noted, productions are making up for lost time since the covid shutdown. there is currently so much demand that the city’s film office had to hire additional staff to cope with the workload.

There has also been a dramatic increase in revenue from permits and licenses. During the first quarter of this year, the city had $68,412 in revenue compared to $20,499 during the same period in 2020, $36,883 in 2019, $41,115 in 2018, $39,443 in 2017 and $36,338 in 2016.

more productions are using rcmp for added security, johnson explained, increasing revenue for the city of maple ridge.

read more: film and tv productions can’t get covid-19 insurance, they want ottawa to step in

The economic impact of productions shot in the city in the first quarter of 2021 was $1.88 million.

This number is now estimated at a minimum of $20,000 per shooting day, not including prep and completion days, a figure that Johnson says is more realistic and is widely used by the industry. prior to 2020, $10,000 was used as an estimate.

The movie industry has worked incredibly hard to get back up and running, Johnson added, and to have a very comprehensive COVID-19 health and safety plan in place.

“maintaining the safety of your crew and the public is your primary concern. As you can imagine, this has required a lot of additional time and resources,” Johnson said.

Additional security-related costs have had to be absorbed by these productions, many of which are lower-budget shows, he added.

read more: maple ridge film industry almost back to “normal”

For the past several months, productions have included Big Sky, Supergirl, The J Team, Batwoman, Detritus, and Kung Fu. the feature film sonic the hedgehog 2, starring jim carey, also filmed in various locations last month.

“Based on the number of inquiries we receive almost daily and the 10 productions we currently have in the works, it looks like the summer is going to be very busy,” Johnson said.

And, he said, many of the productions are being shot at businesses that could really use the extra revenue. production companies are trying to spread the wealth as much as possible by renting extra space for crews/background workers, buying supplies, food, and gift certificates.

since march 1, the city of pitt meadows has processed 26 permits totaling 37 days of filming.

TV series including big sky and kung fu have been filmed at pitt meadows as well as the feature film sonic the hedgehog 2.

maple ridge movies and tv