When you mention characters like The Winchesters Brothers, The Cigarette Smoking Man, Starbuck and Oliver Queen to Vancouver film crew their first thought brings back good memories of steady work and a close-knit community.
From The X-Files (MIlennium, The Lone Gunmen) to Battlestar Galatica and Stargate to the Arrowverse (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl), the city has been a hub for long-running TV multi-show franchises that keep its industry thriving.
However, with production down significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Vancouver’s once-booming film sector is struggling to regain momentum.
The pandemic halted numerous productions in 2020, and although filming has resumed, many projects have been scaled down or cancelled altogether. The double whammy of industry-wide strikes in 2023 further delayed production schedules, leaving a gap in the city’s usual output.
Shows like Supernatural—with its 22-episode seasons filmed in Vancouver for 15 years—used to provide a steady stream of work and income for local crews, actors, and service providers. Now, the city’s reliance on shorter streaming series with limited runs has created a less stable environment.
Meanwhile, other cities are pulling in spin-offs Vancouver should have. Toronto is now hosting Fire Sheriff, a Fire Country spin-off, and Jared Padalecki, well-loved from Supernatural, may be heading to Los Angeles or Austin to film the second spin-off Fire Country: Surfside. These productions could have easily found a home in Vancouver but instead highlight how the city is losing its edge.
A long-running franchise with extended seasons would reinvigorate the local economy and secure Vancouver’s future as a leading filming destination. Whether it’s a reboot, a fantasy epic, or a franchise expansion, the right project could reestablish Vancouver as the backbone of North American TV production and put “Hollywood North” back on the map.
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Source: Dan Lalonde
Photo Credit: CW/CBS
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