As Oak Bay’s regional arts Council Liaison, I was pleased to attend a meeting at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, to announce that Oak Bay will be a primary film location for a new American television series titled Grace Point. The series is modeled after the very popular British series, Broadchurch.
Hosted by Victoria’s Film Commission and moderated by Commissioner Kathleen Gilbert, community leaders from Oak Bay Tourism, local businesses, the Oak Bay Recreation Centre and Council members, among others, were invited by Victoria’s Film Commission, to meet and hear what the production team has planned for our community. Shooting begins in mid-January and wraps up in mid-May 2014. The production company also indicated that wherever possible, it will recruit local talent.
Did you know that the television and film industry generates nearly 263,000 jobs in Canada, injects $1.2B directly into Canada’s GDP and adds nearly $7M to Victoria’s local economy? So the news that Oak Bay will be transformed into a Pacific Northwest seaside community for the series means that Oak Bay will be on the world production map, with potential to bring future major television and film productions to our community and region that will translate into millions of dollars for the local economy.
Shooting on location in Oak Bay will mean some disruptions and impacts on residents, local streets and neighbourhoods and Oak Bay Avenue will be a primary site for shooting the production. But company officials assured us that every effort will be made to manage and address public concerns throughout the length of the production and shoot. Stay tuned for updates…