Trips & Outreach · May 10, 2023

A Vancouver Film Studios Visit With Kelowna in Mind

The Vancouver Film Studios visit was not about pretending Kelowna could copy Vancouver. It was about learning how KFS could connect local productions to bigger infrastructure when a project outgrew the region.

The tour was about scale, not imitation.

After the Prince George FanCon trip, James made a Vancouver stop to visit Vancouver Film Studios with Derek Hall and Jennifer Emery Roe. The goal was practical: understand the stage, backlot, rental and production-support depth that larger BC productions can draw on.

That kind of visit matters because regional production is strongest when it knows its limits. Kelowna can offer locations, a local base, nimble production support and Okanagan access, but bigger shows may still need Vancouver-scale gear, trucks, stage access or specialty vendors.

Large soundstage space at Vancouver Film Studios during a KFS visit — The stage visit helped frame what Kelowna could realistically support, and where larger infrastructure would still matter.

Lighting and grip inventory at Vancouver Film Studios and Pacific Backlot — Pacific Backlot and the surrounding rental ecosystem were part of the practical question: how could KFS scale when local gear was not enough?

Production floor and vehicle area inside Vancouver Film Studios — Seeing the operating scale in person made the Kelowna plan more grounded.

The gear relationship was part of the pitch.

The Pacific Backlot and rental-side conversations helped answer a question producers ask quickly: what happens when the local package is not enough? A credible Kelowna plan needs a path for additional lighting, grip, vehicles and specialty equipment without making the production solve everything from scratch.

That is where the KFS role becomes more valuable than a simple vendor list. The job is to connect the Okanagan opportunity to the wider BC infrastructure in a way that protects schedule, budget and crew expectations.

The visit still informs the modern KFS role.

At the time, the visit also connected to the old studio-era ambition around physical space and local production capacity. Looking back from the modern KFS position, the better lesson is service production: know what can happen locally, know what needs to be sourced, and be honest about both.

That frame is more durable. KFS does not need to be Vancouver to help a production use Kelowna well. It needs to be the partner that makes the distance between the two places easier to manage.

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