SUNDRE – The new Mountain View Film Office’s “website is about 95 per cent complete,” the municipal council recently heard.
Jon Allan, economic development officer, presented an update during the regular March 27 meeting. Similar presentations were also delivered in the following days to the councils in Didsbury and Mountain View County, the project’s partners.
Recapping a brief project timeline, Allan said at the beginning of last year a proposal was brought before council with a request for some promotional funding to be allocated toward the film’s office development to help promote the diversification of the regional economy through the development of film and media technology.
“This endeavour…has been done as a means to diversify to the economy through film and tech development in support of business investment, attraction, retention and expansion via (not only) the monies that are spent here by productions, but also tourism growth, which has been associated with film development because of the awareness generated about places where things are filmed,” he said.
Reportedly the first rural film office of its kinda in Alberta, the project has to date cost a little more than $50,000, of which the municipality has pitched in $8,000 along with plenty of hours of effort. Both Didsbury and the county contributed more than $15,000.
“The site was funded in large part through a CanExport grant, which provided almost half of the entire amount,” he said.
CanExport is a federal program run through the Trade Commissioner Service, and the Town of Didsbury is the municipality that is administering and receiving the grant, Allan said.
Gathering momentum this past summer when work on the new web page began alongside the effort to build up a vast photographic repertoire of the region’s vistas to place a spotlight on potential film locations, the page was mostly completed through the winter coming into spring, he said.
“It’s basically done, there’s just a few little fixes we have to do,” he said. “But for all intents and purposes, it is live and ready to go.”
The initiative has so far seemed to catch some attention, he said.
“We’ve actually already received multiple inquiries as a region,” he said, adding both Didsbury and Sundre had fielded some queries.
“At least through interest, it is already beginning to pay dividends,” he said. “So, we’re hoping that it will translate into actual productions eventually. But the inquiries are happening and location-search assistance has already begun on my part and the part of our partners.”
While the office currently has only three partners, Allan said a long-term goal once the site is running at full potential is to bring into the fold additional partners.
One of the site’s primary purposes is to host a Real Scout location database, he said.
“Right now, the locations database is still being developed; it is quite comprehensive,” he said, adding there are some administrative steps involved, such as obtaining permissions, in showcasing a property.
Further complementing the Real Scout locations database, which as of the time of Allan’s presentation remained under development, are easily accessible photo galleries imbedded right into the site, he said.
Additionally, a partnership was struck with the Alberta Film Commission to access the subscription to Real Scout software at no cost to the municipality, he said.
And to increase the website’s potential reach to a greater diversity of film makers, it “boasts a translation tool to allow us to communicate in five separate languages” that in addition to English are Punjabi, Korean, German, French and Spanish, he said.
As the project’s effectiveness in large part hinges on the participation of people who have suitable filming locations, local property owners have been engaged and invited to include their land in the site’s search database, he said.
“Any property owner may add their property to the locations’ database,” he said. “The greater the repository of potential locations, means the greater the likelihood of there being one that is deemed viable by a production team.”
In the event a production occurs in the area, the economic ripple effects are felt by any number of ancillary businesses that provide services to the crews from accommodations and food to transportation and possibly even production assistance.
After presenting to council a couple of several-minute promotional videos – one for the whole region and another that places a spotlight on Sundre specifically – Allan concluded his presentation.
“We hope to leverage this, and we think that this is something that will do well,” he said. “We hope that it continues to keep Sundre on the map.”
Coun. Owen Petersen sought to clarify if the website had already launched.
Although a link to Real Scout has yet to be included, Allan confirmed the website – www.mountainviewfilm.ca – is now live.
“It’s basically ready to go; it’s serving its purpose,” he said. “People have already begun to reach out.”
Coun. Jaime Marr asked whether to refer to the website anyone who might want their land or a specific location included.
Allan pointed out a “Submit Your Location” tab on the official website for users who are inclined to do so.
Council carried a motion accepting the report for information.
