SUNDRE – Making the Mountain View region as “film friendly” as possible will go a long way towards enticing producers to shoot their next potentially big-title projects in the area, while spurring spinoff economic activity and additional tourism appeal.
Sundre, Didsbury and Mountain View County councils recently heard presentations from consultants with Nordicity who outlined steps to consider taking as part of a strategic plan to further professionalize the Mountain View Regional Film Office that already exists to promote the region to the film industry.
“We engaged their services because of the importance of film as a growth sector in Alberta and its ability to have a high impact on a small town like ours because of the fact it provides economic diversification, it provides indirect flows of capital, it supports tourism, it supports workforce development – it hits many checkmarks,” said Jon Allan, Sundre’s economic development officer.
Allan said told Sundre council recently that a grant from the provincial government has paved the way to help professionalize the Mountain View Regional Film Office’s virtual presence and could potentially take it to the next level by making it self-sufficient.
In response to follow-up questions, Allan told the Albertan, “The total cost of the project was $72,500, of which $50,000 was covered by the Northern and Regional Economic Development Program grant.”
The regional partners – Mountain View County and the towns of Didsbury and Sundre – each put in $7,500 in cash, he said.
The consultants were tasked with creating an outline for a suggested organizational governance that would be incorporated as an entity as opposed to an understanding, he told council.
“Film is indeed big business,” said Kristian Roberts, Nordicity CEO, who was joined by his colleague Brian Christensen, senior analyst.
“You are not very far away from the fourth largest filming jurisdiction in all of Canada,” said Roberts, referring to Calgary.
According to statistics from Calgary Economic Development outlined in their report, almost 5,000 jobs were supported in 2021, with the film industry’s activity in the city representing an accumulative economic impact of about $522 million that same year.
From hits such as Wynonna Earp to The Last of Us, Alberta boasts a diverse range of landscapes sought out by the film industry, and the best way to be selected by a production team is to become as film friendly as possible, said Roberts, adding that means facilitating the process by removing as many speedbumps as possible.
Film producers want the fewest possible hurdles to jump over and want their experience to be as curated as possible, he said.
“Typically, that takes the shape of a one-stop shop concierge service.”
The region also has a major geographical bonus merely by virtue of its proximity to Calgary – not too close, and yet not too far, he said.
“There is a regional tax incentive that kicks in just essentially at the border of Mountain View County,” he said.
The area of course also features urban, semi-urban as well as rural mountain views that can offer breathtaking backdrops without the cost burden of shooting in places like Banff, he said.
“There is a selection of diverse locations that remain free or relatively free from the restrictions that you might find in the (federal and) provincial parks,” he said. “This provides an alternative that has the same kinds of natural beauty but with fewer restrictions.”
The consultants outlined their proposed vision to professionalize the MVRFO while balancing community needs. The first three of seven strategic steps outlined in their report, which is available in full in council’s agenda package that can be found on the town website, are relatively low-cost yet high-impact recommendations, he said.
Among the first are to establish a single set of standardized policies and permitting processes across the participating jurisdictions as well as tracking and collecting data to develop a clearer understanding of film activity and its economic impact.
Keeping open the lines of communication with the public is also a key step that is not very cost intensive.
Should the more passive efforts bear fruit, there is also the possibility of investing additional resources through grants and by creating a governing structure.
From there, the MVRFO could potentially be further expanded by incorporating the virtual office as either a corporate entity or non-profit with a part-time employee to manage inquiries and serve as a liaison between productions and municipalities.
Cost estimates outlined in the report’s recommendations were for information only and not budget asks, he said.
Following the presentation, Coun. Jaime Marr asked how to go about ensuring responsible and respectful co-existence among landowners, livestock, wildlife and the environment.
“That’s an excellent question. That is indeed why our first order of business is the streamlining and coordination of standardized policies,” said Roberts.
“That feeds into how one communicates with the public,” he said, adding that having good policies in place is inadequate if the public is not properly informed.
Mayor Richard Warnock said one of the difficulties facing rural areas is having fewer film industry-specific amenities, but Roberts pointed out that’s not necessarily a disadvantage.
“Film productions travel with most of their amenities,” said Roberts, adding crews don’t have to travel that far with Calgary being reasonably close.
Council carried a motion accepting the report as information.
