With two Hollywood strikes continuing, filming in Surrey has slowed significantly.
Filming here has averaged 372 days per year since 2017, but that’s not the case right now, with actors and screenwriters not on the job.
However, the local film industry is not at a complete standstill this summer, according to James Monk, manager of the City of Surrey’s filming department.
“Many productions that were filming, or were scheduled to film, have delayed their filming due to the two strikes that are going on at the same time, including SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and the WGA, Writers Guild of America,” Monk said.
“But in saying that, we’ve seen an increase in filming, specifically the commercial industry, which has been keeping us busy, and we’re still working with TV movies that have their scripts in place,” he elaborated.
“We’re still closely working with the TV industry, with their scouts, to find locations in the City of Surrey. But with the TV industry they’re not going to camera yet, they’re just working to have everything into place and in preparation for when they do go back to work.”
• RELATED: Doubled Hollywood strike enters second week with no signs of a deal (from July 21).
• READ ALSO: The latest on Hollywood strikes, from AP News.
Surrey’s film industry has grown by 400 per cent since 2015, according to Monk, who recently presented Surrey City Council with an overview of filming here.
Since 2017, Surrey has hosted 644 productions and issued 210 film permits per year, Monk said. TV series filming represents just over the half the total (55 per cent), followed by commercials (27 per cent) and feature films (11 per cent).
By town centre, South Surrey is where most of the filming happens (45 per cent), followed by North Surrey (23 per cent) and Cloverdale (16 per cent).
“In Surrey alone we have 5,627 residents connected to the film industry — that’s according to the latest data from 2019,” Monk noted. “That equates to around $105 million in earnings for those people.”
B.C.’s film and TV production industry generated a record $4.8 billion in 2021.
“The strikes have put a pause on the TV industry here, and Metro Vancouver is known for being a TV hub,” Monk said.
For filming of commercials, TV shows and movies, Downtown Surrey is frequently used as a stand-in for other cities.
“Many film crews have set up at city hall and the (City Centre) library area over the years,” Monk explained, “and a lot are done at North Surrey Sport & Ice Complex, which has a very futuristic look. That building has been used for multiple things including an airport and hospital.”
Notable actors who have worked in Surrey include Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Orlando Bloom.
Back in October 2020, Surrey council gave a three-year temporary-use permit to Warner Bros. Television to film the TV series “Superman and Lois” at Cloverdale Fairgrounds, on a “Smallville” set.
“That series has been a big one for Surrey over the past couple of years,” said Monk, who also named “Under the Bridge,” “Alaska Daily” (with Hilary Swank), “Yellowjackets,” “Fire Country” and “Dead Boy Detectives” as other TV series filmed here recently.
COVID-19 shut down the film industry in March 2020, but crews were back to work in Surrey just a few months later, by late-summer.
“They had so much they needed to do,” Monk recalled, “and we saw a huge surge in filming in Q4 of 2020, right into 2021, and we’ve been consistently steady since then, to the point of getting numbers pre-COVID, back to where we were.”
• READ MORE: John Cena spotted in Surrey filming ‘Peacemaker’ HBO series.
• ALSO: ‘Pachinko’ filming now the focus of former newspaper press building in Surrey.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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