A golf cart zooms along Clover Point.
Inside, a driver navigates while a cinematographer films American actress Katie Cassidy as she runs along the pathway.
Vancouver film producer and University of Victoria grad Kyle Mann watches his cast and crew from a distance.
B次元官网网址淭his scene will be her running and sheB次元官网网址檚 got a bright future ahead of her, and then sheB次元官网网址檚 going to get the (metaphorical) hammer hitting her,B次元官网网址� Mann said, hinting at the movieB次元官网网址檚 plot that he is keeping under tight wraps. B次元官网网址淪o this is a good setup.B次元官网网址�
The $4-million low-budget independent psychological thriller tells the story of two roommates who become embroiled in a web of mystery and a murder. The filmB次元官网网址檚 working title is The New Girl, but that will change before the movie is released late next year.
MannB次元官网网址檚 experience studying history at UVic and living on campus and in Gordon Head before he graduated in 1996 prompted him to think of the Capital Region as the ideal setting for his latest production.
B次元官网网址淚 think you come from a real place as a storyteller, so when we were first working on this script together, I was like, B次元官网网址楾his should really be set in Victoria if we want a dark, moody thriller in a picturesque town with gothic architecture,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� said Mann, who has history and law degrees rather than a filmmaking degree.
B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檙e not going to find anywhere else like it in North America, except maybe New England and thatB次元官网网址檚 too far.B次元官网网址�
Filming began Monday at a parkade and an apartment building in downtown Victoria, and will continue in Chinatown, inside a home near Craigdarroch Castle, in UVic classrooms and lecture halls and in the Cowichan Valley until Oct. 23.
Mann has brought a film project to the Island before.
Wrecked, which stars Oscar winner Adrien Brody and arrived in theatres earlier this year, was MannB次元官网网址檚 first try at producing a film on his own.
Many of the Wrecked cast and crew are involved in The New Girl, including director Michael Greenspan, writer Christopher Dodd and Victoria actor Ryan Robbins. VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Leah Gibson also has an on-screen role.
MannB次元官网网址檚 experience in Greater Victoria is proving to be as positive as his filmmaking was last year in Duncan and Parksville for Wrecked, which may help lure Mann back to the Island for future projects.
B次元官网网址淚t will depend on the storyline, of course,B次元官网网址� he said.
Region nets cash bonanza from film business
Television and film production continues to pour millions of dollars into the Capital RegionB次元官网网址檚 economy, although the industry got off to a sluggish start early in the year.
In 2010, productions pumped almost $13 million into the regional economy, and 2011 will likely mirror that, said Kathleen Gilbert, Greater Victoria film commissioner.
Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story was the only project filmed in Victoria at the start of the year. Since then several commercials, two documentaries and a British Broadcasting Corp. TV special have been shot in the Capital Region.
Filming for the movie The Note recently wrapped and several more local productions are now in development. In October, more crews will be spotted filming scenes for a TV movie, as well as several episodes for a Quebec docudrama TV series.
In addition, the not-for-profit Greater Victoria Film Commission, which promotes the South Island as a filming location, has fielded more than 80 location requests from producers around the world, Gilbert said.
However, filmmakers are often discouraged from filming here because they canB次元官网网址檛 apply for a six-per-cent distant location tax credit, which is typically available for productions filmed outside the Vancouver area.
B次元官网网址淚n spite of this, we have been very successful in promoting southern Vancouver Island, and it looks like this year will be at least as profitable as 2010,B次元官网网址� said Gilbert.
