Ladner Village businesses irked by filming boom

A filming boom in a quaint corner of Delta, B.C. is leading some local merchants to complain about shoddy treatment from film crews and fewer sales due to closed roads and parking lots.

Ladner Village has been the site of several recent film, TV and advertisingshoots, including the series Supernatural and the film Fifty Shades of Grey.

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"Some crews kind of just run in the door, slip you a piece of paper and say, 'Hey we're filming here, this is what we're doing,' not really any compensation or anything like that," said JensCuthbert, an employee atStillwaterSports in the village.

Other businesses in the area have also complained about street closures in front of their storefrontsand a lack of parking, both leading to customers unable to come in for business.

Cuthbert agreed it can be a nuissance.

"When we get film crews coming in, itkind ofshuts down the parking lots out here," hesaid."Local traffic can't really get through."

JackeyZellweger,President of the Ladner Village Business Association, said the relationship between film crews and merchants has mostly been positive, but there have been a few hiccups.

She said she thinks it's because of the recent spike in filming activity.

"It's been increased so much in the past year. There's been a lot more filming in the village, so of course a lot more concerns," she said.

Lucrative industry for Delta

The mayor of Delta, Lois Jackson, said although she understands the businesses' complaints, she's hesitant to stanch theflow of income from thelucrative industry.

"The film companies normally spend about $50,000 a day ... in Ladnerand the area," she said.

"We don't want to gouge the film companies. They're doing a great job and we'd like to keep them here."

To satisfy the needs of localbusinesses and crews alike, the mayor said the Corporation ofDelta will likely create a new position to act asa liaison between the two.

The corporation is also considering increasingthe cost of filming permits from $100 to $500.

Province-wide filming boom

The growth in filming activity in Ladner is part of a province-wide boom spurred bythe low Canadian dollar.

Major Hollywood studios have beenheading to Hollywood Northto keep costs down.

Earlier this spring in Vancouver, the film industry was operating at near-capacity with up to 40 big projects including the action movie Deadpool filming in the city last month.

Roughly 127,000 Canadians earn their living inthe $6-billion film industry, and 2015 is expected to eclipse that figure.