By Jessica Wind (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: November 14, 2012
If you look closely at Canadian comedian Brent Butt’s new film No Clue you may recognize UFV’s Chilliwack Education Park (CEP) campus – maybe even some UFV students.
This past Halloween, film crews took over CEP and transformed UFV’s new building into a series of executive offices, reception rooms and a formal gala hall. Filming took place over the following two days, and students were encouraged to take part as extras for the gala scene.
UFV facilities manager Craig Toews described how the opportunity to film at CEP manifested itself.
“The former military engineering building that was out at CEP had a lot of inquiries [over the years] . . . because it looks like a big concrete bunker,” he said, adding that the land is part of the filming industry database, which lists available filming locations.
“I had a call from this group who was filming in Vancouver,” Toews explained. “They had toured through our facility and really thought the architecture lent itself to the one big scene that they were looking for.”
The connection was made through Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation (CEPCO), the economic arm of Chilliwack that worked closely with UFV during the purchase of the land for the CEP.
Toews was part of the contract negotiation ensuring both the campus and the film crew’s needs were sufficiently met.
“The first part of the arrangement is negotiation – the scope of what they want to use. The times, the places, the spaces, what type of equipment, what type of impact,” he explained. “Then the next step was . . . getting an idea of how disruptive it might be, talking to the academic side around what the impact would be with this type of activity.”
There were some requests put forward by the film crew that Toews and the campus were not comfortable with and needed to be altered.
“They wanted to set up a big light rigging arrangement in the atrium. I [said] ‘that’s not going to work because we’ve got the wood’ . . . so they put lights up on the roof and installed some sheets to bounce the light down into the atrium,” he explained.
Other campus spaces that were utilized included a classroom, which acted as an executive office, and the aboriginal service area, which transformed into a reception space.
“The aboriginal services area was ideal for [the reception] and they were really ecstatic to have their space in the movie,” Toews said.
The film’s formal investors’ gala scene, which featured roughly 100 extras, was one of the biggest scenes of the shoot. Extras signed up from both the Chilliwack community and the UFV community.
“This was an opportunity for our theatre students to get involved. It was really interesting [to see] how the director was orchestrating the whole rehearsal. [It] would be very much like a theatrical program,” Toews explained.
Extras were involved for about half of the two-day shoot, staying on set until the wee hours of Saturday morning. They were responsible for bringing in a selection of their own costumes—black tie formal wear—for the gala scene.
Extras took part in the two day shoot, staying on set until the wee hours of Saturday morning. They were responsible for bringing in a selection of their own formal costumes for the large gala scene.
Theatre student Alissa Benteau described the experience as a love-hate relationship.
“It is a lot of repetition. Everyone seemed to be very nice and helpful which was good because I didn’t have a clue what I was doing in the beginning,” she explained, adding that she would like to see more opportunities like this on campus.
“It would be great if there were more chances like this one … I’m sure students would hop on the idea [and] be involved.”
This may be the first film that UFV has lent space to, but it isn’t likely to be the last. Toews mentioned that there are already more production companies showing interest in filming opportunities on UFV property.
“We’ve had some inquiries about our Chilliwack North campus [and] we would be completely open to filming opportunities there,” Toews described, noting that it would be perfect for school scenes.
“And if [you] want to blow up the motel, we’ve got a building just for you!” he continued, laughing.
Toews added that he would be more cautious with the next project.
“There were minor damages [from the shoot] that need to be repaired,” he said. “Now that I was personally involved in this, it was quite time consuming and I think we’d want to be cautious [in the future].”
It was a learning experience for the university as well as an opportunity to showcase the new campus. In the end everyone’s needs were met and students were given an opportunity to gain practical experience on a film set.
“Overall, it was a positive experience,” Toews concluded. “I think the filming industry . . . left with a good feeling that we’re film-friendly.”
