We can expect to see a lot more film crews working around Vancouver Island over the next few months.
More than a dozen productions have already come to the region this year, with more to come.
Spotlights and boom mics could be seen in downtown Victoria on Wednesday for the filming of a Hallmark movie.
The movie, part of the "Aurora Teagarden Mysteries" series, was filming in Centennial Square with a crew from local company Front Street Pictures.
Front Street says it's filming four movies on the island from now until August.
"We're going to have a fairly good year," said Kathleen Gilbert, Vancouver Island South film commissioner.
Meanwhile, there's high hopes for the film industry on the North Island this year.
"A of scripts coming in, a lot of early productions in the pipeline, so we’re looking for a good summer," said Brandon Lepine with the Vancouver Island North film commission.
That's despite rumours of a potential screenwriter's strike in the U.S.
"So people are being a little cautious right now. However, we’ve already had a dozen productions come through and we’re only in April," said Gilbert.
Right now, the film commission for the North Island is hiring location scouts for six regional districts.
"Have them – throughout the next 18 months – document a lot of our locations, create location files, which we will then put up on a tool we use that’s globally accessible by producers," said Lepine.
The South Island commission hopes to catch the eye of HBO's post-apocalyptic drama "The Last of Us."
The show has already chosen Vancouver to be its home base for season two.
"We’re going to try really hard to at least get them over here for a few days," said Gilbert.
Already in the bag is the SYFY channel show "Reginald The Vampire."
"We're so happy we got them back for season two," said Gilbert. "It was really iffy because we don’t have a studio and they really, really wanted a studio."
She hopes shovels will be in the dirt for construction of a film studio at Camosun College by early next year.
Until then, Gilbert says she's confident that Vancouver Island backdrops will continue to be used by film crews year-round.
