Representatives from the Mountain View Regional Film Office went from behind the scenes to being in front of an international audience at the recent Banff World Media Festival.
Jon Allan, Economic Development Officer with the Town of Sundre, says the MVRFO is a partnership between the Town of Sundre, Town of Didsbury, and Mountain View County.
Allan says among the three key benefits working in their favour include being the closest film friendly region to Calgary that qualifies for the province of Alberta’s generous rural film and tv tax credit top up. He says “that means they can get up to 30 per cent tax credit, if they film in a rural area. They need to do 75 per cent of principal photography in rural Alberta and since we are the closest film region that qualifies for that tax credit to Calgary that is a very convenient and compelling offer, so to speak.”
Allan and Alexa Ross, the Economic Development Officer with the Town of Didsbury, attended the Banff World Media Festival as representatives of the local film office. He says “one of our other key benefits is that the Town of Didsbury, within the film office area, is home to the only sound stage and 20 foot tall green screen in Alberta located outside of Calgary or Edmonton, as far as we know. Lastly, we’ve got such a variety of topographical landscape. I mean it’s beautiful. We’ve got prairies to peaks, western architecture, to that beautiful red brick building in Didsbury and all the other things in between including with area municipalities that we have friendly relations with that we also direct film studios to.”
Allan adds, this was their second time the MVRFO has attended the event and they met with over 30 separate studios, films, and agencies over the course of the four days. He says “it was, I think, a huge success. We had over 30 meetings. There was a lot of palpable, genuine interest in what we have to offer. People are constantly – as film makers, directors, producers, show runners are constantly – trying to find locations that are adequate for the stories they want to tell and so they are always open.”
He notes they are super optimistic of what the future might hold for them and more details about the film office can be found online at mountainviewfilm.ca.
