A CBC mini-series partially filmed in the Comox Valley received a nomination Tuesday morning for a Canadian Screen Award.
Actor Shawn Doyle was nominated in the Best Lead Actor category for Unspeakable, an eight-part mini-series about the Canadian tainted blood scandal of the early 1980s.
The Canadian Screen Awards will be presented in Toronto over five days during Canadian Screen Week. The broadcast gala airs on CBC on March 29 at 8 p.m.
The Vancouver-based production filmed part of the series in May 2018 in two Valley locations - the Comox Valley Airport (which doubled as an airport in Sweden) and St. Joseph’s General Hospital, which served as hospitals in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver because of the look which changes from floor to floor.
Joan Miller, film commissioner for the Vancouver Island North Film Commission said while she doesn’t have anything to do directly with the award, it represents the growing and expanding film sector on the north Island.
“It’s very exciting, and I do take pride in that. It is great that there is this growing sector on the Island, and there’s a group of us that held strong to the belief that the film industry is an economically diversified piece to the Island’s overall economy.”
Miller added there is a certain amount of pride and ownership associated with seeing the final product on-screen - whether that is on television or a movie theatre. In addition to the infrastructure in place to support the growing industry such as studios, there is now consistent training through North Island College for those looking to enter the industry and other businesses such as catering and post-production supporting the growth.
“All of those pieces are now taking root and growing.”
In addition to a lot of scouting for locations within the Comox Valley, Miller said a commercial for Toyota’s Prius vehicle was recently filmed in the area. While she couldn’t speak to specifics, she noted there is scouting happening on highways in the area.
photos@comoxvalleyrecord.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter