Hollywood blockbusters and primetime shows aren’t the only productions akin to British Columbia’s film and television industry.
RELATED: 5 Movies Filming in Vancouver This Summer
As streaming services invest in their services, original programming has become a keystone for subscribers. Netflix, Hulu and Amazon all have original programming productions in Vancouver:
Hulu
Shut Eye is a drama about a disgraced magician turned psychic. The series stars Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice), KaDee Strickland (Private Practice), Susan Misner (Billions) and Montreal’s Emmanuelle Chirqui (Entourage). Shut Eye started filming its first season 10-episode order in Metro Vancouver this spring and wraps up by July (CRBC).
Crushed, a comedy pilot, filmed in metro Vancouver in May after being moved from North Carolina due to film tax credits and state anti-LGBT laws.
Amazon
The Man in the High Castle is a sci-fi thriller about an alternate world and history with a very dystopian story. It stars Parisian actress Alexa Davalos, English actor Rupert Evans, Japanese-American actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and American actors Luke Kleintank and DJ Qualls. The pilot was Amazon’s most watched original programming when it premiered and the series is filming its second season in Vancouver until mid-August (CRBC).
Netflix
A Series of Unfortunate Events is an adaptation of the critically acclaimed Lemony Snicket novel series. The 13-book series has also been adapted into a film and video game. The 8-episode first season stars Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Malina Weissman (Supegirl) and Louis Hynes and films in Vancouver until mid-August (CRBC).
Death Note is a popular Japanese manga, anime and live-action film series getting an Americanized movie adaptation. The story revolves around a student with a sort of ‘license to kill’ via a supernatural notebook. Variety reports a $40-50 million budget for the Netflix production which is scheduled to film in Vancouver from June 30 – August 30th, 2016 (CRBC).
Haters Back Off! takes YouTuber Colleen Evans and her character Miranada Sings into a full-scale comedy. The series filmed around Vancouver this spring and premieres on Netflix later this year.
CraveTV
Since CraveTV and parent company Bell Media are based out of Toronto it’s unclear if and when the platform will use Vancouver for future productions to grow its original programming library.
LetterKenny aired on Bell Canada’s The Comedy Network and was made available on their subscription streaming service CraveTV earlier this year as their first original program. The web series turned TV sitcom films in Sudbury, Ontario.
Bell Canada recently announced Russel Peter’s first scripted TV series: Russel Peters is the Indian Detective which will add to its original content library. The series films in Durban, Mumbai and Toronto this fall and premieres on CraveTV in 2017.
Written by Amar Mirchandani @amarmirch
