North Shore - Vancouver - page 517

with Ghosts and Ancestors in Melanesia (later published around the world as The Shark
God ) led the way, followed by his colleague James Mackinnon who won for Dead
Man in Paradise . Mackinnon also partnered with Alisa Smith to produce the best-
selling 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating , which charted their attempts to only
consume food made from ultralocal ingredients.
The website of the BC Film Commission ( www.bcfilmcommission.com ) should be the
first stop for anyone interested in working in the film industry in Vancouver. It gives the
weekly lowdown on what's filming and who's in the cast and crew, and provides con-
tact information for productions seeking extras.
Film
The movie industry has a starring role in Vancouver's 'Hollywood North' economy.
True, not many stories are set here - and few know that X-Men 2 and the Twilight series
were filmed in metro Vancouver - but the industry is home to a couple of hundred pro-
ductions every year. Vancouver's influential Vancouver Film School counts director/
actor/screenwriter Kevin Smith (of Clerks fame) as its most famed alumnus, and actors
who have moved on to global acclaim from the city include Seth Rogen, Ryan Reyn-
olds and Michael J Fox. The city also has a growing reputation for postproduction spe-
cial effects, with Avatar , District 9 and Life of Pi using area studios for their whizz-
bang enhancements.
Alongside a full range of local movie theaters, Vancouver is home to many niche
film festivals staged in the city throughout the year, and the giant Vancouver Interna-
tional Film Festival ( Click here ) is one of the city's most popular annual cultural
events. Second only to Toronto's film festival in size, it's a 17-day showcase of great
flicks from Canada and around the world. The city also nurtures budding filmmakers
through the likes of the Celluloid Social Club; held monthly at the Anza Club near
Main St, it's a hangout for aspiring movie creatives and is open to all comers.
Music
Vancouver has a strong and diverse musical tradition founded on decades of
homegrown talent. Sarah McLachlan, Nickelback, the New Pornographers and Michael
Bublé are based here, along with jazz diva Diana Krall and her husband Elvis Costello,
who reside in West Vancouver. The city's music scene is at its liveliest at the grassroots
level, where local indie acts hit stages small and slightly larger every night of the week.