a ap 26 - Sunday, July 30. 1989 - North Shore News NEWS photo Mixe Wakefleld MAJOR IAN Davidson-Newby (sight) and Larry Stepanick of International Movie Services display their wares at thelr North Vancouver outlet. IMS supplies movie makers with military equipment and uniforms. David- son-Newby says he has enough military gear (o clothe a 10,000-member army. . : s the Voice of North and West Vancouver since 1969, the North Shore News has played a vital role in the development of “Our Town” over the past twenty years. The 100 permanent NEWS employees and nearly 1,000 carriers would like to thank our readers and advertisers for their continued support as we look forward to another 20 years. THE VOICE (OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER me orth shore. Ly . 19897" wo . . ny A STRONG PAST... A STRONG PRESENCE LIGHTS, ACTION, dollars. British Columbia's film industry continues to add fuel to the fire of the local economy. By EVELYN JACOB News Reporter In 1988 alone, $157 million was spent on feature films and televi- sion productions shot locally. Lower Mainland municipalities have ridden the tide of the in- dustry’s success and the North Shore has been no exception. In the last five years businesses that cater specifically to the film industry — everything from movie catering to uniform supply outlets — have sprung up in North and West Vancouver. 4,000 PLACED Local extras casting director Andrew Van Slee, owner of North Vancouver's ATV Studios, recent- ly placed 4,000 B.C. hopefuls in Universal Picture’s Bird on a Wire, starring Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn. Although jobs for extras abound, locals chances of landing a major part in a movie, are still very slim. But that, ac- cording to Van Slee, hasn’t deter- red countless people with stars in their eyes. *‘Most priticiple actors are still cast in Los Angeles, but for extras, the chances are much _betier. About 80 per cent of my students get work,’’ he says. His professional acting school, ATY, enrols anywhere between 300 and 400 students each year. And Van Slee doesn’t offer any false hopes about instant movie careers: ‘We tell them (students) they should be doing it for the en- Shore .... consistent with requirements. Naountan £ ANUFACTURING INDUSTRIAL _ CUSTOM MACHINING FABRICATING. Proud of our investment in the North to manufacture products of quality MOUNTAIN MANUFACTURING LTD. 1 - 90 Harbour Avenue, North Vancouver, 8.C. V7J 2E1 Telephone: (604) 988-2277 Fax: (604) 988-2190 . joyment. We're rot the kind of company that guarantees place- ment.”’ This year Van Slee gained a North .Vancouver competitor when Peter Breck set up his Academy For the Performing Arts. Breck, best known for tris portrayal: of Nick Barkley in the T.V. western series The Big Valley, predicted 25 years ago that a boom in B.C.’s film market was coming. “It’s about damned time Canadians got speaking roles,’’ said Breck. And Breck is making sure that U.S. producers are using his stu- dents. When he was asked to star as the leading character of the made-in-B.C. film, Terminal Ric- ochet, he agreed to do so on the condition the producers use his school’s students. All received parts, and one student, Lisa Brown, was given a starring role. “‘There’s no lack of talent in B.C.,but there’s a lack of talent to recognize talent here,’’ says Breck. ECONOMY BENEFITS An attractive Canadian ex- change rate and B.C.’s varied sce- nic terrain are compelling reasons why U.S. film makers continue to make the trek up north. “The wonderful thing about B.C. is that you can be in Gastown one minute and be up Seymour Mountain in half-an-hour,” says Don Ramsden, president of the In- ternational Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees local 891. Looking at the big picture, Ramsden said because the film in- dustry is cash and iabor-intensive, the economic spin-off effects are much greater than traditional resource-based industries such as Sse Exchange Page 39 our customers