Officials hope to attract more film, TV productions to southern Alberta

LETHBRIDGE -

Southern Alberta has had its fair share of spotlight on a national level over the past few years.

With movie and television productions branching out from large cities, Fort MacLeod’s historic Main Street has been the backdrop for a number of big-budget productions, one of the most recent being HBO’s The Last of Us.

“It's pretty exciting,” said Mayor Brent Feyter.

“Obviously, it gets attention, a lot of activity, a lot of traffic, a lot of people.”

Movies like Interstellar, Brokeback Mountain and Ghostbusters: Afterlife have featured the town of about 3,000 residents.

Despite some minor disruptions during filming, most residents are thrilled to see the town featured.

“The community is quite excited about it,” Feyter said.

“Just being able to get down on Main Street and see what's going on. Some of the stores may not be as busy during that time just because of the confusing amount of traffic, but on the other hand, others benefit in a good way as well.”

More southern Alberta communities are getting the chance to shine.

In the spring of 2022, CTV’s Amazing Race Canada shot an episode in Lethbridge and the surrounding area.

“With these film crews coming in, not only do they bring in economic impact when they come, but they allow us to reach a whole new market that we probably wouldn't be able to within our marketing budgets,” said Erin Crane, Tourism Lethbridge CEO.

“It was great to show off what Lethbridge and the region has to offer.”

Through the Alberta Film and TV tax credit, eligible production companies can get up to a 30 per cent tax credit.

The City of Lethbridge is also working on ways to attract filming to the region.

Brock Skretting of Keep Alberta Rolling says productions are setting their sights on more than just cities.

“We're starting to see new locations,” Skretting said.

“So, Waterton, Pincher Creek … all these southwest locations (are being utilized) more and that's really exciting.”

Season one of The Last of Us is set to be released Jan. 15 on HBO.