The scenery of Hope and Manning Park are getting a lot of attention from U.S. viewers of Hallmark special Winter’s Dream, which premiered Jan. 27.
The film has been released under its new name Winter’s Dream, from the working title Heart of the Mountain, featuring scenes on Wallace St. in Hope, Manning Park and a short scene in Abbotsford.
Director David Winning said the movie had 3.6 million viewers for its TV debut Saturday, making it the number one rated cable movie of the week in the U.S.
Hope was briefly turned into the Hallmark town of Bliss Nov. 23 and 24; snow was trucked in from a fish-processing plant and storefronts were dressed up.
The local scenery is getting a lot of love from fans of Hallmark online.
I fully agree! The scenery especially the finale #WintersDream are absolutely brrathtaking! @hallmarkchannel
— Ruth Hill (@ruthhill74) January 28, 2018
@hallmarkchannel I just wanna live in a hallmark movie. Their locations are simply the best in any season. #WintersDream
— Mary Oconnor (@Maryoc05) January 28, 2018
Manning Park was the location for a major part of the film and even featured a unique Manning Park tradition, the annual torch parade where skiers come down the hill with lit-up flares.
That torch parade was officially the coolest & most unique element I have seen in a @hallmarkchannel movie in a while! #WintersDream #winterfest @kristintbooth @TimWare48 bravo! 🎿😎
— Alameda & Downing (@AlamedaDowning) January 28, 2018
Robyn Barker, marketing manager at Manning Park Resort, said the film was the largest production shoot at the resort so far, which has previously hosted another Hallmark film Falling for Christmas and a number of commercials.
This December the Winter’s Dream crew rented out the entire resort for two weeks and kept the park name in the film.
“This one was incredible promotion for us because they’re using the Manning Park name, they’re showcasing our beautiful mountains,” she said.
Abbotsford also got its moment of fame, as Mad Dog’s ski and snowboard shop became the Heart of the Mountain ski shop for one scene.
Art Green, founder of the Hope and Lower Fraser Canyon Film Cooperative, said these location shoots can bring in significant revenue for the district of Hope.
Films and TV series pay permit fees for use of public land and also bring revenue in other ways through hotel room rentals, catering, building supplies and other filming needs sourced locally.
To bring in the really big bucks, Green said, Hope needs to have a sound stage where the bulk of filming takes place. That way Hope can take a bigger piece of the $2.6 billion B.C.’s film industry brought in last year.
Stars of the film Kristy Swanson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Dude, Where’s My Car?; Psych) and Dean Cain (Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Supergirl) said the people of Hope were very welcoming and accommodating of the crew.
“This is a gorgeous little town and it’s been really nice. The people are really friendly and that coffee shop down the street has the best coffee,” Swanson said at the time.
