Executive producer Kristin Booth is back in B.C. for her latest Hallmark Channel project entitled, The Heart of the Mountain.
On Thursday and Friday of last week (Nov. 23 and 24), Wallace Street was briefly transformed into a snowy ski town to allow for parts of the movie to be filmed there.
Director David Winning (who, incidentally, was part of the production team for Rambo, First Blood) returned to Hope to head up this latest project and was very happy with the results.
“This town is great, and we’ve had a great time filming here. We’ve had a lot of co-operation and the people have been very gracious and kind to us during our stay,” Winning said.
The story line for The Heart of the Mountain was developed by Booth and her husband Tim Ware, who also wrote the script for the movie. While the plot line remains a secret, it is an open secret that it’s a love story, closely tied to skiing and snowboarding.
The first couple of days of filming were spent at Mad Dog’s – a ski and snowboard shop in downtown Abbotsford – before moving to Hope to capture the street scenes.
From Hope, the production moved on to the Manning Park Ski Resort and will continue to film in B.C. until Dec. 8.
The stars of the film are Kristy Swanson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Dude, Where’s My Car?; Psych) and Dean Cain (Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Supergirl).
The Hope Standard caught up with the pair between scenes on Wallace Street.
“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,” said Swanson with a grin.
“And no one has gotten mad at us for getting in their way and disrupting things here. It’s been great.”
Cain, who smiled as he said this was his 15th Hallmark movie, was similarly high on the town of Hope.
“I really have had a great time here. Everyone has been super nice and lovely,” he said.
Winning estimated that more than 100 production staff were part of the two-day shoot and pointed out that even smaller films like The Heart of the Mountain can have a significant economic impact on a town.
“While we’re here, all these people need accommodation, meals and they spend money,” he said.
The snow on Wallace Street had to be trucked in from a fish-processing facility to complete the winter wonderland appearance.
Such is the magic of movies.