Film commission’s 10th anniversary party

I dropped into the 10th anniversary party held by the Thompson Nicola Regional Film Commission on Friday evening in the Panorama Room at TRU. After having been off the commission for a few years, it was good to see quite a number of the people I used to work with.

Well do I remember when the commission started up; directing taxpayers’ money toward an effort to bring movie productions here wasn’t an easy sell, but the TNRD board got behind it and, a decade later, it’s still going strong.

Well, not as strong as past years. It’s unfortunate that the 10th had to be celebrated at a time when the industry is in tough shape in B.C. No major new productions are on the horizon — no Robert Redford, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Lopez, Morgan Freeman, Martin Sheen.

But you’d never know it by bows that were being taken Friday night. Nothing wrong with that. Vicci Weller has done a tremendous job in heading up the commission, and it was nice to see movie producer Danny Virtue recognized for staying on the board for the duration, despite the fact he lives at the coast and has to travel up here on his own dime when he’s able to make it to board meetings.

And the little video production that reviewed some of the highlights of the commission’s work was a hoot, though some who should have been acknowledged  were left out. But, that’s always the way — it’s hard to cover everybody.