ERIN — On June 15 Wellington Creates producer David Spencer and eight others met at the Hillsburgh library.
The purpose of the gathering was to continue the group’s previous discussion on how to bring more film and TV show productions to Erin.
Wellington Creates is a new group in the community, and in its recent meetings the group addressed how to offer property owners the opportunity to host film shoots on their land.
Members also discussed employment, networking, educational programs and professional development opportunities for certain skill sets, and plans to host a student and local filmmakers film festival in October.
“Wellington Creates is a network of people who are interested in bringing film and television productions up to Erin,” Spencer said. “Our intention is to be able to support each other, especially those starting out.”
Derek Elliot, one of two guest speakers at the group’s most recent meeting, explained he owns Elliot Tree Farms, which sells Christmas trees.
Spencer stated Elliot is currently trying to attract a variety of people to his property and is now getting upwards of 15 movie shoots on his property per year.
Holly de Vaal, also a guest speaker on June 15, is heading into her fourth year in film studies at Sheridan College in the fall and is completing her co-op placement over the summer.
She says the field of film studies is all about making connections. Victoria McGlynn also attended the event and is also one of de Vaal’s professors at Sheridan. McGlynn said she thought it could be fun to see what was happening in their small town of Erin.
Both she and de Vaal said they would like to see more productions filmed in Wellington County.
“What I’m trying to do moving forward is create a database almost for location scouts,” said de Vaal.
“So, when they go to our website, they can see what the benefits are of filming in Erin, and [can] go around and see if people are interested in offering up their space for a potential shooting location.”
De Vaal is passionate about potential locations for students, who can have a hard time finding places to film – often because they can’t afford it.
Tapping into the student market is a “really great idea” because when these students go to their co-op placements and are looking for places to film, they will see Erin’s opportunities — and also that it is cheaper than other locations.
McGlynn added not having a vehicle and not knowing where to find locations are also difficulties faced by students.
Both de Vaal and McGlynn plan to inform third- and fourth-year students at Sheridan College when Wellington Creates has developed a website or a platform with a directory of possible locations, with photos.
“We are targeting students, even though we want to broaden to bigger productions too, because students then go out into the industry,” said McGlynn.
“If [students] had a positive experience in a certain area, information spreads to the productions.”
The college professor added property owners in the community will likely be the ones setting rates filmmakers will pay.
However, she is hopeful there will be some wiggle room and negotiation that can happen for students who are trying to get their foot in the door.
McGlynn also stated she hopes Wellington Creates will visit schools so students can learn about the group, and see locations available to them.
