MPA: 'Twilight' and Other Studio Shoots Drawing Tourists to Canada

TORONTO – First Hollywood brought its movies and TV shows to Canada for location shoots.

Now the major studios have created a tourism boom.

The Motion Picture Association - Canada, which represents the interests of the Hollywood studios north of the border, has released a study on the “major economic benefits” of its Canadian presence that points to fan pilgrimages to local locations for popular releases like The Twilight saga and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

“During filming and following the release of each of the movies in the (Twilight) series, fans of the films flocked to Vancouver in the hopes of catching a glimpse of one of the film series’ stars when they were on location, or simply to be able to see and take pictures in the actual settings where the movies were filmed,” the report says of the Twilight franchise, where Vancouver doubled as Forks, Wash., just across the Canadian-U.S. border.

The MPA report added that, while most of the Twilight tourists hoping to see stars like Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were Americans, they also hailed from as far afield as Australia and Europe.

Fans also came during the production of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in Toronto and after its box-office run created buzz at the multiplex.

“A former tour operator noted that the film developed a devoted fandom in addition to existing fans of the original graphic novel, and many fans (primarily from the U.S. and other parts of Canada) travel to Toronto in order to visit the locations in the film,” the MPA report noted.

Production-related tourism also surrounded Vancouver TV shoots for U.S. series like Smallville and Supernatural, the report added.

The major studios urged Canadians to do more to follow the film-induced tourism success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy in New Zealand and the Harry Potter series in the U.K.

The report also was commissioned by the Canadian Media Production Association, which represents local indie producers.

Kickstarter to Launch in Canada This Summer

KARLOVY VARY -- Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter is to expand into Canada later this summer, according to an announcement on its Twitter account.

The crowdfunding platform for new businesses is so far inviting Canadians to submit their e-mail and project category to receive a signal when the site arrives north of the border.

STORY: Kickstarter Apologizes After 'Seduction Guide' Uproar 

Canadian filmmakers have looked to the crowdfunding service with relish since Kickstarter helped raise financing for a Veronica Mars movie and Zach Braff's Kickstarter campaign for Wish I Was Here closed with nearly $3.1 million in donations.

The move north by Kickstarter follows rival Indiegogo, which has Canada as its second-largest market, last week expanding its payment options for local content creators.

Kickstarter launched in the U.K. a year ago.

Twitter: @sajilpl

Canada country profile

23 April 2013 Last updated at 11:12 GMT  Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia. However, its population is only about one-fifth of Russia's.

Nearly 90% of Canadians live within 200km of the border with the United States, which means that Canada contains vast expanses of wilderness to the north.

The relationship to its powerful neighbour is a defining factor for Canada. The US and Canada are both each other's largest trading partner.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, involving Canada, the US and Mexico, has brought a trade boom for Canada. But thorny issues abound. American moves which impact on Canadian exports, in the form of tariffs on Canadian timber and increased subsidies for US farmers, have created particular tension.
Vancouver rates as one of the world's most liveable cities
Canada is also worried about pollution from US factories near the border, and about the possible impact on the environment of the exploitation of oil deposits in Alaska.
Continue reading the main story Politics: Canada gradually emerged as a federation of former British colonies, and the provinces retain extensive powers. It follows the British pattern of parliamentary democracy, and the UK monarch is head of state, represented by a largely ceremonial governor-general. French-speaking Quebec has wide-ranging cultural and linguistic autonomy.Economics: Canada punches well above its population size in economic terms, and is one of the world's top trading nations. While the service sector dominates, Canada also has vast oil reserves and is a major exporter of energy, food and minerals. Close economic integration exists with the US, but Asian markets are growing in importance.International: Canada often cooperates closely with the US, but does go its own way sometimes. Strong historical ties to the UK remain, while Quebec looks towards France. Canada often plays a major role in UN peacekeeping missions.
Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring
Canada pursues a foreign policy that is distinct from that of the US. The country has committed troops to the American-led war on terror, but does not back the US trade embargo on Cuba. Canada did not send troops to join the US-led war in Iraq.

After the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, the challenge of securing the 9,000-km Canada-US border from possible terrorist infiltration prompted both countries to look at ways of sharing information.
Immigration
Immigration has helped to make Canada one of the world's richest nations. Challenges related to discrimination and integration are gaining increasing attention. Many recent newcomers hail from Asia. Canada's indigenous peoples make up less than two per cent of the population. The way in which provincial governments share land and natural resources with native groups is an ongoing issue.

Separatist aspirations in the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec have been a major domestic issue. A referendum in 1995 saw advocates of an independent Quebec only narrowly defeated.

Subsequent opinion polls indicated a fall in support for independence and the pro-independence Parti Quebecois was defeated in 2003's provincial election, but regained power in 2012. In a largely symbolic move, parliament in 2006 agreed that the Quebecois should be considered a "nation" within a united Canada.

Canada has been asserting its sovereignty in the Arctic with growing vigour and has become embroiled in territorial spats with the US and Denmark. At stake is the possible bounty from previously-untapped reserves of oil and gas.
The Rocky Mountains in Alberta: Canada offers spectacular wild landscapes
 

Floods force 100,000 from homes in Canada

CALGARY, Alberta  -- Calgary's mayor warned Friday that the worst of the flooding is yet to come after a significant portion of his city's population spent the night pulling back to higher ground. Officials have estimated that as many as 100,000 could be out of their homes.

Entire neighborhoods all along the Bow and Elbow rivers have been cleared of inhabitants as many downtown neighborhoods were ordered evacuated in Calgary, a city of more than a million people that hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said early Friday morning he's never seen the rivers that high or that fast.

Low-lying areas along the river started to flood Thursday night and there was water filling up some underpasses. There was water in the streets of the Bowness area in the city's northwest. The city has not said to what extent any homes have been flooded.

Police urged people to stay away from downtown and not go to work. All schools - both Catholic and public - are closed, while Catholic schools in the communities of Chestermere, Airdrie and Cochrane were also to be shuttered.

The Calgary Zoo, located on St. George's Island, closed its gates and started taking steps "to secure and move animals to safe locations."

Contingency plans called for big cats, such as lions and tigers, to be moved into prisoner cells at the Calgary courthouse. But the city said that hadn't happened yet.

The Calgary mayor spent Thursday night and Friday morning hours touring all the affected areas.

He said it appeared that the smaller Elbow river had reached its peak. The same could not be said for the larger Bow.

The province reported that 12 communities were under states of emergency.

It had been a rainy week throughout much of Alberta, but on Thursday the Bow River Basin was battered with up to 100 millimeters (4 inches)of rain. Environment Canada's forecast calls for more rain today in the area, but in much smaller amounts.

Calgary is not alone in its weather-related woes. There were flashpoints of chaos from Banff and Canmore and Crowsnest Pass in the Rockies and south to Lethbridge.

Torrential rains and widespread flooding throughout southern Alberta have also forced the closure of the Trans-Canada Highway and isolated the mountain resort towns of Banff and Canmore. The flooding washed out roads and bridges, left at least one person missing and caused cars, couches and refrigerators to float away.

Officials in High River estimated half of the people in its town have experienced flooding in their homes. People had to be rescued from some rooftops by boat or in buckets of heavy machinery. Others swam for their lives from stranded cars.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police called in the military, which sent two helicopters and a Hercules aircraft to help rescue those stranded in areas where roads had been washed out.

Pictures from inside the mountain town of Canmore also a raging river ripping at the foundations of homes.

Bruce Burrell, director of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, said water levels on the Bow River aren't expected to subside until Saturday afternoon.

"Depending on the extent of flooding we experience overnight, there may be areas of the city where people are not going to be able to get into until the weekend," he told a news conference.