About a year after rolling out the red carpet for Hollywood North, Ucluetians were delighted to watch their town on television.
ABC’s ‘The Crossing’ premiered on April 3. The science-fiction series’ pilot was shot in Ucluelet in March, 2017.
“I’m sure half of Ucluelet, if not all, was watching that night,” said municipal councillor Sally Mole. “It was great to see and really lovely showcasing of Wya Beach and how pretty our area is.”
Mole was cast as an extra on the show and said she recorded the pilot episode and has watched it about four times with her family.
“I was a dead person on the beach. The weather was not nice and it was the middle of the night so I was cold and tired, it was pretty miserable….I don’t do cold and wet very well so I was suffering a bit,” she said adding the televised result was a solid showcase of Ucluelet’s beauty. “Some of the filming and the shots that they did were pretty incredible. It’s an attractive set of scenes.”
She hopes the scenery makes out-of-town viewers curious about visiting Ucluelet and said it could give the community’s Destination Marketing Organization, Tourism Ucluelet, some alluring ammunition to break the ice with potential tourists by asking if they’ve seen ‘The Crossing.’
“I think there is definitely a marketing piece there that we could probably hit on a little bit harder,” she said added the filming brought a big boost to the economy and a valuable variety of temporary employment opportunities to locals.
“There was a bit of a buzz around town, people having a little chat here and there about what’s going on, so that was good for the community spirit,” she said.
Ucluelet Mayor Dianne St. Jacques said she was excited to watch the pilot.
“I think it’s great. It gives us community pride. I know I was really impressed to see our local beach on the screen. In some of the movies, they kind of disguise it…In this one you could really see Wya Beach,” she said. “I think because we’ve walked there so many times, we were curious to see what was going to be presented…It’s always fun to see your hometown on the screen. I know it’s kind of silly, but it’s just fun.”
She added that attracting film crews helps bring another piece of economic activity to Ucluelet.
“It gives us something other than tourism,” she said. “They come and stay in our hotel rooms and accommodations. They eat at our restaurants. They spend money in the gift stores and at the Co-op and it’s just something else. It’s really important for us to keep as diversified as we can and to keep welcoming these different little facets of activity to our economy.”