We Oughta Be in Pictures
New Kootenay Film Commissioner Sarah Kapoor on Hollywood North, algorithm angst, and meeting Oprah, almost.
The Last of Us, X-Files, Deadpool, Fifty Shades of Grey … For decades, reels and reels of great films and famous TV series have been shot in B.C. The province’s film industry contributed about $2 billion to the B.C. economy last year, employing tens of thousands of workers. Some of these productions and paycheques land here in the Kootenays. And there are, if the Kootenay’s new regional film commissioner has her say, far more to come. Creston born-and-raised, Sarah Kapoor is the media veteran now responsible for landing big Hollywood fish and promoting made-right-here productions too.
You've been in media for over 20 years. How did your career start?
I started in my teenage years at the Creston Valley Advance as a journalist when I was doing my undergrad at Carleton. Then I did my masters and went to CBC Toronto. I was there for ten years. I did everything from the lowest job as intern and researcher to being on camera, senior producer, worked the nightly news, then started creating short series.
In your time as a journalist, was there any single interview that really stood out?
The interview that has stuck with me was over 20 years ago with author Leonard Shlain. He seeded in my mind the concept of "phase change" at a species level. That idea has increased in relevance for me over time. It really does seem like Sapiens are on the way out and something else is emerging as we adapt to massively changing conditions in so many areas.
After CBC, you had another successful decade, a lot of success with your own production company. Then what?
Since then, I've been in chapter three of my career, which has taken me to this role, which is quite unexpected. It's been really, really interesting figuring out the film sector in the Kootenays, how it is now and how it might be.
That journey’s brought you full circle to Creston. Why’d you move back home?
Well, like most returners, it was family. My father had passed away and I came to help my mom, and I had my second child at the time. I thought I'd be here for a year helping my mom and, you know, we got pulled into the Creston vortex.
It's interesting how Creston seems to be an outlier. It’s in the East Kootenay and West Kootenay all at once.
(Laughing) My husband and I found we could both work remotely, support both of our aging mothers, and raise our family and have, you know, three or four jobs between both of us. We made it work.
The film industry has seen some severe ups and downs during, and just before, your tenure at the Commission started. The writers’ strike. LA’s fires. Tariff threats. Trumpism. How are we here in Hollywood North rolling with the punches?
Well, I think it was doing really well. And I think it’s doing alright, given the incredibly uncertain and volatile run over the last couple of years. I think it considers itself still in recovery from some of the things that you just mentioned. What we're seeing is that projects are still going forward — but there's a distance between that and projects getting green-lit.
U.S. tariffs on Canadian films. What’s the latest?
There’s more chaos and uncertainty from the White House. We share the same concerns as the rest of the 70,000 people working in the motion picture sector in B.C. Our relationships with international production partners are very strong. B.C. is one of the top filming destinations in the world.
Explain what the Kootenay Film Commission does.
It's been around about 20 years. The Film Commission's job is to be that first point of contact for a producer, whether it's domestic or international …
What sort of inquiries does a film producer make?
What do you have? Should we film there? Is there a better deal elsewhere? If I want mountains, how accessible are they? How close is it to studio space? If we bring a crew here, are there accommodations? Is there catering? What's the crew base here? There's all these considerations they're thinking of. And it's our job to answer their questions as quickly as possible. If you don't respond right away, they might just go to the next country or territory.
The Commission also works closely with local communities.
We need to make sure they're film-ready. So they understand the permitting process and the community is respected, not just seen as a place to parachute into then leave a mess. We try to ensure the local community really wins, gets an economic benefit, and the production is supported.
Using the Force — Speaking with a rep from Disney’s Industrial Light & Magic, founded by legendary Star Wars producer George Lucas, Kapoor lobbies for the Kootenay film industry and an event in Victoria.
Any heavyweight Hollywood producers or stars in our midst as of late?
I can't say too much because a lot of these things are confidential until they are fully known. But yeah, we've had a lot of requests … there’s two bigger multi-million-dollar-budget films that are happening in the East Kootenay. One locked in for this fall and another looks very close to locking in for next fall. One is domestic, the other international. We also had location inquiries for two series which I could see becoming popular with younger demographics … I don't know if you watched Severance, but we had Zach Cherry here last fall. We had an Oscar nominee here, also filming in the fall. We've had The Mountain Between Us shot here, starring Kate Winslet. There’s a Paramount production that's scouting here as well.
Kevin Costner shot The Postman here in the Kootenays in the mid-1990s. Ethan Hawke filmed Snow Falling on Cedars shortly after. They all stayed quite low key. Safe to say we Kootenay movie fans don't get as excited about stars on Main Street as folks in Vancouver or Calgary?
We seem to let people kind of do their own things. I think one of the best things about the Kootenays is the live-and-let-live attitude. There's not a whole lot of crowd control, right?
The commission has created a regional office in the Columbia Valley. Why there, specifically?
They have a really motivated group of people in their cultural sector. They’re really seeing the potential of the film sector being developed in their area.
With streaming services so well-established, movie and series content is almost infinite nowadays. How can viewers find truly good film?
I don't even know if people look anymore. I think the algorithms are so finely tuned that you're almost subliminally programmed … so I think it's so predictive, you almost have to actively work against them, or else you’re being programmed by your previous choices. Looking on your own is a skill we should retain — rather than just accepting the top choices that have been determined for us.
Have you been a life-long film lover?
Ummm, books first, quite honestly. I'm a reader. And then, I look for a good series. There are certain movies that I completely love, that I watched in my childhood. I'm a Rocky fan. I loved Amelie. That was one of my favourites. And I really enjoyed Mad Men. I am loving Severance.
Who are some of the directors whose work you appreciate?
People who come up with concepts and are able to write them down and then have the fortitude to produce them into existence across decades. Story empire builders. Sylvester Stallone, Shonda Rhimes, Mark Burnett. These people produce more outputs than the entire GDP of some nations.
If you could meet a media legend of any sort, who would it be and why?
Probably Oprah. Also a story empire builder. I was supposed to meet her once because she featured a segment of a show I had made on her show, but I was too pregnant to fly at the time. I still think about that 17 years later. The way she works inspires me. She shines by shining her spotlight on others.
Any Kootenay-based productions you’d recommend?
If you haven't seen Southern Interior, watch it. See Carlo Alcos’ new documentary, Outsiderness. Elora Braden in Golden has a pilot for a series, Ricky Diamonds.
There does seem to be a lot of film talent here, per capita, doesn’t there?
One of the things I'm going to do in this job is keep my eyes open for Kootenay-based producers, directors, talent crew, and really support their projects. We should support the people who are already living and working here and support them into, you know, having their unicorns take off from here, not waiting for one from the outside.
This interview has been edited for context and length.
~ Written by Darren Davidson
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