Victoria’s Inner Harbour transformed for Twilight Zone series

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Watch Major television series filming in Victoria's Inner Harbour causes traffic disruptions but brings in big money to the local economy. April Lawrence takes a look into

It was an unusual scene Tuesday in Victoria’s Inner Harbour as hundreds of people in old-fashioned costumes stood frozen staring off into the distance while classic cars sat abandoned in the middle of Government Street.

They were filming for season two of the Twilight Zone television series reboot.

“It’s pretty incredible, I’ve never been on a movie set before and an old fan of the Twilight Zone from the ’60s,” said Fred Siegenthaler who was visiting from Port Angeles.

“We had no idea what was going on, but everyone was frozen in place, that was kind of, our first clue.”

The first season of the new Twilight Zone was released in April 2019 on the CBS ‘All Access’ streaming service. It featured some fairly mainstream actors including new host, Academy Award winner Jordan Peele, Parks and Recreation actor Adam Scott, and Saturday Night Live alum Tracy Morgan.

While the series is based in Vancouver, this is the first time it is filming in Victoria.

“It’s certainly one of our bigger budget shows, it’s not huge budget but bigger than we normally see here, they’re only here for a couple days,” said Vancouver Island South Film Commissioner Kathleen Gilbert.

And they’re spending big money — hotel rooms and food for 200 out of town crew, and jobs for 380 locals.

But it doesn’t all come without a cost. The popular tourist area was shut down for an entire day, as were all the roads surrounding it. There will be further road closures at Humboldt and Gordon Streets on Wednesday.

 

April LawrenceApril Lawrence

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