The lights have faded and clean up has begun on the set of A Beachcombers Christmas at the Sunshine Coast Arena.
Cast and crew have been filming at various locations on the Coast for the past month and were shooting the final scenes with former NHL and semi-pro hockey players at the arena earlier this week.
Producer Nick Orchard said it will be hard to say goodbye to the Coast, but he plans to return with a première of the movie before it's set to air on CBC.
A Beachcombers Christmas will air on CBC on Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. Orchard wants to have locals see the movie sometime in November.
"We hope to do a première at the local theatre, and because the theme of the movie is trying to raise money for needy families at Christmas, we would like to look at doing the première as a charity for a local organization," said Orchard.
He says the people of Gibsons and Sechelt have been very welcoming to his film crew and says most people have probably not even noticed them filming.
"We were noticed briefly in Gibsons when we spent a day at Molly's Reach and on the docks, but a lot of our shots were indoors. We spent a lot of time at the Gibsons Curling Rink and the arena," said Orchard.
He says the biggest disruption, which people in Gibsons assumed was the result of his filming, was a large amount of smoke that drifted into Gibsons Harbour.
"But that was actually from another film crew on Keats filming a commercial. They let off some smoke for their commercial, and we got blamed for it. It was sort of funny because the producer of that commercial wrote me to say sorry," said Orchard. He said everyone on the cast and crew had a great time. On days off, some of them went to Skookumchuck Narrows, relaxed on local beaches, went on boat tours and tried their hands at horseback riding.
"Everyone had a fabulous time and wants to come back again. In a way we can't believe it's already over," said Orchard.
Now Orchard's crew is cleaning up and heading home where editing and sound mixing will be done, a process that usually takes three months.
