Hollywood North continues to love Delta, with a special fondness for Ladner Village.
According to the City of Delta, 12 commercials, 75 TV series and 15 feature films, which resulted in 342 days of filming, took place throughout Delta last year. In Ladner Village, eight productions filmed in 2017 for a total of 27 days.
Hallmark showed a particular affection for the village as four Christmas movies were filmed here in 2017, including Christmas of Joy and Finding Santa that shot for a total of 14 days last October.
Last June, Johnny Depp fans flocked to Ladner Village for a chance to catch a glimpse of the Pirates of the Caribbean star in action.
Depp was shooting Richard Says Goodbye, a comedy-drama in which the actor plays a college professor who decides to binge through every vice out there after receiving a life-changing medical diagnosis.
More recently, the Ladner post office was transformed into the Riverdale Sheriff’s Office as Shadow Lake Films came to the village to film scenes for season two of The CW hit Riverdale.
Delta South MLA Ian Paton’s office was turned into the Riverdale Chamber of Commerce, while other signage in the area was changed to reflect a Riverdale street scene.
Riverdale is an American teen drama based on the characters of Archie Comics.
Teenage fans from Delta Secondary flocked to the area to catch a glimpse of the stars. Some took time out, including Cole Sprouse who plays Jughead Jones, to pose for photos and sign autographs.
Ladner Business Association president Jill McKnight said in general the merchants embrace the filming experience in the village.
“We appreciate the number of community members the film industry employs and the families it supports,” said McKnight.
According to Creative BC, the financial benefits of filming for Delta is quite significant. In 2016, 1,330 B.C. film industry employees were Delta residents, earning a total of almost $31 million in wages. Of this, 354 employees resided in Ladner, earning a total of $8.6 million in wages.
