The agency in-charge of filming in B.C. has given the Thompson-Nicola Regional District a ‘thumbs-up’ as it looks to create a film studio in the Kamloops area.

Suggesting areas outside the Lower Mainland, are the next logical step, Provincial Film Commissioner, Marnie Gee, told the TNRD Board last Thursday that a stand-alone film studio in Kamloops would be “significant.”

“Metro Vancouver is amazing but it doesn’t have a lot of the things that our regions have and there are also urban centres and communities in the regions as well that would reflect some of the looks that creatively that production would have, “Gee said. “We really feel that it is time now.”

“We are seeing that regions like the Thompson-Nicola, the Okanagan, and Vancouver Island really are that next tier outside of the Lower Mainland.”

Gee does say the money would have to be there – something the TNRD has said would need to come from the private sector.

“We can absolutely through Creative BC and through myself and my team connect anyone who might be interested in having more fulsome conversations with some of our partners and the purpose built sound stages in the Lower Mainland that might come up or have a conversation with anyone who might be interested in doing that,” Gee added.

Previous studies have pegged the cost of a Kamloops film studio at around $33-million.

The regional district is conducting a site-selection study at the moment, after it identified six potential locations around Kamloops where a new film studio might be located.