Filming is scheduled to start next week for the movie Desolation Sound, a drama starring Jennifer Beals and Ed Begley, Jr., which is being produced on the Sunshine Coast. But the production ran into a last-minute problem on May 13 when the Sunshine Coast Regional District voiced opposition to a key scene in the movie where a car is pushed into the ocean. The filmmakers had planned to shoot the scene at Garden Bay Lake, but are now looking for an alternate location.
Mary Anne Waterhouse, producer for the Vancouver company Sleepwalker Films, said the car will be stripped of its engine and transmission, pressure washed and disinfected. All fluids will be removed, with vegetable oil used as the lubricant for the few remaining moving parts.
"It's a special effect. It's not a real car," she said. "None of this is reality."
But several regional directors were vehemently opposed to the car-sinking scene, whether or not there was any real potential for environmental damage.
"That is a critical drinking water lake," said John Rees, regional director for Pender Harbour. "Just the image alone of an auto being dumped in Garden Bay Lake may encourage other people to do similar things."
John Marian of Halfmoon Bay agreed.
"We're trying to change the way people look at water," said Marian. "I don't think we should be sanctioning it The symbolism with our drinking water is what concerns me."
Marian suggested the filmmakers could use stock footage from other films showing cars going into the water instead of shooting their own scene.
Bernie Mulligan of West Howe Sound was the only regional director to speak in support of the movie.
"This doesn't seem, in my mind, to be a problem. It's being cleaned and removed," said Mulligan. "Let's use some common sense here. Is there any other lake they can use or a portion of the ocean?"
Gibsons councillor Tucker Forsyth suggested the film company get in touch with the Town of Gibsons.
"We don't have a major lake, but we're very welcoming to commerce and industry," Forsyth said.
But the SCRD board voted to send a letter to Sleepwalker Films "expressing opposition to putting any vehicle in any body of water for the purpose of entertainment." The SCRD does not have legal authority to forbid the car sinking, according to administrator Doug Holmes.
Rick Sumner, locations co-ordinator for Sunshine Coast Film Commission, said the SCRD's position could hurt the Sunshine Coast's fledgling film industry.
"There's a lot of competition for these films out there. My concern is we're going to get a reputation of 'don't even bother going there'," he said. "They're part of the Vancouver Film industry. They're going to be talking to their friends about this."
Waterhouse said Sleepwalker Films wants to be a good corporate citizen and cooperate with local authorities.
"Now we know how the community feels about Garden Bay Lake, we'll look for another lake," she said.
However, she said she was shocked by the vehemence of the SCRD's opposition.
"I was expecting to have more support from the community," she said. "As opposed to a straight no, I would like to have a dialogue about alternatives."
Waterhouse said the filmmakers considered shooting Desolation Sound on Vancouver Island or Gabriola Island but chose the Sunshine Coast partly because it had several possible locations for the car-sinking scene.
Desolation Sound is an independent film with a budget of about $1.4 million. The film has a Canadian scriptwriter and director and features some big-name American stars. The story is set in remote Desolation Sound, north of Powell River.
Beals, who is best known for her 1983 debut in Flashdance, plays a visitor from the big city who ends up dead in the ocean during the car-sinking scene. Begley, who played Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the TV series St. Elsewhere, has the role of the local cop who tries to solve the mystery of whether the car sinking was an accident or foul play.
