landing in a fairytale

Not long after I arrived in Vancouver, a customer recommended I go to Steveston, a small fishing village about 30km from the city. The same conversation also included a comment about how she doesn't know anyone in Richmond anymore because they are all - looks around and then whispers - "Asian". But despite this, what she said about Steveston sounded nice so I put it on my list.

After several weeks of replying "Oh I might go to Steveston" when asked my plans for my days off, I finally made it - luckily on the only sunny day of my three off this week. I hopped off the bus at Steveston village and landed right in the middle of a fairytale. I don't mean by this that Steveston is a charming village that makes you feel like you stepped into some magical, old fashioned world. I mean an actual fairytale - the filming for Once Upon A Time, a new prime-time show starring all the fairytale crew: Cinderella, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, Prince Charming, and of course an Evil Queen. The show began airing last month and has been picked up for the full series. In pure coincidence, I'd only heard about the show the day before. A lot of filming is done in Canada, particularly in British Columbia, because it's cheaper than the States. In fact a horror film about Tasmanian Devils will start filming next month. For Steveston it means some action during the quieter winter months.

Robert Carlyle, aka Rumpelsliltskin, filming Once Upon A Time

The town is on the water and has a busy port area. In summer it's a popular destination, but cooler weather doesn't so much scream 'let's all go eat fish and chips and ice cream by the water'. So having a series shot in the streets for the next month or so is good news. One of the main streets has become Storybrooke. An marine shop has been boarded up and is now the Storybrooke Library, the studio has rented two shops to film in and put up several mock-shopfronts over existing businesses. I got chatting to a local who's a big fan of Robert Carlyle (of Full Monty fame among other BBC productions), who plays Rubpelstiltskin. She said the crew had been really accommodating of the curiosity of locals and visitors and were happy to have people hanging about watching or taking photos. We could still enter the shops in the area they were filming, but sometimes had to wait for the director to yell 'cut' before walking down the street. The businesses are compensated for lost business and lot of the employees on the shoot are locals, so it's a big boost for the town.

So back to Steveston. I'd expected it to be quieter than if I'd visited in summer and I'm glad that was the case. Dave's Fish and Chips (the place my customer had recommended I have lunch) was still packed though. I was disappointed to discover the fish served there is from Alaska. It would be like a fish shop in Stanley (Fishing port in Tasmania) serving fish from New Zealand in my books. Why on earth would you? But it filled a hole. As did the cupcake from Bell's Bakery afterwards. One part of the town gives the impression of a small fishing village - small craft stores and little coffee shops, always named after someone (Dave's Fish and Chips, Sara's Ice Cream etc), but then one street over is Starbucks, McDonald's and apartments towering over the shops on the street, their windows straining for views over the water.


It was a beautiful day however. Chilly, but lots of sunshine. I could see why this place was so popular. I spent the afternoon wandering around the shops, periodically going back to the filming to see what they were up to. I watched one scene (Rumpelstiltskin's alter ego "Mr Gold" pulling up in his car and his chauffeur opening the door for him) which took a phenomenal amount of time to put together. The shot must only last seconds in the episodes, but it took so much effort. I'll have to start watching the show now.