An Academy Award Winner is so impressed with the North Okanagan, the region will feature in his next project.
Robert Port, who won an Oscar in 2003 for Twin Towers, was in the North Okanagan Friday scouting locations for the film Peace, which is based on the book by Richard Bausch.
“There is a feel of it here. This feels right,” Port told The Morning Star after touring the area with Rick Dugdale, who owns an L.A. production company named after his hometown of Enderby.
Peace is set during the Second World War in Italy.
“It’s not about planes dropping bombs. It’s a morality play. It’s about four soldiers who witness the murder of a civilian,” said Port.
As the story unfolds, the soldiers face challenging circumstances.
“It becomes a thriller in the woods in the middle of the night,” said Port.
Lumby, Enderby, Ashton Creek and Vernon were among the stops Friday after locations were considered in Montenegro.
“We believe we have a better location here,” said Dugdale, pointing to the region’s trees, lakes, rivers and snow.
“It’s 99 per cent a go. We’re coming back to make this one.”
Pre-production will begin in October, with shooting at the end of November.
It’s not known yet who will star in Peace.
“It will be a top cast,” said Dugdale, who brought Anthony Hopkins and Ray Liotta here for Blackway in 2014.
While in Vernon, Dugdale and Port visited Okanagan Studios in the old Far West building on Highway 6. It could play a key role in Peace.
“It has full turn-key production space,” said Dugdale.
Dugdale also wants an almost all Okanagan crew working behind the scenes on Peace.
“There has to be a way to grow the film infrastructure here with a crew base. If we get local crew, we don’t take on the additional cost (of bringing in out of town workers),” he said.
While focused on Peace, Dugdale also continues to ride on the success of Blackway, which comes out on DVD and Blueray Feb. 7.
“That film really found an audience. That started with all of the local support we got,” he said.
Dugdale is also starting pre-production on a trilogy in Europe, considering options for a TV series and premiering An Ordinary Man with Ben Kingsley later this year.
He was in Belgium in Thursday, the North Okanagan Friday and Los Angeles Saturday. A total of 20 days were spent in the air in 2016.
“There’s no question I love my job,” said Dugdale.