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“The film industry is targeting the same types of buildings because they want to have large, expansive areas where they can have big sets and also have a lot of ceiling height,” he said.

Dian Cross Massey, owner and CEO of The Crossing Studios, has toured about 300 buildings across Metro Vancouver since last fall, seeking long-term leases to house productions for networks like NBC, ABC and Nickelodeon.

“Since December, we started with one building and we’re now up to eight buildings, and we have just over 400,000 square feet now,” she said last week.

“We’re so busy growing that we didn’t even have time to update the website,” she added, noting that six of their eight buildings are in Burnaby; one in Coquitlam and another on Annacis Island.

Photo by Gerry Kahrmann / PNG

The Crossing Studios is the region’s second-largest studio provider. The company signs long-term leases for their eight buildings and then rents out the spaces to film and TV crews. “We had lots of conversations where there was a shortage of studio space, and shows were getting turned away from Vancouver,” Cross Massey said. “All the purpose-built studios are booked solid throughout next year.”

She said film groups are now looking for longer leases than in the past, opting to lock down spaces for six months to one year.

The biggest challenge is finding space with high ceilings, wide column spacing, parking and proximity to downtown Vancouver, Cross Massey said. “We’re trying to avoid the whole bridge and tunnel [commute] and have places that are within half-an-hour of downtown Vancouver.”