Friends, family and search crews have expanded their efforts to find a man who was reported missing from Courtenay, B.C., Friday.

Michael Gazetas, 51, was last seen leaving his home on Friday at 8:30 a.m. Since then, he hasn't been in touch with friends or family.

Brent Calkin, a volunteer with Lions Bay Search and Rescue and a friend of Gazetas, is one of the people helping organize search efforts.

"Michael is a creative, warm bear of a man. He makes friends instantly. He is effusive. And he just loves people," Calkin said.

Gazetas is a locations manager for the film industry and spends a lot of time travelling in the remote north end of Vancouver Island, Calkin says.

Searchers believe Gazetas is travelling in his bright red Ford Ranger pickup truck with the license plate HX 4109.

They have focused their efforts on trying to find the truck.

"We're considering that if Michael is a needle in a haystack, the little red truck is like a little toy red truck in the haystack and much easier to find," Calkin said.

Michael Gazetas is believed to be travelling in this red Ford Ranger pickup truck. (Submitted by Comox Valley RCMP)

With help from the film community in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, as well as online crowdfunding efforts, friends were able to pay for a private helicopter to canvass the wilderness where Gazetas could be.

"I was up in the helicopter for three hours yesterday covering the amount of ground that would probably take three days and 10 crews to cover," Calkin said.

There are a few things hampering search efforts, he says. One, wet weather may have flooded out or washed out roads. Two, the ongoing forestry strike means fewer forestry workers are out in the woods right now, and there are fewer people who could have spotted Gazetas.

For Calkin, who describes Gazetas as "one of the closest friends you can have," it's been tough to focus on the task at hand without getting emotional.

"I've been a search manager for about 20 odd years and that's how I'm operating," he said. "If I start thinking about the fact that this is a close friend ... I can't go too far down that road because I do choke up and I've just got to keep it together."

Anyone with information about Michael Gazetas is asked to call the Comox Valley RCMP at 250-338-1321.