The Town of Whitecourt is getting ready for the spotlight with the making of a feature film in 2020.

Tim McKort is the owner of A Little Late Films and Western Directives Inc., an Edmonton-based production company with eight features under their belt.

“We are a Western Canadian production company and our mission is to shoot movies in Alberta. As a forested, “green” destination in the foothills, it’s visually stunning with surrounding areas that have many different ecosystems and river system (which are) great panoramas,” he said. “Our main character (as a subplot) has a son that plays hockey, so we will be shooting a day of hockey action at the arena.

“The Town and County have already been remarkable to work with to get the production rolling and coordinated. The positivity and excitement is something we look for in location scouting … Whitecourt has this key ingredient.”

As part of the planning process, McKort explained they are looking for local artists and crew members to participate in the production.

“Local actors would be great to interview and audition,” he said. “All ethnicities welcome, we love to have representation from First Nations. We will also have need for a lot of extras.

“Crew members are always invaluable and we would love to find out who has experience in the area. We are always in need of production and director assistants, interested in talking to sound men and women, folks with lighting experience.”

A meet and greet will be scheduled for the third week in July once names of those who are interested have been collected.

In addition, McKort said they are looking to form partnerships with local businesses who are looking to market and brand their logos and business places.

“Our films are internationally distributed and we believe this will be a dynamic opportunity for Whitecourt and its residents,” he said.

The untitled film contains a plot that revolves around a CSIS agent tracking down a cell of foreign agents conducting industrial espionage in Canada.

“High drama, action, thriller with a ton of political and social messaging, but entertaining at the core,” said McKort.

Any businesses, actors and crew members who are interested in the project can email Tim at westerndirectives@shaw.ca.

tbrandell@postmedia.com