New Vancouver film studio launches in hopes of enticing more B.C. productions
There’s a brand-new film production house in town that was just launched in Vancouver, and it has high hopes for what it wants to achieve.
Black Harbour is a service production company with some big names attached to it.
Among them is award-winning producer, line producer, and production manager Kate Kroll, who has been attached to projects like The Fourth Kind, Farming for Love, and the upcoming Armageddon Road.
Kate Kroll (Submitted)
Other names attached to the new studio include producer Jonathan “JJ” DuBois, cinematographer Gabriel Medina (also the owner of Red Eye Camera Rentals in Vancouver) and Jacob Bailey, a top-tier location manager and an up-and-coming B.C. producer.
One of the main goals for Black Harbour is to bring more productions “back to B.C.”
“The team includes a collaboration of experienced individuals, equipment partners, and post-production facilities, which means they can fully support a project from development through delivery,” states a release from the new Vancouver studio.
Kroll says that the province is home to some of the best people in film in the world, including crew, locations and production talent.
“Our goal is not only to support great projects, but to contribute to a thriving and sustainable film industry in B.C. for years to come. After years of working on productions of every size, we saw a clear gap in the market: smaller and mid-sized projects were being forced to choose between affordability and experience,” she said.
DuBois said, “We want producers to feel like they have a trusted local partner from day one,” adding that the team at Black Harbour understands the incentives, crews and challenges.
The Black Harbour team is currently at the Bnaff World Media Festival, meeting with producers, financiers, distributors, and industry partners.
Chris Ferguson, a well-known Vancouver filmmaker and one of the people behind Phobos, which was one of the producers of the massive A24 blockbuster horror film Backrooms, gave his nod of approval to the new team.
“Some of the team behind Black Harbour have played key roles in many of our biggest successes. Their experience spans a wide range of budgets and production styles, and they consistently deliver at an exceptionally high level. I would have complete confidence entrusting any independent theatrical production to this team,” Ferguson said.