#yvrshoots connects fans to the film industry

For our FilmFile interactive series we've mapped locations across Vancouver where films have been shot, mostly since 2006. Want to add your own? Tell us here.

At any given moment, Twitter connects people to pop culture chatter and real-time events developing across the globe. But for Vancouver-based journalist Susan Gittins, the popular social media tool boasts some star-studded appeal.

Gittins, a self-professed movie and television aficionado, created the Twitter hashtag #yvrshoots in November 2010 at the suggestion of a friend who was interested in organizing Vancouver filming location Tweets and making them accessible.

She began slipping #yvrshoots into her film-related Tweets, and today, people all over metro Vancouver—and even around the world—are chipping in their celebrity sightings and camera crew discoveries to the information-rich pool.

“Some days, it feels like Vancouver is just one big film set,” Gittins says of the numerous Tweets that have accrued under the hashtag.

“Someone sees a film crew setting up and it’s on Twitter. It’s on the hashtag. And if it’s not discovered immediately what show is filming, it happens within a couple of hours. It’s instant information all the time. There’s no other place really to get it. It’s quite amazing.”

Vancouver, often referred to as Hollywood North, is a major North American filming hotspot. As a result, #yvrshoots has allowed fans to follow productions ranging from the television series Fringe to the latest movie phenomenon, the Twilight series’ Breaking Dawn.

According to Gittins, who blogs about her film location adventures for VancouverIsAwesome.com, we live in a tabloid age interested in big-name actors. She says star-spotting drives a lot of interest in the hashtag, but many people also just like to know what’s going on when trailers and cameras swarm their neighborhood.

Some production crews haven’t taken too kindly to #yvrshoots, though. Gittins notes a veteran crewmember who challenged her on Twitter, arguing that film locations were places of work and that fans can interfere.

“They do have a point. It is disruptive when fans and local photographers—what you might call paparazzi—and people seeking autographs come,” Gittins explains.

“But we … basically agreed to disagree. I understand that some fans do get in the way of filming but Vancouverites are pretty [film set] savvy after so many years as Hollywood North. Plus the filming information is already available on Twitter; All I did was organize it.”

Fringe fan Matthew Hawkins, who lives in Chilliwack, took to Twitter last December to track down the show’s set, which often films on-location in Vancouver. His goal was to meet one of the series’ stars, John Noble.

Hawkins stumbled upon #yvrshoots and used it to connect with Gittins, who in turn helped him find a handful of Fringe sets. Over the course of a few months, Hawkins trekked from Chilliwack to Vancouver in attempt to catch his favourite actors on location.

“Pretty much anything you want to find out about what’s going on, you can find it on Twitter,” Hawkins says.

“I was out six times on set. The third time we met Anna Torv, and the last time we met Joshua Jackson and John Noble. It took some work, but it was worthwhile. Basically, using #yvrshoots, I was able to track down where they were and what the were up to.”

Gittins heard about Hawkins’ tale, and is amazed at how social media has changed the way we communicate.

“It’s just a different world,” she says. “The information is out there. You can pick it up so quickly and easily. Although [#yvrshoots’] purpose was for filming information, it could’ve evolved into anything, and I’m happy to see it’s still used that way."