Why your favorite movies fake their locations

And why so many of them are shot in Vancouver.

This video is presented by Destination Vancouver. Our sponsor has no editorial influence over how we report our stories, but their support makes videos like these possible.

Movie magic is what makes our favorite films so good: Actors flawlessly inhabiting the personalities of totally made-up characters, visual effects transforming a green screen to an otherworldly setting, musical scores making us feel every emotion under the sun. But there’s another kind of magic we don’t talk about as much: one physical location masquerading as another. And it happens all the time.

When filmmakers are trying to make a movie, deciding where to shoot isn’t as straightforward as choosing the location described in the script. They need to find a place with cooperative weather, a few landscapes to choose from, a big enough workforce, and — perhaps most importantly — one that fits their budget.

All these factors mean that locations with downtowns, country landscapes, mountain ranges, and water features within a drivable distance are highly sought after, especially when they also have good tax credits. While Hollywood might be the legendary film capital of the world, places like Vancouver are becoming more and more popular thanks to the flexible landscapes and tax breaks.

This is especially true for holiday movies — many of which are filmed in Canada. In this video, we talk to a prolific Christmas movie producer — who has worked on films like 2024’s Netflix hit Hot Frosty — about shooting movies in Canada.

Correction: In a previous version of this video we mistakenly said that Clark Kent's farm in the TV show Smallville was in Kentucky at :58 and 1:13. The Kent family farm was actually in Kansas. We've corrected the error.

Further reading:

[mma]

"Vancouver Never Plays Itself"

[LashanR]

2:48 Vancouver, sunny? Destination Vancouver must have paid big to fit that line in 😂😂

[DataCabe]

The commonly heard utterance from Vancouver locals any time they see a film crew (or so I've heard): "So, what part of the 'States are we impersonating this week?"
Oh, and Smallville is supposed to be in KANSAS.

[janeangele]

Suddenly, I remember Every Frame a Painting's Vancouver never plays itself video. So true!

[daytrip_films]

Was not expecting "sponsored by the city of Vancouver" lol

[Daybareally]

To clarify: Langley has over 100k people, the very small 10 square km (under 4 sq miles) area of Langley City has 30k. Similarly, the city of Vancouver has about 700k people, yes, but the surrounding Lower Mainland (the mountains, temperate rainforest, rural areas and coastal locations where they also film) total about 3 million people. Yes a lot less than NYC but I don’t think it’s accurate to say filming here is easier because there are fewer people here; it’s cheaper than NYC to film in while offering lots of diverse locations, I think those points are the main reasons.

[BTCBlizzy]

This was a long answer for “it’s cheaper.” 😂😂 it costs extra money just to breathe in NY these days.

[bigfootwalker]

0:54 Superman/Clark Kent didn't grow up in rural Kentucky, he grew up in rural Kansas.

[ratguy]

As a Vancouverite by upbringing, I knew it was going to be the focus of this video as soon as I saw the title.

[llcn]

Every Vancouverite can easily guess a movie’s filming location even before the credits roll. It’s like a sixth sense.

[christianfontaine]

Did he really get kentucky and Kansas mixed up 3 times?
Superman was in Kansas not Kentucky

[SARGEinc]

I've driven through Fort Langley so many times when they are filming a Christmas movie in July. Same thing with the Old Clayburn store in my hometown of Abbotsford BC. I'm a big Christmas guy, so it always makes me feel happy to see it, even if I have to wait in traffic for the scene to end.

[AmaraARW]

You just know they weren't allowed to say or mention Toronto in this video lol

[prancey]

As a new yorker, it's painfully obvious wheneneve a location is supposed to be taking place here but shot somewhere else. A good example is the stark contrast between the Raimi Spider-Man movies and the MCU ones, the latter of which mostly used Atlanta for its NYC locations. In the Raimi movies NYC is its own character, but when you're replacing it you're only getting very generic locations with some comp work to fill in the illusion.

[robertwatson]

Jesus….KANSAS not Kentucky. Clark Kent is from Kansas. How do you mess that up?? They’re not even in the same geographic region.

[kmoyo]

The fact that you were in Fort Langley blows my mind!!

[qwertyuiopst]

"Smallville" was set in Kansas, not Kentucky.

[mlegrand]

Wow, Vox has really jumped the shark with the advertising.

[arsalan]

It rains 8/12 months in Vancouver. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[SnapshotOfASoul]

As someone from the area, our film industry is a local point of pride. I love pointing out local locations in movies and TV to others!