We live in a pretty place.
“British Columbia, baby!”
A popular American actor has been roaming around B.C.— and he sounds pretty stoked about it.
Joshua Duhamel recently shared a video of himself crossing over a churning river on the Hell’s Gate Suspension Bridge. After announcing the province with glee, he shouts “Hell’s Gate” over the rapids.
In a previous Instagram post, the model-turned-actor shared a video from Metro Vancouver.
“I just want to say, ‘Hello.’ I am sitting here in the middle of this beautiful park, outside of a town called Maple Ridge near Vancouver. I’m shooting a movie called Runaway. It’s so beautiful out here,” he explained.
Crystal Falls Productions Inc. is filming Runaway in the area until July 20, according to Creative BC. James Clayton directs the feature film.
Duhamel has starred in several films and TV shows, including playing Captain/Lieutenant Colonel William Lennox in the Transformers franchise. Notably, he’s also the ex-husband of pop superstar and former Black Eyed Peas member Fergie.
Metro Vancouver filming locations: Maple Ridge experiencing film boom
Hollywood North doesn’t neatly fit into one portion of the Lower Mainland. Sure, many big productions film scenes in big cities, utilizing our elegant hotels, cool cafés, eclectic bars, swanky restaurants, and stunning waterfront backdrop, but they also like to venture into the wild. Luckily, B.C. doesn’t have a shortage of awe-inspiring forests to shoot in.
Maple Ridge is reaping the benefits of the outdoorsy shoot call, “experiencing a record-breaking year for film production, with more than double the number of shoot days compared to the same time last year,” according to a news release.
In total, the city has recorded 260 shoot days, up from 116 during the same period in 2025. Additionally, it has recorded 506 total film activity days, including prep and wrap days, compared to 188 last year.
What does that mean money-wise?
The city reports an “estimated $7.62 million in local economic impact, nearly triple the $2.68 million generated during the same period last year.”
Another 10 to 12 productions are underway in Maple Ridge in July, which is “largely by a significant increase in episodic television production,” according to the city.
The city shouted out Duhamel for praising it to his sizable Instagram following of 2.5 million, noting that he was in Allco Park for filming.