The Editor,
Re: "Storybrooke filming disruptive," Letters, March 23.
As long-time Richmond residents, my wife and I are regular visitors to Steveston and regular patrons of several of its shops. Over the last several months, having Once Upon a Time in town has been an added attraction for us. Several times now we've watched location shooting taking place.
This last Thursday, we spent the day watching filming of the first season finale, patronising several local eateries throughout the day. I also spoke to other bystanders who had made the trip out to Steveston for the express purpose of seeing Once Upon a Time shooting.
We found the entire production to be extremely gracious towards the public. It was a challenging filming day with the crew rushing to shoot a pivotal scene between bouts of hail and freezing rain. Nonetheless, while setting up shots, the director was invariably courteous towards onlookers and several times made a point of saying that we were all welcome to be there watching. Members of the crew were friendly and several cast members stepped out to visit with fans.
Once Upon a Time is an immensely successful show. Already, Steveston is generating a tremendous amount of positive online interest as the location for Storybrooke. You couldn't buy this type of spontaneous, enthusiastic, fan-based promotion. Once Upon a Time is becoming a Steveston attraction in itself, generating world-wide publicity.
Richard Scarpitti Richmond
