# When is L.A. cheaper than Vancouver? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021 "2018-03-22T14:11:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Flying\_Saucer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Flying\_Saucer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flying_Saucer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021/1 "2018-03-22T14:11:39Z")
I’m a fan of _Timeless_ on NBC. The show’s first season had middling ratings, so NBC canceled it…and then un-canceled it three days later. The second season just premiered. One change the network made was to move production from Vancouver to Los Angeles. I don’t understand the strategy. If the show barely qualified for renewal, surely the cost/benefit analysis was that it cost too much. How was NBC improving that equation by bringing the show to the US, which – supposedly – has higher production and labor costs? Isn’t that why so many expensive sci-fi shows shoot in Canada? If not, why was _Timeless_ based in Canada in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021/2 "2018-03-22T16:05:05Z")
When you receive a [$9.9 million tax credit](http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/timeless-relocating-california-tax-credit-1202482741/). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021/3 "2018-03-23T00:38:50Z")
It appears that _The X-Files_ moved in its last season from Vancouver to Los Angeles just because David Duchovny wanted to stay closer to his family. It didn’t help in the long run. The marriage broke up anyway: > **[The X-Files (season 6)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X-Files_(season_6))** > > The sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on November 8, 1998, concluding on the same channel on May 16, 1999, and consisted of twenty-two episodes. The season continued from the 1998 feature film and focused heavily on FBI federal agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully's (Gillian Anderson) separation from the X-Files Division and the demise of the Syndicate—a "shadow government" group attempting t... ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021/4 "2018-03-23T01:00:24Z")
Related question. We just watched a movie set in Seattle. It clearly wasn’t Seattle. (it was Vancouver BC). But they put Washington plates on the cars, altered a few street signs, and the main character was wearing a Mariners hat. They mentioned Seattle a few times, but the location was completely irrelevant to the movie (a romantic comedy about a young man battling cancer) Why not just set the film in Vancouver? It would have been exactly the same movie. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021/5 "2018-03-23T01:43:52Z")
Because the US has ten times more people, and more of them buy tickets when it says Seattle? ETA: or it’s even suspected that they might… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021/6 "2018-03-23T02:06:50Z")
I presume you’re talking about the movie _50/50_. It’s based on a true story. I presume the true story happened in Seattle. If that’s the case, then maybe the filmmakers wanted to keep the setting in Seattle even though it was cheaper to film it in Vancouver. And, as DavidwithanR mentioned, they knew they would get a bigger audience if they set it in Seattle. It was weird for me recently to see the movie _Every Day_. The novel, which I’ve read, is set in Maryland. The movie is set in Maryland too. For instance, one scene is set in the library in Laurel, Maryland, which I’ve driven by many times. The movie was filmed in Canada though. The lead character, who is supposed to be American, was played by an Australian actress. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021/7 "2018-03-23T03:19:01Z")
I had the opposite experience a number of years ago, watching the movie “Away We Go” with Maya Rudolph. One part of the story is set in Montreal. However, it was filmed in Connecticut. Needless to say, it looked nothing whatever like Montreal. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021/8 "2018-03-23T06:59:15Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Related question. We just watched a movie set in Seattle. It clearly wasn’t Seattle. (it was Vancouver BC). But they put Washington plates on the cars, altered a few street signs, and the main character was wearing a Mariners hat. They mentioned Seattle a few times, but the location was completely irrelevant to the movie (a romantic comedy about a young man battling cancer) Why not just set the film in Vancouver? It would have been exactly the same movie. I’m assuming it’s because when the outline/script is written it had a specific location in mind and obviously the producers decided to not shoot it on location to save money. So rather than completely change the script to take the new location into account its easier to just pretend it’s the original location. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021/9 "2018-03-23T13:59:41Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Why not just set the film in Vancouver? It would have been exactly the same movie. [Vancouver never plays itself](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojm74VGsZBU). ---
**Author:** ![Flying\_Saucer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Flying\_Saucer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flying_Saucer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-l-a-cheaper-than-vancouver/811021/10 "2018-03-23T15:21:58Z")
Well, that settles it 🙂