Newly released Netflix Original places Victoria locations centre stage

Looking for something kind of local to add to the watch list?

Netflix’s new teen drama Crew Girl premiered on September 10th, bringing several recognizable Greater Victoria locations to screens around the world.

The eight-episode series is a teen sports drama, centred on a talented female rower attending a new school whose life is upended by a family scandal.

In Crew Girl, the protagonist Teagan Tao (Miku Martineau) relocates to a fictional New England town. The fictional town features waterfront and city locations in Victoria and Sidney.

The show also features Easton Prep, a preparatory school portrayed by the famous Hatley Castle. The  40-room mansion built in 1908 and features the decadent halls and stairwells that one would expect of a fancy preparatory school.

The estate is a favoured location for many directors and producers, and has been used as a setting for several high-profile series and films, including in The Descendents and as Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in the X-Men films.

With the show centered around rowing, many of Victoria’s world-class waterways take centre stage.

The Gorge Waterway and Elk/Beaver Lake are renowned for their ideal rowing conditions and are used by high level rowers daily, and Crew Girl made use of those waters for much of the rowing scenes in the series.

Eight-person boats were used in many of the show’s shots—a feat made difficult by the length of the vessels, many of which measure upwards of 60 feet long.

It’s an ambitious decision by the show’s directors, but one that many in Greater Victoria will appreciate as they recognize familiar waterways in the shots.

Recognizing Victoria and the surrounding location on television sets and on the big screen has become the norm for residents of the city, and it’s not without good reason.

Victoria truly is a beautiful city, and deserves to be shown off.

Will you be watching Crew Girl? Let us know in the comments below!