Behind the Scenes - Film in Coquitlam

It’s no secret that the Lower Mainland is a major global hub of the film and television production industry. This week, from April 20-24, 2026 is BC’s Eleventh Annual Creative Industries week. The theme for this year is “Made in BC: Global Impact,” and to celebrate, this exhibit will delve into Coquitlam’s rich connections with the global filming industry, yesterday and today.

Coquitlam, a Scenic Retreat for Hollywood

While it’s common knowledge that Coquitlam has served as a striking backdrop for many productions, you might be surprised to learn that it has also served as a retreat for Hollywood talent, particularly during the golden age of cinema.

The recollections of Clara Jacobs, an actress and eventual Coquitlam resident, provide us with an invaluable insight into the Hollywood elite at leisure. Her stories were captured in Coquitlam - 100 Years: Reflections of the Past, a collection of 1990 interviews with residents of Coquitlam from 1891 – 1990.

Clara “Babe” Jacobs was born in Puebla, Mexico, and moved to Los Angeles with her family at age 15 to become an actress, under the stage name Clara Guiol. Her birth year is recorded differently (1906 or 1908) on a number of official documents, a mystery which might be explained by her note in Coquitlam – 100 Years that when she entered the industry, she claimed she was older – not 15, but 18.

Performing in dozens of short films in minor comedic roles, Clara’s contributions to the industry were prolific across the 1920s and 1930s but were, unfortunately, often uncredited. Reportedly, she was also the “Lux girl in soap advertisements for many years” (Coquitlam – 100 Years, p. 332).

Clara maintained a star-studded circle of friends, and though her parents did not “do anything in the movies,” her surviving brother, Fred Guiol, as well as her husband Carl Jacobs pursued their careers in the film industry. Clara’s brother was a director and screenwriter for much of the 1920s through the 1950s. Clara recalls Fred was “involved with Gone With the Wind and Diary of Anne Frank. He owned the places on Sunset Boulevard where they had the movies” (Coquitlam – 100 Years, p. 337).

Fred also adapted the screenplay for the film Giant (1956), starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean, from the 1952 book by Edna Ferber. For Giant, Guiol and Moffat were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and in 2005, the film was selected to be preserved in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. The film is also known for being the third and final picture James Dean starred in before his untimely death.

In 1931, Clara married Alfred Carlyle “Carl” Jacobs, a Canadian stuntman.

“Steelhead Ranch was real isolated when we first came up. We had to build our own roads, and everything, taking the rocks out of the Coquitlam River. No, we did not even have a cable car to get there. For the first few years, we didn’t even have a road. There was just bush when my husband first bought the property. He had to build the road before he could take our car up there. We had to walk at first. The place was at the end of Shaughnessy Street, and it was a bit gloomy because of the cliffs” (Coquitlam – 100 Years, p. 335).

Council minutes dated November 27, 1939 record the couple’s request for assistance with the building of this road.

While the Lodge at Steelhead Ranch originally had no electricity or running water, Carl eventually constructed a pool and a series of additional cabins, which would one day be named after their famous guests.

“My husband was very handy, and he put in the pool and built the cabin we had. We had places to play tennis and downstairs in the fishing lodge, there was a ping-pong table. You had to go down all these steps into the basement. We used to dance at night. We built these little cabins for our guests. The stars who stayed with us always had dogs and cats, lots of them, and the bears, owls, raccoons and deer around the ranch used to scare them. One of the cats was killed once. Lots of wildlife around, and I had to go out at night time and scare the owls away” (Coquitlam – 100 Years, p. 335).

Clara recollects that they had so many guests stay with them because she missed friends from Hollywood and was always on long-distance calls with friends.

“Carole Lombard stayed there. Clark Gable stayed with us, too. I remember him coming up – he and my brother liked to fish, and they liked to catch rattle snakes. Clark Gable played the piano, and I played the guitar, and we had lots of fun. Gable was so nice and he always came by himself, no girlfriends, just came to fish. He would always stay for a while. Roy Rogers showed me how to twirl a rope, lassoes. Some of the other famous people that stayed there were Will Rogers and John Wayne” (Coquitlam – 100 Years, p. 334).

Clara mentions: “Steelhead was a retreat for a lot of those stars. They wanted some private time and would come up” (Coquitlam – 100 Years, p. 334), and while guests stayed in their private cabins, everyone would eat home-cooked meals together at the Steelhead Lodge. Clara cooked for everyone from her iron stove in the Lodge, and she mentions she’d often cook up “real good waffles” and serve “wonderful steaks” for parties.

But it wasn’t just the rich and famous who enjoyed visiting the debonair couple. “People from Coquitlam, mostly kids from north Coquitlam, would come out and visit, too. The guests came out any time, summer or winter, if they wanted to camp.” In addition to being herself “a familiar sight, dressed to the nines, and tooling by in her shiny Ford roadster with the rumble seat,” Clara also mentions entertaining neighbourhood kids with her dog, Michelle – “she was the cutest dog and used to wear a hat and a skirt and dance for the kids at Halloween” (Coquitlam – 100 Years, p. 335).

To read more of Clara’s stories, see Coquitlam - 100 Years: Reflections of the Past, available for free online or in hardcopy at the Coquitlam Public Library.

Filming in Coquitlam

Today, Coquitlam’s connections to the filming industry are more direct, as our city frequently plays host to the productions themselves. Some popular productions include: Arrow, Once Upon a Time, Riverdale, Supernatural, Wayward Pines, The X Files, Stargate, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Deadpool 2, The Good Doctor, War for the Planet of the Apes … the list goes on, and on.

Multiple sites within the City of Coquitlam have been the setting of popular productions, owing to its diverse and eye-catching array of natural landscapes, urban centres as well as parks, industrial areas, historical architecture, and heritage neighbourhoods. The City of Coquitlam is also an attractive option for filming because our Film Office provides a convenient, one-stop service, liaising with production companies throughout their approval process to create an easy-as-possible experience for filmmakers.

And what does the Film Office do?

Beyond liaising with internal City departments and providing support to our local businesses and residential associations, the Film Office helps productions find the perfect location and offers personalized permitting assistance to ensure the filming process is a positive and pleasant experience. It also offers a curated list of links to logistical filming resources, including the BC Film Commission at Creative BC.

Some fun facts about Creative BC: You can find out what’s currently filming in British Columbia by checking their “In Production” page, and take a look at popular spots to film on their online Location Library. Did you know that you can even register your property or business with Creative BC as a potential filming location?

This year, Creative Industries Week falls on April 20-24. Like Creative BC, this week showcases, celebrates and supports BC's vibrant creative sectors including film/television. To celebrate, the City Archives reached out to the Film Office to compare popular filming locations today with photos of the approximate areas in the past. Check out these comparisons and the transformations of some popular locations! And that’s a wrap!

Behind the Scenes - Film in Coquitlam

Coquitlam, a Scenic Retreat for Hollywood

Filming in Coquitlam

And what does the Film Office do?

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