Cameras have started to roll in Okanagan, B.C., for Caitlyn Sponheimer’s feature film Wild Goat Surf.

Written, directed, and produced by Sponheimer (pictured) alongside producers Warren Sulatycky (Jasmine Road) of Toronto and Calgary-based Raging River Films and Mike Johnston (N’xaxaitkw) of Vancouver’s Studio 104 Entertainment, Wild Goat Surf started production on Aug. 22 and will finish in Tofino on Vancouver Island on Sept. 27. Sulatycky, Abubakar Salim (Raised by Wolves) and Dyllón Burnside (Pose) serve as executive producers.

The coming-of-age drama is financed with the support of Telefilm Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), Creative BC and Surgent Productions with a budget range of $1 million to $2.5 million.

Bell Media holds Canadian distribution rights with plans for an English and French release on Super Écran, CTV and its streaming platform, Crave, “after its film festival and theatrical run,” according to a press release.

Sponheimer is a Calgary-based filmmaker and actress who has worked with Sulatycky before: she served as a coproducer, co-screenwriter and lead in April in Autumn, and producer and co-star in Jasmine Road. In 2019, she received a Directors Guild of Canada nomination for her debut feature, Kitty’s Naughty Knickers. She can also be seen in Prime Video’s The Boys and CTV’s Transplant.

Wild Goat Surf follows a 12-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a surfer. It stars Sponheimer, Burnside, Shayelin Martin (Workin’ Moms), and Leandro Guedes (Lost Ollie).

Photo of Caitlyn Sponheimer taken by Andréanne Gauthier