There is such a critical need for studio space in Vancouver that no vacant building is safe from the big lights, set builders and cameras of the 30-odd film and television crews working every day here this summer.

Production volumes are on pace for another record-shattering year, with total budgets in b.c. expected to reach the $1 billion mark in 1997. That translates into a lot of film footage and some rather rare square footage.

Non-traditional studio space ­ a fancy phrase for vacant warehouses ­ has increased capacity by about 200% over the past year with about 18 to 20 facilities regularly booked.

For example, Mastermind, the new Columbia Picture release produced by Pacific Motion Pictures of Vancouver, shot at the old Crane toilet factory in suburban Coquitlam. And the new nbc series Sleepwalkers begins shooting in an old Acklands distribution center.

Dennis Rudd, a busy agent of 10 properties, says demand continues to grow for space in the Vancouver area.

He’s recently acquired the right to market a former tennis complex ­ with 25,000 square feet of staging space ­ as WC Studio, home currently to commercials but soon to host either the feature Jane or the feature Ground Zero.

‘My business quadrupled last year and doubled the year before that,’ says Rudd about the hectic pace. ‘I’ve got tenants making five-year commitments to space.’

The company in which he is a partner ­ Meyer Worldwide Intermedia ­ is about to spend $17 million to add to its A-Frame Studio in Delta. Already a 64,000-square-foot soundstage and a base for Eaters of the Dead, the one-time wood chip plant will be increased to a total of 200,000 square feet once construction that began the first of August is completed in time for peak production next summer.

Also, Meyer is adding 40,000 square feet of office space, 40,000 square feet of additional soundstages and 20,000 to 40,000 in construction bays on the 68-acre site. Meyer will soon list on the nasdaq junior exchange.

Other than the studio grand plan in Delta, there has been little activity in the development of purpose-built studios, unless you count Paramount’s new retrofitted, 166,000-square-foot, three-storey warehouse complex at Bentall and Grandview Highway. The Paramount Studio Complex has a five-year lease and is dedicated to Paramount shows such as Sentinel and Viper.

The government-run Bridge Studios in Burnaby and the private-sector North Shore Studios in North Vancouver continue to have as much work as they can handle. The Bridge Studio has recently opened a combined Studio 5/6 of 25,000 square feet to be home to the new Stargate series.

Other proposed purpose-built studios are still on the planning boards, but very slow to materialize.

Trillium Corporation ­ based in Washington State ­ allowed a rezoning application for land it owns near downtown Vancouver to expire at the end of July. The submission for an area called False Creek Flats was to include (as one of many components) a studio complex of a single purpose-built soundstage of 30,000 square feet and two of 15,000 square feet each.

City planner Richard Johnson says he’s been pulled off the Trillium file ‘because it’s dormant. It d’esn’t mean the project is dead, but Trillium will have to make a new application for rezoning,’ explains Johnson.

In Surrey, one of the fastest growing cities in b.c., the city council is still waiting for a formal plan for an ambitious 10-studio complex proposed by the owners of scrap yard lands on Scott Road.

Surrey business development officer Linda Hepner says the project, which was to have its groundbreaking this summer, has been delayed at least a year while the backers work out the financing. She notes that the process from the city’s perspective will be short since the land is properly zoned already.

Rick Scott, who monitors studio space for the B.C. Film Commission, says there is a constant need to scout new space. While most of the mows work entirely on location, the growth of features and series means increased stage capacity is an ever-pressing concern.

He says the investment in new stages in Delta and the proposals for False Creek and Surrey indicate the level of confidence in the film industry. And Scott adds that there are three other groups planning three separate studio complexes in the Lower Mainland. While declining to give specifics, he says the developers have identified the properties and are crunching the numbers.

‘They recognize the growth in the business and think it’s going to continue,’ says Scott.