KAWARTHA LAKES-Four years ago Josh Paragas was at Fleming College in Peterborough studying to be a gas technician. Today he’s back in the city filming a Netflix movie.
Paragas, a Pickering native, is a location scout for Netflix, working on a movie called Awake. “When it came to us trying to find something logistically to support the needs of our film, Peterborough was one of the first places I thought of.” Paragas told Kawartha 411. “It comes full circle some times.”
Paragas was laid off from a job in Peterborough about three years ago and looking for another gas fitting job when he was offered a position on a movie set. “I fell in love with it and never looked back.” he says.
Approximately 100 cast and crew are on the two day shoot in Peterborough. Paragas says they will be filming some critical crash scenes in the Little Lake area.
Local hotels and restaurants are benefitting from the influx. “We are staying at the Holiday Inn and the Quality Inn and as far as food goes our people will go crazy as soon as they get out of here.” Paragas explains. “They will be up and down the downtown strip. That’s one good thing about film crews is when we come in we like to buy stuff, spend our money.”
They are also employing a number of locals for the shoot. “We do employ a number of people in the City of Peterborough especially in my department, locations, we actually have a few residents who we have employed for the week.”
The movie is a science fiction thriller starring Gina Rodriguez who won a Golden Globe for her lead role in the sitcom “Jane the Virgin,”
The premise of the story is that a sudden global event wipes out all electronics and takes away the ability for humans to sleep and chaos quickly begins to take over the world. Rodriguez’s character may hold key to the cure.
More movies could be coming to Peterborough if Paragas is involved. “I love Peterborough and I am happy to have been welcomed here with open arms. The support that we’ve felt here has been extremely generous, I’d love to be able to come back here and employ more people.”