UPDATED: 1:50 p.m.

Friday's outbreak of new COVID-19 cases in Kelowna is another reminder of how important it is for film crews to maintain paramount safety procedures during production, says line director Ingo Lou. 

"For us it’s really important that as a film crew that we take this stuff very seriously, because if there’s ever any kind of outbreak with respect to the film industry, it’s going to adversely affect our ability to keep on working in this town.

"I know that it’s not just local's eyes on us, but the entire film industry really is counting on other film professionals to do the job right, make sure that everyone’s kept safe and that we can continue to do our work."

Building up the film community in Kelowna is another element of what they're trying to achieve with the 'Love and Romance Oregon' film, he says.

More than half of the crew working on this film comes from the Kelowna area, and Lou hopes that percentage will increase in the future for movies being made in the Okanagan. 

The romantic comedy is set in the fictitious town of Romance Oregon and follows the story of a young protagonist who is interested in converting a farm into a wedding venue but faces significant local opposition to her idea. 

It is set to be completed within the next three months, and will hopefully be sold to Hallmark. 

ORIGINAL: 11:20 a.m.

Reel One Entertainment crew members are on site in downtown Kelowna Monday as they head into the final days of filming for the upcoming movie 'Love and Romance Oregon.'

Crews will film at Karat Chocolate and Pastry Boutique on Monday, and on Tuesday will return to a Casorso Road farm location before wrapping up filming on Wednesday.

The romantic comedy is set to be completed within the next three months, but has been considerably slowed down by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Line producer Ingo Lou says they're constantly adapting safety and hygiene practices on set to ensure they are able to continue with production in the COVID-19 era. 

"Making movies is difficult enough on the best of days. You add a pandemic to it all and we need to change how we work.

"The biggest change is of course you see everybody wearing masks, but in addition everybody in the mornings they go through a check point where everyone gets a temperature taken, health declaration for COVID-19 ... in addition we have safety meetings a couple of times a day from our assistant director who assesses all the risks, talks to all of the crew, the cast, makes sure everyone has a good plan for that."

Lou says they have also established a new department called the COVID-19 sterile technician, ensuring there are staff responsible for sterilizing everything on set multiple times a day.

In addition to 'Love and Romance Oregon,' the company has another eight TV films scheduled to be produced in Kelowna by the end of 2020.