Seattle loses out on HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ season two filming to Vancouver

SEATTLE — A popular video game turned TV show’s second season is likely to be set in Seattle, but it won’t be filmed in the Emerald City.

On Friday, the mayor of Vancouver, B.C. confirmed that season two of HBO’s hit drama “The Last of Us” will be filmed there.

“The biggest show on television today will be moving its production to Vancouver for their next season. This is yet another sign of the strength of Vancouver’s film and television sector,” wrote Mayor Ken Sim on Twitter.

The show’s first season, which showed its protagonists traveling across a post-apocalyptic United States, was primarily filmed in Calgary, Alberta.

Fans of the video game know that a significant part of its sequel, “The Last of Us Part II,” takes place in the Pacific Northwest and features many prominent Seattle locations, including the Space Needle, Lumen Field and the Seattle Aquarium.

“I hope that ‘The Last of Us’ is the last time this will happen. We need to have film and TV series that are set in Seattle produced in Seattle,” said Seattle Councilmember Sara Nelson.

Nelson is one of several city leaders working towards strengthening the city’s film and television industry in the city.

Last September, she sponsored legislation to create a Seattle Film Commission, just a few months after a bill that increases funding for the state’s Motion Picture Competitiveness Program was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee.

“We are being outcompeted by other cities in the U.S. and Vancouver because they are able to offer incentives to production companies,” said Nelson. “We now have $15 million of incentives that the legislature passed last year. That’s only one side of the story though. The other things that cities can do is cut red tape, make it easier to make film in Seattle, and that’s also what the film commission will be focusing on.”

The nomination process for the film commission ended last month. The selected nominees are expected to be presented to the council later this month.

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