Antitrust (film) - Production - Locations

Locations

Principal photography for Antitrust took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, and California.

Stanley Park in Vancouver served as the grounds for Gary Winston's house, although the gate house at its entrance was faux. The exterior of Winston's house itself was wholly computer-generated; only the paved walkway and body of water in the background are physically present in the park. For later shots of Winston and Hoffman walking along a beach near the house, the CG house was placed in the background of Bowen Island, the shooting location. Catherine Hardwicke designed the interior sets for Winston's house, which featured several different units, or "pods", e.g., personal, work, and recreation units. No scenes take place in any of the personal areas, however; only public areas made it to the screen. While the digital paintings in Winston's home were created with green screen technology, the concept was based on technology that was already available in the real world. The characters even refer to Bill Gates' house which, in real life, had such art. The paintings which appeared for Hoffman were of a cartoon character, "Alien Kitty", developed by Floyd Hughes specifically for the film.

Simon Fraser University's Burnaby campus stood in for external shots of NURV headquarters.

The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia (UBC) was used for several internal locations. The centre's foyer area became the NURV canteen; the set decoration for which was inspired by Apple's canteen, which the producers saw during a visit to their corporate headquarters. The inside of the Chan—used for concerts—served as the shape for "The Egg", or "The NURV Center", where Hoffman's cubicle is located. Described as "a big surfboard freak" by Director Peter Howitt, Production Designer Catherine Hardwicke surrounded "The Egg" set with surfboards mounted to the walls; "The idea was to make NURV a very cool looking place." Both sets for NURV's Building 21 were also on UBC's campus. The internal set was an art gallery on campus, while the exterior was built for the film on the university's grounds. According to Howitt, UBC students kept attempting to steal the Building 21 set pieces.

Hoffman and Poulson's new home — a real house in Vancouver — was a "very tight" shooting location and a very rigorous first week for shooting because, as opposed to a set, the crew could not move the walls. The painting in the living room is the product of a young Vancouver artist, and was purchased by Howitt as his first piece of art.

The new Skullbocks office was a real loft, also in Vancouver, on Beatty Street.