Kanika Kumar
Netflix’s ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ follows the adventures of five small-town middle school girls — Kristy, Stacey, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Dawn — who run a babysitting club. It is based on Ann M. Martin’s novel series of the same name. Created for television by Rachel Shukert, it revolves around the girls and their discovery of friendship, identity, independence, and kindness. Praised for its unabashed devotion to the source material as well as to social issues not regularly dealt with by preteen shows, ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ is a heartwarming comedy guaranteed to make fans smile.
Featuring great performances by Sophie Grace, Momona Tamada, and Xochitl Gomez, amongst others, the series is also lauded for its bright and colorful settings as it is set in the 21st century but has a throwback touch of the vibe of the 1990s — the time period of the source material. Additionally, the rooms of the main characters represent their personalities, with the tiniest of details a nod to their interests and beliefs.
Without going overboard, the series realistically portrays the importance of spaces and their association with self-expression, social hierarchy, and family dynamics. So, where does this visually pleasing and cheerful world of ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ come to life? Here’s everything you need to know about ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ filming locations.
The Baby-Sitters Club Filming Locations
‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ revolves around middle schoolers who live and start their babysitting business in fictional Stoneybrook, Connecticut — a close-knit, suburban town that flawlessly works as a backdrop for the girls’ adventures with friendship and business. However, fans might be surprised to know that the show didn’t go to Connecticut at all! In fact, the fictional town of Stoneybrook comes to life in Vancouver, Canada. Filming of the second season took place for three months and concluded in April 2021. Let’s dive into the details of this filming location.
Vancouver, British Columbia
‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ is filmed in Vancouver in British Columbia. Producer and director Lucia Aniello pointed out that the fictional street of Bradford Court, where most of the girls live, needed a certain New England feel that Vancouver managed to provide. “We wanted it to have ‘New England realness’ but also feel like it had a good variety of houses since canonically Kristy lives in a smaller house and Mary Anne and Claudia in slightly nicer houses. We tried to keep all the streets and intersections accurate as well, using a Stoneybrook map,” she said. Talk about effort!
With its top-notch studios, diverse landscape, and ability to accurately visually represent American cities and towns, Vancouver is one of the most sought-after filming locations in the world. The beneficial government tax credits, excellent infrastructure, and geographical variety available in the city, as well as Canada at large, attract big streaming giants like Netflix for production.
What about the gorgeous rooms of the girls? Well, they are all sets! The production team put in an insane amount of effort to make the rooms feel authentic, lived-in, and representative of the girls’ identities. Despite not being in real houses, the rooms manage to portray not only a sense of realism but also a larger connection to the girls’ diverse families.
As for all the pool party, house-hopping, and camping scenes, the elegant neighborhoods and greenery of Vancouver delivered. Netflix even acknowledged its reliance on Canadian provinces like British Columbia with a short video, pointing out that the visual diversity of the country allows one to experience “gorgeous views,” “energy of the big cities,” and take “a breather by visiting a small town.” Thus, it comes as no surprise that one of Canada’s major cities, Vancouver, affectionately called Hollywood North, acted as the ideal spot for the filming of ‘The Baby-Sitters Club.’
Read More: Is The Baby-Sitters Club a True Story?
