I had read last winter that they had done some FSOG movie filming at a small bookshop in Vancouver BC called The Paper Hound. There were just a few photos of the filming and I later found out that it was one of the first locations they used for filming. The Paper Hound Bookshop is located near the Gaslamp district where you can also find The Rainer Provisions coffee shop, Peckinpah Restaurant bike corner, Ana’s apartment bldg, Burrard Iron Works drunk bar, Jamies jogging locations and Dakotas jogging location. It seems that they used this area of downtown to duplicate the downtown areas of Portland and Seattle.

When I first heard that they used this bookshop my assumption was that it was used for filming a scene where someone would be purchasing the Tess book for Ana. When I visited them I found out that this was not the case.

I first emailed to The Paper Hound several months ago and asked for information on the filming there. The told me that the filming was done over a weekend and that they were not present during the time. I mentioned that I would love to visit them on a trip to Vancouver and they were more than welcoming.They did mention that they though the filming involved two women. Now that made me more curious.

During my trip to Vancouver in October I made it a point to visit the store myself. When I arrived a nice gentleman was at the counter. When I asked about the girl I had emailed with he said she would be at the shop in a few minutes. I took the time to walk around and take some photos. The shop itself felt like the kind of neighborhood bookshop you might find in any city. Its fairly small with floor to ceiling bookshelves lining the perimeter walls and a row of shelves running down the center of the shop. There was a childrens area to the back with colorful displays of childrens books. The front of the store had lots of shelves and displays of several different genres of books. There were big front windows looking out onto the sidewalk and street. When I told the gentleman why I was there we chatted a bit about the filming. He said that they also used the hotel above the bookshop for their hair/makeup/costume location for the actors during the filming. He also mentioned that he thought the filming was with two women. Once again I was so curious about this. When the girl arrived that I had emailed with she shared some more details. She told me about some of the shops decor that had been changed for the movie including: Changing the author name tags on the shelves to handwritten tags. Several of the light fixtures were changed out. They put up old style wood venetian blinds over the front windows.

When we were talking about the filming she then mentioned that she thought they had turned their shop into someplace that could be in the southern US. That got me thinking about Georgia. When I put that together with the filming including two women I came to the conclusion that the filming was done with Ana and her mother while they were in Georgia. I know that in the book they talk of shopping before they end up at the bar where Christian finds them. Once again another new twist for fans to be excited about.

I did find they had a copy of the book that Christian gives to Ana. They did not have any copies of Fifty Shades of Grey but thought about bringing some in for fans. They would be very welcoming to any Fifty fans so be sure to visit them. You can find The Paper Hound Bookshop online and on twitter @thepaperhound     Thank you to them for all their time and fun inside information.

UPDATE: When I visited the book shop in October the owner mentioned that when they completed the filming they had left behind these new wood slat window blinds and she was planning to throw them out. I immediately asked if she would consider giving them to me. She said yes and we arranged for her to bring them to the shop for me to pick up the next day. When I left town the next day she had forgotten them but said she would still keep them for me. When I recently was planning to return in January I emailed to see if she still had them. Luckily she did. I picked them up  in early January and brought them home. Not sure where they will go next but they are definitely a treasure from the FSOG filming. Thank you again to The Paper Hound Bookshop. Be sure to visit when your in Vancouver BC.

I believe this was taken the night of the filming. You can see the old style wood blinds in the windows.

AND HERE THEY ARE:

NOTE THE TAG: MAX AND           That refers to the FSOG code name Max and Banks they used during the filming.