Afew weeks after scenes were filmed at Lampson Elementary School for the Lifetime miniseries Seven Deadly Sins, another movie crew has set its sights on Esquimalt.

It's yet more excitement in the township that has just seen an Olympic torch bearer sprinting past the Esquimalt Inn, and Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, prompting double-takes as they cruised up Esquimalt Road.

The cameras are rolling this week at Saxe Point Park and the English Inn, formerly the Olde England Inn, for Among Friends, a mystery-drama starring Gabrielle Anwar (Scent of a Woman) and Craig Sheffer (A River Runs Through It).

The made-for-TV Hallmark feature centres on a group of old college gal pals who reunite for a wedding shower at a luxurious bed-and-breakfast getaway. The mystery kicks in when someone ends up dead. Was it an accident -- or murder?

"It's a story about the relationships between these women," said director Walter Klenhard, a seasoned actor, writer and filmmaker whose credits include penning Buried Alive II and episodes of B.L. Stryker and directing My Neighbour's Keeper.

The film, which also stars Thea Gill (Queer as Folk), Susan Hogan (Battlestar Galactica), Venus Terzo (The Guard), Sarah Jane Redmond (Smallville) and Carrie Genzel (Watchmen), takes place in autumn in and around a northern California tourist town.

Executive-produced by Front Street Productions' Harvey Kahn, it's being made by the same team that recently filmed Freshman Father, another Hallmark feature that saw Fernwood Square posing as Cambridge, Mass., and covered with snow.

"It's a 15-day shoot, just like our last one," production manager Allen Lewis said. "Except there's no snow in this one."

Also being featured are Bon Rouge bistro, the Union Club, Victoria Conference Centre, a barn on Finlayson Arm Road and a particularly coveted location rarely used in feature films -- the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

"The locations are great," Klenhard said. "I can't say enough about how co-operative and helpful people have been. I'd bring a movie back here in a heartbeat."

While insiders say scoring the art gallery was a coup, gallery director of development Mark Loria said the facility is not off-limits.

"It has nothing to do with the company or the calibre of a film," Loria said. "We have certain criteria, and they met it."

Gallery executive director Jon Tupper said his philosophy is "the more people who use the gallery, the better."

Permission is granted if the timing is right, the space required is available and the filmmakers respect the artwork, he said.

"You couldn't even tell they were around," said Tupper, reflecting on the aftermath of an art auction scene filmed there.

Among Friends is also getting a warm welcome at its principal location on Lampson Street. The English Inn, under new ownership, includes a Samuel McLure-designed Tudor revival home, beautiful gardens, the award-winning Rosemeade Bistro, a replica of an Elizabethan street and Anne Hathaway's Cottage.

Filming will take place in the wedding garden, the front area of its historic Manor House, and on a replica of the carriage house roof, said manager Justine Till. The inn's other buildings and restaurant will be open during filming.

The five-acre property has faced the cameras before, most recently for The Tax Man, a documentary about Revenue Canada.

A decade ago, when it was Olde England Inn, the resort also masqueraded as the English town of Dingwald for The Duke, a family comedy starring John Neville and James Doohan about a bloodhound that inherits a kindly Duke's English estate.

Although she said her staff is excited, Till has grown accustomed to cinematic chaos.

"This is old hat for me. My family's in the industry," laughed Till, daughter of Canadian filmmaker Eric Till (Duct Tape Forever, Bethune).

Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, who met the Victoria Film Commission a few years ago to promote the township as a location, was elated when she heard the movie would be made in the municipality, which kicks in funding to the commission.

"I think it's super for Esquimalt. They're seeing that our little town has that potential," she said.

"There are a lot of events that go on here that don't even hit the radar."

mreid@tc.canwest.com