The City of Greater Sudbury hopes a new bylaw can streamline the process for film productions applying for shooting permits around town.
The city has a bylaw in place for film indusry permits, but it dates back to 2005.
“Since then, we’ve had a whole lot more filming,” said Emily Trottier, a business development officer with the city’s economic development department.
In fact, the city estimates that since 2012 direct local spending from film and television projects in Sudbury has totaled more than $45 million.
One issue the film industry faces, said Trottier, is that it can be unpredictable.
A production could get all the filming permits it needs from the city, but poor weather could delay shooting to the next day.
Under the current system, productions would need to apply for those permits all over again. “Ideally, it would be a lot more streamlined for us as staff for us to work with those changes” said Trottier.
The draft bylaw also accommodates different lead times before film crews are ready to shoot.
Some film shoots involve just a couple of trucks parked on the side of the road to get a quick shot, said Trottier, while the other extreme is complicated shoots that require stunt work and can shut down an entire street.
Under the new draft bylaw, more simple film shoots would’t require as much advance notice for permits from the city as the more complicated shooting days.
Trottier said that overall, feedback from the local film sector has been positive, but there’s always room for improvement.
“Although we don’t have this film bylaw in place yet, we’ve been trying to work within existing policies and bylaws to make sure they do have a good experience and turn around things in a timely way,” she said.
Last summer movie productions in the City of Greater Sudbury included “Born to be Blue,” featuring Ethan Hawke, based on the life of jazz musician Chet Baker, as well as the Hallmark movie “30th Birthday” featuring Dean Cain.
Local productions have also been underway. In August, Flickering Pictures began shooting its horror-comedy THC+.
