Northern Ontario can look forward to a steady flow of film projects over the next three years thanks to a deal between Sudbury’s Hideaway Pictures and the Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA).
The $100-million, multi-picture deal brings more projects to an already booming regional industry.
Hideaway and the MPCA, best known for its contributions to the Hallmark Channel, teamed up in March, motivated by financial incentives like Northern Ontario Heritage Fund opportunities and federal and provincial tax credits. But it was also due to the success of the first episode, the Flower Shop Mysteries. The mini-series, filmed in North Bay, had the most popular premiere in the Hallmark Channel’s history.
“This deal basically brings a steady influx of work to Northern Ontario,” said David Joseph Anselmo, Hideaway’s founder and CEO. Around 72 per cent of the crew on their projects is from Northern Ontario, and jobs have cropped up to support it.
Micheline Blais was born in Sudbury, and studied nursing at Cambrian in the 1990s. When she moved out West in 1995, she worked on short films for some time, but couldn’t support herself. Fortunately, she had the nursing degree and worked in health care for over a decade. Blais moved back home in 2005 but always wanted to get back into film. In 2012, opportunity came knocking when she went out as an extra on a show being shot locally.
“I met with David and he suggested doing some casting.”
Four years later, she has a full-time business doing just that. More than 75 per cent of her work is with Hideaway Pictures.
“To date, we’ve hired over 4,000 extras,” said Blais. “I’ll get substitute teachers who are looking to supplement their incomes, retirees, limited pensions, seasonal contract employees with the city — it’s made a huge impact.”
Blais said the new film deal is not a surprise, but reassuring.
“It solidifies the fact that we’re going to be here for a while,” said Blais. “We’re a mining town, there’s a downturn and a lot of economic challenges; it’s reassuring to know that there’s another industry happening simultaneously.”
The economic impact extends beyond the film projects.
“It touches every part of industry,” said Anselmo. “On any given film, we are spending millions and it trickles down.”
With the Flower Shop Mysteries, $50,000
was spent with local florists. On another project, $20,000 was spent
at a local restaurant to feed cast and crew, thus allowing the
restaurant to make renovations.
Anselmo formed Hideaway Pictures
and his Northern Ontario Film Studio in 2011, after years of acting
in Europe and South Korea.
Anselmo said there’s just one thing he’s working on next: skilled labour. “We need it now, and we’re developing it.”
