Ottawa’s film commissioner says plans for a studio with multiple sound stages in the city’s west end are still in the works, but the project is being downsized in the wake of slowing Hollywood movie and TV production. Sandrine Pechels de Saint Sardos says numerous firms have expressed interest in building an indoor movie production […]
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Ottawa’s film commissioner says plans for a studio with multiple sound stages in the city’s west end are still in the works, but the project is being downsized in the wake of slowing Hollywood movie and TV production.
Sandrine Pechels de Saint Sardos says numerous firms have expressed interest in building an indoor movie production facility on a 22-acre plot of land on Woodroffe Avenue that was formerly the site of the Greenbelt Research Farm.
The film office, which is leasing the property from the National Capital Commission, put out a call for expressions of interest from potential partners last spring. It marked the latest step in a years-long campaign to bring a purpose-built, full-service film production hub to the nation’s capital.
Pechels de Saint Sardos says such a facility would generate between $40 million and $100 million in annual economic spinoffs. She says the film office has a shortlist of partners that it could potentially work with and is set to write an updated business plan and launch a new feasibility study for the project in early 2025.
“We don’t want to have (the project) fail,” she says. “Yes, it’s going slow. But frankly, when you look at history, it’s better to go slow and steady. We’re doing due diligence. We’re being transparent with the whole process. We want to make sure that (the project's) foundation is strong so that we are not going to fail this time.”
An indoor production facility has been on local film producers’ wish lists for decades but has never come to fruition.
In 2018, Toronto-based TriBro Studios floated a plan to construct four state-of-the-art sound stages at the Woodroffe Avenue site. The proposal included a “creative hub” that would feature 25,000 square feet of workshop space and 50,000 square feet of production facilities and co-working space for film, television and animation studios.
Ottawa council approved a $40-million loan to TriBro two years later, but the project ultimately fell through. When Pechels de Saint Sardos was named Ottawa’s new film commissioner in the spring of 2022, she said building an indoor production space was one of her office’s top priorities.
More than two years later, she says she remains committed to seeing the project through.
“It’s going to happen. We have great partners. I’m very happy that the NCC got us that lease, that the City of Ottawa is fully supporting us and (Ontario minister of tourism, culture and gaming Stan Cho) is supporting us as well. Whenever there are a lot of parties (involved), it takes time and effort.”
In a news release last spring, the film office laid out a vision calling for a 60,000- to 80,000-square-foot facility that would house three separate 20,000-square-foot sound stages, with the goal of making Ottawa a “full-service production haven for the film and television industry.”
