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hper said:
The Point: There was some discussion on Rob going to L.A. to talk up 'Hollywood North. Johnny Au is probably pointing out a reason why production might choose Toronto as a location. He used that lowest level of Bay Station as an example.

Having used it for production myself, I will attest to its utility in that regard. It's an otherwise unused asset that the TTC in fact can use as a distinct profit engine.

Plus, why be such a dick?
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It's funny how every 20 pages things go off on some weird tangent; remember when people were talking about God and religion?!

Seriously, this whole thing is silly. Since Pinewood Studios opened, Toronto has become a huge production centre. Vancouver no doubt still has some big productions (e.g. Man of Steel) but overall I think it's fair to see more "Hollywood" money is spent here these days. (A lot of people here also read Torontoist so the column there about movies shot here comes to mind too). Hollywood North has been applied to both cities and a pissing contest about it is really pointless.

To sum up, I think it's pretty obvious the mayor is not on some economic development mission while strolling Sunset boulevard handing out business cards. he made it up, the same way he makes everything else up. There are people in the TO Film Office and the OMDC who do this sort of work for real and dignifying his ramblings with a pointless discussion is just nutty.
 
hper said:
The Point: There was some discussion on Rob going to L.A. to talk up 'Hollywood North. Johnny Au is probably pointing out a reason why production might choose Toronto as a location. He used that lowest level of Bay Station as an example.

Having used it for production myself, I will attest to its utility in that regard. It's an otherwise unused asset that the TTC in fact can use as a distinct profit engine.

Plus, why be such a dick?
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A production would not choose Toronto just because of the subway station. They would simply pack up and go to the subway station, doing the rest wherever makes sense for them in terms of location, cost, etc.

It's not an 'otherwise unused asset', it's an important piece of track, but the actual platform is mostly used for filming, that's true.

As for being a dick, I can't comment on dickishness that I have not seen or does not exist.
 
euler said:
a production would not choose toronto just because of the subway station. They would simply pack up and go to the subway station, doing the rest wherever makes sense for them in terms of location, cost, etc.

It's not an 'otherwise unused asset', it's an important piece of track, but the actual platform is mostly used for filming, that's true.

as for being a dick, i can't comment on dickishness that i have not seen or does not exist.
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lolol!!
 
TJ O'Pootertoot said:
It's funny how every 20 pages things go off on some weird tangent; remember when people were talking about God and religion?!

Seriously, this whole thing is silly. Since Pinewood Studios opened, Toronto has become a huge production centre. Vancouver no doubt still has some big productions (e.g. Man of Steel) but overall I think it's fair to see more "Hollywood" money is spent here these days. (A lot of people here also read Torontoist so the column there about movies shot here comes to mind too). Hollywood North has been applied to both cities and a pissing contest about it is really pointless.

To sum up, I think it's pretty obvious the mayor is not on some economic development mission while strolling Sunset boulevard handing out business cards. he made it up, the same way he makes everything else up. There are people in the TO Film Office and the OMDC who do this sort of work for real and dignifying his ramblings with a pointless discussion is just nutty.
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just by the by, do you know how MANY large studios we have in Vancouver? Acres and acres large, each? :)
 
Jimmi T said:
So a clearer picture is emerging as to what cops are investigating Ford for. They're apparently focusing solely on proving that Ford conspired with Sandro to extort those guys for the video, and they're pretty close to wrapping that up. They have a range of other leads that Giroux wants to pursue after, thus his comment that in his opinion there's still a lot of work to do.
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I've always thought that conspiracy to commit extortion was an obvious charge. It's just not credible that Lisi would have acted without RoFo's knowledge and approval. And what would Lisi's motive have been, if not that Ford put him up to it.
 
euler said:
I always thought "Hollywood North" was Vancouver.

Such an arbitrary title though. Just like Waterloo is supposed to be "Silicon Valley North" - yeah right...
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Yeah, you blew that one, too. W'loo et alis the 'tech triangle.' Kanata, back in the day, was SVN.
 
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Johnny Au said:
In fact, the TTC at one point can quickly transform Bay Lower station into a generic New York City subway station, right down to the mosaic subway station signs and advertising, until the TTC had to scrap them due to safety concerns.

Bay Lower provides an authentic subway scene without interrupting the rest of the subway system.
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Quick point of fact: the TTC has nothing to do with transforming Lower Bay into a NYC or Chicago station, other than agree to rent the facility out and having a representative deal with the production location manager, who in turn is the liason for the production company that wants to shoot down there. All the signage and dressing is done by the production companies themselves. As a graphic designer I've done NYC subway graphics for Lower Bay at least twice now - that means both greeking over of existing "hard" signs and doing our own subway-related signs to place them to camera. Set dressers dress it in, scenic painters age it down and grunge it up. Sometimes even garbage gets dressed in. After shooting, the production company is contractually obliged to take it all down and restore the station to its former state.

I wouldn't call Lower Bay a profit generator for the TTC, seeing as they are always operating at a loss to begin with. But it does help offset some expenses, albeit in a fairly modest way.

If I recall correctly, there's also a lower "ghost" station at Queen and Yonge, if I recall. But no shooting goes on there. Perhaps it's because it's not as finished? I don't know.
 
Parker said:
just by the by, do you know how MANY large studios we have in Vancouver? Acres and acres large, each? :)
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Sigh. We already had a punch of studios. Pinewood was specifically built to capture larger productions (e.g. Pacific Rim, Total Recall) that the city couldn't previously handle. I'm not slamming Vancouver or claiming sole possession of "Hollywood North." We got the first X-Men, you got the second; we're all on the same team here. :)

Lenser said:
If I recall correctly, there's also a lower "ghost" station at Queen and Yonge, if I recall. But no shooting goes on there. Perhaps it's because it's not as finished? I don't know.
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The Queen station is not nearly as finsihed- the TTC actually put up a video this week with Andy Byford touring both stations. Unless your movie is set almost entirely in a station, you're not bringing your production here just for that. It's merely one of many neat potential facilities. That said, it does get used a lot.

facepalming_brooklynite said:
I've always thought that conspiracy to commit extortion was an obvious charge. It's just not credible that Lisi would have acted without RoFo's knowledge and approval. And what would Lisi's motive have been, if not that Ford put him up to it.
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I think it's fair to infer that this is precisely the case the police have been trying to work against him. It's a much more logical connection than distribution of drugs, the Smith shooting or even the jailhouse beating. There is NO reason for Lisi to be so actively engaged on his own, especially given that we know about his previous transaction to retrieve Ford's cellphone. Proving it beyond a reasonable doubt is the catch.
 
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TJ O'Pootertoot said:
Sigh. We already had a punch of studios. Pinewood was specifically built to capture larger productions (e.g. Pacific Rim, Total Recall) that the city couldn't previously handle. I'm not slamming Vancouver or claiming sole possession of "Hollywood North." We got the first X-Men, you got the second; we're all on the same team here. :)
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Yeah, 777 Kipling, a former glass factory, is also huge... both features and series operate out of there. It's been a going concern for quite a few years now. That and Pinewood are probably the largest studio facilities in the GTA, but there are various places in Lesilieville, Etobicoke, Downsview, Scarborough and Mississauga where stuff gets built, lit and shot on a regular basis, with large standing sets, production offices, props and sets lockups, etc. In recent years even Hamilton gets a lot of action, especially for period stuff, thanks to its stock of substantial older brick buildings.

Sorry, thread derailment, I know - can't help myself when we're talking about the local film & tv industry, as it's offered me a decent living for a long time now.
 
Riverdale Rink Rat said:
Yeah, you blew that one, too. W'loo et alis the 'tech triangle.' Kanata, back in the day, was SVN.
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UW is my alma mater. I have definitely heard people refer to it as "Silicon Valley North" because of the high concentration of startups and co-op grads with prestigious names on their resume.
 
euler said:
UW is my alma mater. I have definitely heard people refer to it as "Silicon Valley North" because of the high concentration of startups and co-op grads with prestigious names on their resume.
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Yeah I've heard it a few times, it's rather embarrassing, the only people who would call it such know nothing about the real Silicon Valley.
 
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