canarob

canarob

Senior Member
Member Bio
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
1,615
Reaction score
910
Well, this is unexpected and exciting!

It looks like the site is at 14th Ave and McDowell Gate, just south of the 407 from Downtown Markham. http://firststudiocity.com/contact/

Dmg8hFEWwAEkpid.jpg:large
 
Last edited:
This is interesting...but it does seem relatively "young.". There appears to be no renderings, no public site plan, little to no public acknowledgement (or press) and it's unclear as to whether they have asked Markham for any approvals. It will certainly be one to watch though.
 
https://www.yorkregion.com/news-sto...-film-facility-announced-for-markham-at-tiff/

400,000 sq.-ft. TV, film facility announced for Markham at TIFF
Markham Movieland, set to open 2020, will be largest studio in Canada

First Studio City is building a 400,000-square-foot film studio in the City of Markham, Mayor Frank Scarpitti announced Sept. 7.

Markham Movieland, which will be the largest studio in Canada and will include 20 sound stages, is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2020, Scarpitti said in a video he tweeted from the heart of Toronto International Film Festival celebrations.

The studio will feature a 70,000-sq.-ft. sound stage, which will be the largest single-purpose sound stage in North America, Scarpitti said.

The lot will be large enough to accommodate productions on the scale of the most recent Star Trek and James Bond films.

Scarpitti added Markham’s diversity of talent, culture and high-tech industries make the city the "right place" for the new studio.
Click to expand...
 
canarob said:
Well, this is unexpected and exciting!

It looks like the site is at 14th Ave and McDowell Gate, just south of the 407 from Downtown Markham. http://firststudiocity.com/contact/

Dmg8hFEWwAEkpid.jpg:large
Click to expand...
The aerial rendering does not match up with the street and building patterns of 14th Avenue and McDowell Gate, but it does with the northwest corner of Birchmount and McNabb, which is vacant other than for an Allstream facility at 7550 Birchmount.

42
 
Rumours about Markham or Pickering facilities have been circulating in the business for the last four or five years now. Glad to see it's now being unveiled. It'll have to be built yet, but current conditions notwithstanding, it's a good sign for the GTA's film and television industry's long term longevity. Will be welcome news for all the film technicians and other personnel who live in the east end of the GTA.
 
Lenser said:
Rumours about Markham or Pickering facilities have been circulating in the business for the last four or five years now. Glad to see it's now being unveiled. It'll have to be built yet, but current conditions notwithstanding, it's a good sign for the GTA's film and television industry's long term longevity. Will be welcome news for all the film technicians and other personnel who live in the east end of the GTA.
Click to expand...
Honestly who knows what will happen now with COVID.

I've heard grumblings of a Hamilton facility as well.
 
Yes, same here. No surprise there, as Hamilton has been very important for doing period shows and films for many years now. As someone who has been in the business for twenty years now I'm shocked by how much has changed in the last decade. Until this Covid thing, the momentum had really started surging... we certainly have a lot more production facilities than we started out wth in 2000 and I suppose the lower dollar has helped draw lucrative American projects..... anyway, I expect this economic slump some of these projects are going to be delayed indefinitely. It's going to take some time to bounce back and ramp up to full production again, even if the province and the country gets a clean bill of health and people are anxious to return to work. It's possible to "overbuild" during a time of recession so a glut in production facilities might make for some unintended wrinkles.

But what do I know. I'm not a money man and those kinds of decisions are made way over my head.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top