Hollywood North

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As Hollywood North is understood in North America Canada because the country besides the US has several major film studios, mainly in Toronto and Vancouver have settled. Today Canada is the third largest film production location in North America after Los Angeles and New York City .

Origin of the term

The name Hollywood North in connection with Canada goes back to the year 1981 and has become common in British Columbia mainly due to the book publication by James Forrester with the title The Feature Film Industry . The term Hollywood North actually referred to the film studios in Vancouver . However, since the number of film productions increased not only in Vancouver but also in Toronto in recent years, the term has expanded to all of Canada and the Canadian film industry.

Vancouver

Bridge Studios in Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver has been an attractive film production location for nearly a century. Initially, films like The Cowpuncher's Glove and The Ship's Husband were produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company in 1910. As the production center in British Columbia and the headquarters of the largest film studio outside the United States, the Vancouver Film Studios have settled there. Bridge Studios is also located in northern Vancouver . This meant that the number of film productions also increased in the neighboring cities and provinces. In 2002, 75% of Canadian films were produced in Ontario or British Columbia . Vancouver is one of the third largest film production cities in North America after Los Angeles and New York. For TV-only productions, Vancouver takes second place after Los Angeles. The North Shore Studios (formerly LionsGate Studios) and the Vancouver film studios are among the largest film studios that have a large area, equipment and knowledge of special effects. The Vancouver film studios in particular have the largest film production studios outside of Los Angeles. Bridge Studios in Burnaby, British Columbia has the largest special effects facility in North America. Another large film studio is in Burnaby, British Columbia. The Canadian Motion Picture Park has 11 production halls and additional administration and storage rooms.

The British Columbia Film Commission released the following figures in 2012. In 2012, over 200 film productions were completed in British Columbia. This includes u. a. 82 feature films, 58 TV series and 72 TV films. In 2006 the film industry invested $ 1.2 billion in film projects. Even the global economic crisis did not leave the Canadian film industry unaffected. However, this recovered again so that in 2008 one could again count on increasing production figures. The Vancouver International Film Festival takes place regularly in Vancouver .

Vancouver is located approximately 1725 km from Hollywood USA . That corresponds to a three-hour flight or a 24-hour drive. Because of this "relative" proximity, this has had a significantly positive impact on Vancouver's success as a film production location. Other factors that have contributed to this development are the equipment of the film studios, the experience of the producers and actors as well as the infrastructure that Vancouver and the province have to offer. Another major advantage is that Vancouver is in the same time zone as Los Angeles and so there is no time difference.

Many books have been written about the development of Vancouver as a film production location. These include Hollywood North: The Feature Film Industry in British Columbia, Dreaming in the Rain: How Vancouver Became Hollywood North by Northwest, and Hollywood North: The Feature Film Industry in British Columbia: An article from: Business History Review.

The figures for productions in British Columbia over the past few years were:

Production type Year 2009 Year 2012 Investments in 2009 Investments 2012 2
Movies 1 56 82 627.3 487.6
TV films, documentaries 1 114 76 135.2 158.8
TV series 1 48 84 437.58 855.7
Animations 1 21st 31 71.3 211.1
All in all 239 294 1.31 3 1.21 3

1 takes Canadian and American productions into account. 2 in $ million 3 in $ billion each

Toronto

Since 1985, the megacity of Toronto , Ontario has also developed into an important location for the film industry in North America. Toronto is one of the third largest production cities for film and TV productions in North America. CineSpace Film Studios has been located in Toronto for over twenty years. Furthermore, the large company Alliance Atlantis has its headquarters there. The company used to produce its own TV feature films, but today it is the rights dealer for the films and markets the films throughout North America and Europe. In addition to Alliance Atlantis, Nelvana is also based in Toronto. Nelvana is the largest animated film studio in Canada and one of the largest studios in the world producing animation and other formats for children.

Filmport is a major new construction project in Toronto. It is located in the industrial district where Imperial Oil operated a storage facility until a few years ago . There are many smaller studios in several buildings in the neighborhood. It will be the largest film studio in Toronto and will be used to produce films (blockbusters) that previously could not be produced in Toronto. The operator of this studio will be Pinewood Studios. The studio is officially named as Pinewood Toronto Studios . Construction work on this studio complex began in August 2006. In August 2008, the first studio buildings were completed, so that the studio was officially opened. The second construction phase began shortly thereafter, so that this was also completed at the end of 2010. Toronto, like Vancouver, is also a venue for the Toronto International Film Festival . Toronto also has Canada's Walk of Fame .

The city's film and television agency, the Toronto Film and Television Office, announced that it had invested a total of $ 877.84 million in television and film productions in 2009.

Production type Year 2005 Year 2009
Movies 1 39 40
TV films, documentaries 1 44 131
TV series 1 84 95
Animations 1 33 12
All in all 200 266

1 Both US and Canadian productions are considered.

Quebec

In the French-speaking province of Québec, there is a large film studio in Montreal. The film studio Mel's Cité du Cinéma has twelve production halls with a total production area of ​​14,246 m 2 . The studio also has six additional production halls in Saint-Hubert with a further production area of ​​around 6167 m². In addition to the production halls, the studios have various office and storage areas. In these studios, French-language and English-language films, series and shows are produced. The company Société Radio-Canada also operates a film studio in Montreal. It has seven production halls with an area of ​​around 2970 m².

Further film studios

The CFB Studio Center is located in Alberta . This is located near Calgary on a former military site. It has an area of ​​around 80 hectares. Films and series are produced in these facilities. It has a studio, office space and other facilities. The studio has an area of ​​4645 m 2 . The biggest projects were: Brokeback Mountain, Open Range, Snow Day , Rat Race, Shanghai Noon, Texas Rangers.

In Saskatchewan , Canada Saskatchewan Production Studios are located near Regina. This studio complex has four production halls with an area of ​​2831 m 2 . In addition to these halls, the studios have production offices and other facilities. The entire studio area covers an area of ​​around 9,300 m 2 .

In Manitoba , the Manitoba Production Center is located near Winnipeg. The studio has an area of ​​around 1393 m 2 . It also has other facilities on the site. The largest film productions were u. a .: Falcon Beach, You Kill Me, The Magic Flute (TV), 10.5, The Big White, Category 6: Day of Destruction , Shall We Dance ?, The Saddest Music in the World, Fear X, 2030 CE, The Toy Castle

In Ontario there are also the Sullivan Studios in Scarborough. These have four production halls with an area of ​​around 2924 m 2 . In addition, other facilities such as offices, warehouses, cloakrooms etc. The Showline Harborside Studios are located in Toronto and have 5 production halls with an area of ​​around 3771 m 2 .

Film production companies

The larger film production companies that market their films, series and shows worldwide include a. Alliance Films headquartered in Montreal. Entertainment One , headquartered in Toronto, as well as Lions Gate Entertainment, with branches in Los Angeles and Vancouver, and Cineflix Productions , headquartered in Montreal, which specializes primarily in documentaries, series and shows.

Movies

A small selection of the films that were produced in Canada:

The following series were u. a. produced:

literature

  • Gasher, Mike (2002). Hollywood North: The Feature Film Industry in British Columbia
  • Spanner, David (2004). Dreaming in the Rain: How Vancouver Became Hollywood North by Northwest
  • Spencer, Michael (2003). Hollywood North: Creating Canadian Film
  • Trumpbour, John (2003). Hollywood North: The Feature Film Industry in British Columbia . An article from: Business History Review.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ British Columbia Film Commission - British Columbia Film & TV Productions 2012 . Retrieved March 9, 2014