As he looked for a place to set up camp in Canada, Mr. Dobbin said he shied away from the usual film epicentres of Montreal and Toronto, opting instead to come back to his hometown.
“Ottawa is the perfect place to do (business); it has paid off because ... we’re able to make stories in a more European model, with a higher focus on story and performance and craft,” said Mr. Dobbin, who now runs Quiet Revolution Pictures Inc.
Taking a few minutes for an interview while shooting scenes for Eddie, a dark-comedy film about a painter finding inspiration from a sleepwalking cannibal, Mr. Dobbin said business has been steady for his firm since coming back.
“Ottawa is the perfect place to do it, and because we’re not in Toronto or Montreal, we’re not competing for the same spaces. It gives us an advantage over other colleagues in other cities.”
According to the Ottawa-Gatineau Film and Television Corp., things have never been better. And with business picking up, it is high time for the local industry to find some more studio space.
In Ottawa and surrounding areas, there were 598 shooting days in 2010 across 79 separate productions, up from 403 shooting days in 2009.
What interested OGFT director Roch Brunette more was how much direct spending took place in Ottawa in 2010: $23 million, more than double the $9 million in 2009.
“2009 was not a banner year for anyone; the economy was not doing that well, and that closed down (productions) everywhere, but that was just one factor. The second factor is, we’re doing our homework and it’s starting to show.”
Mr. Brunette and other industry insiders are working on a business plan for a multi-purpose creative industries facility – basically, a ready-built location to shoot movies in studio and do production work on-site.
First formally proposed in a 2008 feasibility study, the facility would include two large studios, a sound stage, a production office and a green screen.
The business plan would not be ready until at least September, but the idea already has traction among some local filmmakers, said Mr. Dobbin.
“Production office space is difficult to find; we rely on short-term leases to set up the infrastructure every time – phones and Internet and studio space,” he said.
Particularly for science-fiction films, which usually require prepared space, “it would be great to walk into a place and have it ready.”
Three investors have confirmed their interest in the facility, Mr. Brunette said, which would be located near the Ottawa International Airport on about 10 acres of land. It’s a location close to highway access but also with plenty of outdoor and indoor shooting space.
The aim is to present Ottawa as a “serious second-tier” film production market similar to locations like Halifax, he said.
But for the coming summer, Mr. Brunette said it would be a juggling act.
“We have no infrastructure in terms of sound stage; nowhere to go. I am scrambling for controlled environments to offer in terms of studio space.
“Regardless of what people say about Montreal and Toronto, their studio space is overbooked. A lot of people (in Ottawa) need those environments, too.”
