Cambridge was already well known as the primary location for the Emmy award-winning series The Handmaid’s Tale when the Netflix blockbuster The Queen’s Gambit raised the city's profile even higher last year.
Soon Cambridge will have another reason to stake its claim as Hollywood north.
Later this year, a film crew will arrive in town to retrofit an empty warehouse to accommodate a temporary film studio.
Devon Hogue, business information officer and film liaison for Cambridge, said the studio set up will allow the entire production to be filmed in the city.
“We’re very excited about that because that is a first for our community,” said Hogue.
Asked what the project is, she sighed and said she can’t divulge anything yet, but will let the community know as soon as possible.
Keeping a tight lid on all that 2021 has in store is an admittedly tough job for Hogue, who likes to keep the lines of communication open about local film shoots.
“I hate keeping this in because it’s such a good news story for our community,” she said. “The anticipated economic impact from this one project alone is just phenomenal and it's really going to just be such a good news story for our hospitality partners specifically.”
News that film crews are planning a return after a year that saw the number of local film shoots plummet, along with the direct and spinoff revenues that come with it, is a positive sign that a return to normal is near.
Despite the pandemic slowdown, the city is looking forward to yelling “cut” on 2021 as another record-breaking year.
The pandemic may have been bleak for film production in this city, but it was far from a complete write off.
In terms of numbers, Hogue said there were 59 inquiries over the year compared to 75 in 2019. And while that’s still a “pretty dramatic decrease” it was well above 2017 numbers.
“In our minds we kind of lost a few years of progress, but we anticipate by the end of this year we’ll be up over our 2019 numbers even.”
“We’re hopeful,” she said, citing bookings through the end of the year.
That’s no small feat if the city can pull it off. The direct economic impact of film shoots in 2019 was well over $1 million, making the year before COVID a record year for Cambridge film shoots.
In terms of production days, film crews spent 27 days on Cambridge sets last year compared to 61 in 2019.
Hogue calls the Netflix limited series The Queen’s Gambit the best news story to come out of the Cambridge film office in 2020. And since it was so widely seen, people latched on to the fact that part of it was filmed here.
Six of the 10 days that production spent in Canada were in Cambridge.
“That’s phenomenal.” she said
And while the city pressed pause on handing out film permits when the most recent stay-at-home order was issued in April, Hogue expects once the province enters Step One of its reopening plan, Cambridge will be ready to welcome film productions back.
“We have had to turn quite a few productions away and they won’t be coming back because they’ve found other communities to film in,” she said.
Despite the setback, the present and the future look bright.
Ontario as a whole is already breaking records for 2021 with 50 film productions underway even as the stay-at-home order continues.
And because there are so many film shoots happening right now, they’re moving further away from filming hubs in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in order to meet requirements established by the Film And Television Health And Safety Advisory Committee.
Hogue said Kitchener has had a busy year because of it and Cambridge is on track to meet previous benchmarks as well.
She calls the Ontario guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on film sets a huge selling point for filming in Ontario.
Section 21 calls for rapid testing, strict quarantine measures and modifications to how film crews and actors operate while on set to allow them to continue working safely if one of them tests positive. It’s considered the gold standard in the industry and around the globe.
The proof is in the results. Since the start of the pandemic, there hasn’t been one outbreak of COVID-19 on a set in Ontario, she said.
It’s a different story in the States, where some productions suffered setbacks due to outbreaks of the virus.
The other positive change to come out of the pandemic, Hogue said, is that when COVID hit, film offices across the province began having weekly meetings with Ontario Creates, the provincial agency mandated to spur economic development for Ontario’s creative industries.
“It’s just been amazing for all of our offices,” said Hogue, explaining how the opportunity to regularly collaborate with film offices in Toronto and Hamilton wasn’t a resource smaller municipalities had before.
Now they discuss best practices, how the process should work, what isn’t working, and how smaller municipalities like Cambridge should be navigating their reopening plans once things get busier.
“If you’re looking for a silver lining from COVID, this is definitely one for our office especially,” she said.
It may come as a surprise to many, but the high number of film productions in Ontario right now also includes international productions.
Throughout the pandemic, in fact, actors and film crews have been allowed to cross the Canadian and provincial borders to work here, provided they quarantine for three days in a designated hotel after a negative test, and quarantine for another two weeks after arriving.
When they return home, they have to quarantine again.
“They have to follow the exact same rules as everyone else has to,” she said.
The requirement has obviously been a challenge but it hasn’t stopped them from coming. Nor has the added cost been a deterrent.
But why? What sets Cambridge apart from other locations?
“Honestly,” said Hogue. “It’s the river. People come up here for the river, the bridge views, the architecture, the wonderful historic neighbourhoods.
“That’s what makes Cambridge a little more unique than some of the other places they could be filming.”
