CBS Television Studios to open huge production centre in Toronto

[Shaka Zulu]

I'm so please as punch that this is happening, even though it won't actually be in Toronto, but near Toronto in
Mississauga (which shares contiguous borders with Toronto.)

A major U.S. studio is setting up shop in the GTA, creating hundreds of new film and television industry jobs across a 26,000-square-foot production facility just outside of Toronto.

CBS Television Studios — maker of such hit shows as Riverdale, Jane the Virgin, NCIS, Carpool Karaoke, American Vandal, The 100 and Star Trek: Discovery — announced on Wednesday that it had secured a long-term lease in Mississauga for what it's calling "CBS Stages Canada."

It won't be open until mid-2019, but the company expects that it will help expand its already impressive roster of TV programs for broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. Currently, CBS Television Studios produces 63 different series for CBS, the CW, Netflix, Starz and other networks, as well as its own CBS All Access streaming service.

CBS has a strong production history in Canada," said CBS Television Studios president David Stapf in a release on Wednesday. "The Toronto area specifically has provided our series with diverse and appealing locations as well as production infrastructure and crafts expertise that cannot be easily found."

CBS Television Studios to open huge production centre in Toronto

Apologies if this has already been posted.

 

[Marc]

Star Trek Discovery is filmed in Toronto at present so I wonder if CBS would bring the sets in house to the new facility or the whether the moving and reconstruction costs would outweigh any savings.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

Star Trek Discovery is filmed in Toronto at present so I wonder if CBS would bring the sets in house to the new facility or the
whether the moving and
reconstruction costs would outweigh any savings.

I wonder about that myself.

 

[Noname Given]

Star Trek Discovery is filmed in Toronto at present so I wonder if CBS would bring the sets in house to the new facility or the whether the moving and reconstruction costs would outweigh any savings.

The scuttlebutt is: ST: D and the other Trek series that are in pre-production/planning will begin to be produced there going forward as it comes 'online'. They may continue to use outside studios for things but they do want to start bringing more production directly in house (in Canada).

 

[Owain Taggart]

As a Canadian, this is great news. It means they're here to stay. And I'm sure it means more jobs in the industry. I'm only surprised it didn't happen sooner, like decades ago. But hey, you know what, there's been a huge increase in productions made in Canada as of late, not just Vancouver or Toronto, but all over. My area for instance has gained a reputation as an area that productions love to shoot in because it looks and feels very different from the big city and has a production studio nearby. The film production industry is one that is rapidly growing in Canada.

 

[Marc]

As a Canadian, this is great news. It means they're here to stay. And I'm sure it means more jobs in the industry. I'm only surprised it didn't happen sooner, like decades ago. But hey, you know what, there's been a huge increase in productions made in Canada as of late, not just Vancouver or Toronto, but all over. My area for instance has gained a reputation as an area that productions love to shoot in because it looks and feels very different from the big city and has a production studio nearby. The production industry is one that is rapidly growing in Canada.

There's been IT filming in Port Hope which is about an hour out of Toronto, Anne with E films in Milbrook in the Kawarthas (as well as PEI) both of which are going international.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Oh yep, these are interesting times for productions in Canada. It's getting increasingly more common to find an article talking about productions filming nearby, streets being closed, etc. Or just being able to drive by somewhere and see a setup for a film production is getting more and more common. A few months ago, I'd seen a setup for a Christmas movie, and that was in June I think. Our last big local production sold internationally was Netflix's Christmas Inheritance. But I still laugh at how Sudbury once stood in for a town in BC with the Rockies in the background.

The whole infrastructure has changed for the better in Canada. You could say there's a legitimate vibrant infrastruture now where there wasn't just 10 years ago and honestly it's quite exciting.

 

[Marc]

Oh yep, these are interesting times for productions in Canada. It's getting increasingly more common to find an article talking about productions filming nearby, streets being closed, etc. Or just being able to drive by somewhere and see a setup for a film production is getting more and more common. A few months ago, I'd seen a setup for a Christmas movie, and that was in June I think. Our last big local production sold internationally was Netflix's Christmas Inheritance. But I still laugh at how Sudbury once stood in for a town in BC with the Rockies in the background.

The whole infrastructure has changed for the better in Canada. You could say there's a legitimate vibrant infrastruture now where there wasn't just 10 years ago and honestly it's quite exciting.

Was at friend's place a couple of Christmas ago and one of those sappy Christmas movies was on. Supposed to in the U.S but didn't look like a particularly American town. turns out it was filmed near Ottawa.

 

[Tuskin38]

Montreal was used as substitute for Boston in Being Human (US)

 

[urbandefault]

As a Canadian, this is great news. It means they're here to stay. And I'm sure it means more jobs in the industry. I'm only surprised it didn't happen sooner, like decades ago. But hey, you know what, there's been a huge increase in productions made in Canada as of late, not just Vancouver or Toronto, but all over. My area for instance has gained a reputation as an area that productions love to shoot in because it looks and feels very different from the big city and has a production studio nearby. The film production industry is one that is rapidly growing in Canada.

And hey, legal weed.

 

[Owain Taggart]

And hey, legal weed.

Heh, yeah, I suppose that could be a particularly popular incentive for shooting here now

 

[Gaith]

Well, good thing the Republicans in DC gave the top 1% and corporations a massive tax break this year, so they could invest in American businesses...

 

[Shaka Zulu]

^The GO & Pee can kiss my black ass; they're trying to stem a tide that is inevitable by doing that. If they REALLY want to get Americansore jobs, they should be doing what Obama did (successfuly) during his term to get the USA's economy working again.

As it is, that's just spite designed to spite ( and spit in the eye of ) Canada in this current trade war, IMHO.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Also, let's be honest. This was never really about jobs, but about going where it's been cheaper to produce programming, which has been an ongoing thing for decades. It's just generally been cheaper to make anything here due to the expenses in producing and that's just a fact of life. If more jobs are wanted back, then he'd have to start looking in his own backyard and you'd have to start with making the whole system more affordable with tons of incentives to draw the creatives back and it would again take decades of transition. This sniping really does nothing for either side.

 

[Marc]

Also, let's be honest. This was never really about jobs, but about going where it's been cheaper to produce programming, which has been an ongoing thing for decades.

There are probably cases where production has been shifted with in the U.S because one state offers inducements or for whatever reason becomes cheaper.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah exactly, that I could totally see. Again, totally dependent on what's offered. In fact, the whole reason a whole industry developed in Canada was because of this, ie inducements and incentives that ended up making it an attractive proposition. But this can be done anywhere. They just need to make it happen.

 

[Gaith]

This sniping really does nothing for either side.

I'm not sniping at our neighbors to the North, whom I wish well. I'm sniping at the Republican policymakers who are happy to see jobs leave the country and cut taxes on the executives who make those calls, and I'm not sorry for doing so. (Remember: if you don't see any problem there, neither does Trump.)

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'm not sniping at our neighbors to the North, whom I wish well. I'm sniping at the Republican policymakers who are happy to see jobs leave the country and cut taxes on the executives who make those calls, and I'm not sorry for doing so.

Yeah, no worries. I had a feeling that was the case. I'm just speaking in general terms. Because there is sentiment elsewhere, not saying it was you, that feel that maybe jobs are being taken away, which isn't really the case. I was more or less trying to clear the air. Although thanks for clarifying.

 

[Timby]

There are probably cases where production has been shifted with in the U.S because one state offers inducements or for whatever reason becomes cheaper.

This is correct; for example, Atlanta has become a film production hub, partially because Delta is based out of Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, partially because an immense production apparatus has sprouted up there and partially because that apparatus is due to ridiculous tax breaks.