{"id":85,"date":"2026-05-17T16:36:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T16:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=85"},"modified":"2026-05-17T16:36:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T16:36:41","slug":"as-hollywood-pulls-back-northern-ontario-steps-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=85","title":{"rendered":"As Hollywood Pulls Back, Northern Ontario Steps Up"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tLike the entertainment industry everywhere, Ontario\u2019s film and TV business has absorbed its share of external shocks \u2014 the L.A. strikes, the Peak TV hangover, a streaming boom going in reverse. But production beyond greater Toronto has emerged as a welcome buffer, with regional bonus incentives, cheaper labor and a diverse array of iconic locations helping the province weather Hollywood\u2019s pullback. <\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Nemesis\u2019 Creator Courtney A. Kemp on Making Her Explosive Netflix Debut and Crafting a Finale That Ushers in a Season 2<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tCities and towns across northern Ontario, having already pivoted from mining and manufacturing to hosting major film and TV shoots, are rising to the logistical challenges of turbulent times. And while talent, crews and infrastructure remain a draw, tax credits, currency savings and government rebates are the real superpower. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBeautiful locations and strong infrastructure get you into the conversation, but incentives are what help close the deal,\u201d says David Anselmo, CEO and president of Sudbury-based Banner Hideaway Pictures.<\/p>\n

\n\t Provincial incentives can be stacked with the federal rebate to a bonus tax credit rate of 45 percent \u2014 a significant lever in an era when every greenlight is being scrutinized. \u201cLicense fees are tighter, buyers are more selective,\u201d Anselmo adds. \u201cBut I actually think that favors places like northern Ontario, because we\u2019re no longer selling a theory. We\u2019re offering a proven production ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat confidence echoes across the province, even as Ontario faces added competitive pressure from a foreign film tax credit hike in British Columbia. \u201cIf Kingston can stand in for Maine, we have better incentives that help you with your budget and your bottom line,\u201d says Joanne Loton, Kingston\u2019s film commissioner. The southwestern Ontario city recently hosted shoots for Peacock\u2019s Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy<\/em> miniseries and Amazon\u2019s scripted Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest<\/em>, both of which made use of the Kingston Penitentiary \u2014 a former maximum security prison turned museum. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe economic case for shooting outside Toronto is reinforced by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund (NOHF), a tier-based grant that draws qualifying producers to the province\u2019s northern reaches and can be layered on top of existing provincial and federal film tax credits. The fund has already contributed $2 million each to the Paramount medical drama SkyMed<\/em> and the third season of Hallmark\u2019s When Hope Calls<\/em> to bring production north. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe want Toronto to be busy. And we\u2019re always going to go through those ebbs and flows,\u201d says Patrick O\u2019Hearn, executive director of Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION), which works to advance production across six major centers: Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Parry Sound. \u201cBut we\u2019ve really defined there\u2019s no central hub that needs to be the be-all and end-all of production. We can use the full province and all of this great country to make amazing film and television.\u201d Sudbury has been particularly active. Recent shoots include Jason Biggs\u2019 directorial debut Getaway<\/em>, gory fantasy action comedy Deathstalker<\/em>, starring Patton Oswalt and executive produced by Slash of Guns N\u2019 Roses, and body horror feature The Pond<\/em> from director Jeff Renfroe. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe city\u2019s natural landscape \u2014 lakes, wilderness, remote cottage country \u2014 has proven as much of a draw as its infrastructure. \u201cPeople think of us as an industrial city, which we are, but we have beautiful lakes and wilderness here,\u201d says Clayton Drake, Sudbury\u2019s film officer. \u201cAbove-the-line talent often find gorgeous Airbnbs or cottages that give them the northern getaway experience while they\u2019re filming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Moulin\u2019 Review: A Hero of the French Resistance Is Given Tribute in Grinding, Only Occasionally Effective Prison Drama<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThat promise of natural beauty was realized most dramatically by Guillermo del Toro\u2019s Frankenstein<\/em>, which used the icy surface of Lake Nipissing just outside North Bay to double as the Arctic\u2019s frozen expanse, where Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) pursues the Creature (Jacob Elordi) by sled and dogs. \u201cWe knew we needed the Arctic, and at a certain time of the year. North Bay was perfect for that,\u201d says producer J. Miles Dale. \u201cLiterally by just stepping off the land and going yards to the west, we had this beautiful, unobstructed view of the sunset.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tTyler Levine, producer on Michael McGowan\u2019s All My Puny Sorrows<\/em>, also shot in North Bay and found the small-town rhythm suited the production perfectly. \u201cFilming in North Bay is like having your own big studio where instead of taking a golf cart from one lot to another, you just have to drive your car a few minutes down the road to the next location,\u201d he says. \u201cThe people are uniquely kind and accommodating. The city is beautiful and in no particular rush.\u201d Most mornings, he and McGowan would run along Lake Nipissing, sometimes joined by crew. \u201cIt was like a moving production meeting but much more scenic and refreshing.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tFarther south, in Parry Sound, filmmaker Megan Park shot her second feature, My Old Ass<\/em> \u2014 a fantasy drama starring Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza, produced by Margot Robbie\u2019s LuckyChap Entertainment \u2014 among the forested landscapes and lakeside cottages of the Muskokas. The location was just a two-hour drive from Toronto. \u201cRelatively speaking, it\u2019s not that far,\u201d notes Jeff Thom, an economic development officer in Parry Sound. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe threat of further disruption \u2014 whether from a repeat of the strikes or President Donald Trump\u2019s proposed tariffs on foreign films \u2014 has regional jurisdictions actively exploring alternatives. \u201cWe\u2019re all looking for ways we can collaborate in different ways,\u201d says Kingston\u2019s Loton. \u201cCan we do more treaty co-productions with countries like Ireland, which is really upping the ante with their incentives and investments? Can we do more interprovincial filming?\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tOntario\u2019s regions are also investing in homegrown storytellers. Director Lisa Jackson is at work on Medicine Fire<\/em>, a documentary about an Anishinaabe couple restoring a traditional healing ceremony in their fly-in reserve of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug in northwestern Ontario \u2014 a project that uses the region\u2019s stunning natural landscape as a backdrop for a story about cultural survival and renewal. \u201cIt\u2019s just a stunningly beautiful and peaceful area,\u201d Jackson says. For this community, she adds, the ceremony she\u2019s documenting is \u201cwithin lived experience\u201d \u2014 \u201ca very valid way of looking at our place in this world.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tFellow Canadian filmmaker Tricia Black is taking a different approach, anchoring her found footage horror comedy The B-Side: Dusk<\/em> in the geological drama of the Canadian Shield \u2014 a vast exposed rock formation across the province estimated to be 4 billion years old. The film, now in development, follows two cousins trying to solve a cold case involving a rock duo who disappeared without a trace in 1999. \u201cWe know more about what\u2019s in the skies, what\u2019s above us and beyond our planet, and we don\u2019t focus as much on the things that are below our feet,\u201d Black says. In northern Ontario, the ground beneath the feet turns out to be worth paying attention to \u2014 in more ways than one.<\/p>\n

Read more Ron Howard on Documentary Filmmaking, Richard Avedon and \u201cCreative Endurance\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Hollywood pulls back, Northern Ontario is stepping up production, including with such films as ‘Frankenstein.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,2],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-cannes-2026","tag-international"],"yoast_head":"\nAs Hollywood Pulls Back, Northern Ontario Steps Up - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=85\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As Hollywood Pulls Back, Northern Ontario Steps Up - US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Hollywood pulls back, Northern Ontario is stepping up production, including with such films as 'Frankenstein.'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=85\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-17T16:36:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ad7376b14625bc80bd3ddd99d707f348.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=85#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=85\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"headline\":\"As Hollywood Pulls Back, Northern Ontario Steps Up\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-17T16:36:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=85\"},\"wordCount\":1185,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=85#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ad7376b14625bc80bd3ddd99d707f348.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Cannes 2026\",\"international\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=85#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=85\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=85\",\"name\":\"As Hollywood Pulls Back, Northern Ontario Steps Up - 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