The federal government pledged $850,000 toward the Northern Ontario film industry during a media conference in downtown Sudbury on Tuesday.
With music and film production generating an estimated $155 million in economic benefits and creating more than 5,000 full-time jobs in the region each year, Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe described the industry as “a major driving force for our economy.”
The federal funds filter through FedNor’s Northern Ontario Development Program toward Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION) to “promote and grow Northern Ontario’s music, film and television industries,” according to a media release issued following the announcement.
The goal is for the funding to promote and attract private sector investment for music, film and television projects.
The Crew Database and OnStage Music Portal will be expanded “to help producers find skilled workers and connect musicians directly with industry professionals,” according to the release.
CION will also be able to support skills training through its Media Arts Production: Practiced, Employed, Developed program, which provides up to $10,000 toward film and television productions so they can train crew members for skilled positions.
Following Tuesday’s announcement, CION associate executive director Patrick O’Hearn told Sudbury.com the creative industries the non-profit organization supports are doing well this year, with numerous film and television productions on the go, employing local crews.
“Sudbury has an incredible crew base that’s been able to support Shoresy, and Letterkenny, and all the film productions,” he said. “Sudbury’s that great example of workforce development that has served the industry well.”
Although well served by local crews, he said there’s still plenty of demand to necessitate the training of additional people, which the federal funding will help with.
A recent pilot program in which 100 people were trained in the basics of film and television production and behind-the-scenes office work is slated to continue with another round this fall, in a better-defined form.
The pilot program is free of charge, and has people trained in Greater Sudbury, North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie during three weeks of intensive learning, and O’Hearn said many of them are already finding employment.
“It will take some time for some of them to get union accreditation to rise up, but what we’re seeing across North America is we’ve got to start making some investment in workforce development,” he said. “I think they’ll be on productions for the foreseeable future.”
After a pandemic-era absence, this year will also see the return of the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards and Conference, alongside a series of showcase events featuring local artists.
In recent months, CION has also worked on a film studio project proposed to be built on The Kingsway. O’Hearn said they’re currently evaluating the project and didn’t have anything to announce today.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.