If Hallmark’s latest “Countdown to Christmas” movie has left you wanting your very own small town holiday adventure, we have some exciting news for you.

Anyone can visit the charming Canadian city where the network’s new Christmas in Love movie was shot. Head about four hours north of Toronto and you’ll find North Bay, Ontario, the scenic spot that served as the backdrop for the film.

In the holiday feature, viewers get to see the beautiful area where bakery worker Ellie (Brooke D’Orsay) and city-slicking CEO Nick (Daniel Lissing) will battle over the future of the business, which is renown for its Christmas Kringle pastries. As the story progresses, the pair begin to spend more time together as they explore the town and its picturesque main street, which is also a real-life attraction you can see.

In fact, the town and its main drag have also served as the filming location for several more seasonal movies including Hallmark’s Christmas in Angel Falls (2017) and Netflix’s Christmas Inheritance (2017). You’ll also notice some of the same North Bay sights in the upcoming A Veteran’s Christmas and Northern Lights of Christmas on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.

“North Bay has kept that beautiful look from the past which really plays well in a lot of our movies and adds a lot of our production value for us, so we’re really excited to be here,” Christmas in Angel Falls producer David Anselmo told BayToday.

During your stay, copy the cast and check out the nearby waterfront area, too. Stars Lissing, D’Orsay, and Mary-Margaret Humes took time to venture through the scenic destination together, and even shared photos on Instagram. We’re sure your snaps will be just as stunning!

 

https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/a24849121/hallmark-christmas-in-love-filming-location/?fbclid=IwAR3WgsiWBTXxF5oEgSu0HQj3eXw08XldANkEH7wuxOfUntaFvCGWICKbO9M

Ice skating in Simcoe Park, coffee at Balzac’s Café, dinner at the Prince of Wales Hotel.

While it reads as an ideal date itinerary for most, those are also scenes from a made-for-Netflix holiday movie filmed in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

“The Holiday Calendar” debuted on the popular streaming service Nov. 2. It tells the story of a photographer who inherits an antique holiday advent calendar with a special twist: Its contents seem to predict the future.

Kat Graham, best known for her role on “The Vampire Diaries,” stars as the photographer Abby, while Ron Cephas Jones from “This Is Us” plays her grandfather, simply known as Gramps. Quincy Brown appears as her childhood friend and Ethan Peck is a potential love interest.

Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce president Janice Thomson said she watched the movie over the weekend and enjoyed being able to see Niagara-on-the-Lake depicted on the small screen.

“It brought back a lot of memories about the details surrounding the filming,” she said, referring to the scenes shot in Niagara-on-the-Lake this past April. “Thinking back to all of those things that took hours of organization but only show for seconds on the screen. I’m sure people in the film industry are used to that, but it’s interesting to see.”

Produced by film company Hideaway Pictures, the movie features scenes along Queen Street, in the courthouse and several scenes at Balzac’s on King Street. Santa’s village was constructed on Market Street. Thomson recalls the film crew adding snow, lots of Christmas decorations and lights to make it appear as if Christmas was truly just around the corner.

Bill Auchterlonie, owner of the Indigenous art gallery Inuksuk On-the-Lake, rented out his Queen Street space to the production company as a filming location.

“There was a runner guy who came by and said they were interested in using my store,” he said, adding the timing — early April when tourism hasn’t quite picked up yet — was just right. “They were the best people to work with. I was nervous all the way up to and during filming, thinking ‘What if they mess things up?’ but they were really respectful and it all worked out.”

He said thanks to a cleanup crew that came in when filming was done, things were left cleaner than how they found it.

Auchterlonie has viewed the trailer multiple times and shared it on his social media networks.

“The trailer was quite well done, it’s pretty compelling,” he said.

This isn’t the first time Hideaway Pictures filmed in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Another Netflix holiday movie, released last year, was also filmed in town: “Christmas Inheritance.” Producer David Anselmo said he knew he’d be back to capture the beauty of Niagara-on-the-Lake when they were filming that movie at the Grand Victorian Bed and Breakfast on the Niagara Parkway.

“I was staying here in Old Town Niagara-on-the-Lake and enjoyed the beauty and the smalltown charm,” Anselmo said during a break from filming at Simcoe Park on April 2. “There’s such a quaint, picturesque main street here and I thought it would be great to film it for what it is.”

While the town wasn’t specifically mentioned in the film — it was meant to stand in for a small American town — Thomson said she’s hoping the charm of Niagara-on-the-Lake shines through to its audience and people, particularly those interested in film tourism, will come to see the town for themselves.

“It’s a very special place and I’m happy to have it on display,” she said.

https://www.wellandtribune.ca/whatson-story/9019827-old-town-shines-in-holiday-film/?fbclid=iwar3t59elzascs5ud3nujntaakvf8a1nf1lov_vkz6dh68wiwr05ntybpg_y

The City of Greater Sudbury is unsustainable with its existing tax base and taxes will continue to increase unless we work to create more jobs.

To date, I have focused a significant part of my platform on job creation, economic development, ensuring that citizens are getting the best value for their tax dollar and working to bring our city together.

I have discussed the need to stop development charges and streamline building permit applications, ensuring that the city is working diligently to create new development opportunities. I have argued that we must do better when soliciting new companies to choose Greater Sudbury as the place for new business, ensuring that staff, council and citizens are working in unison to attract new investment to our city.

When possible, the city must also be looking at creative ways to leverage existing municipal assets into economic development opportunities. With more than 600 buildings on the municipal roster, there is ample opportunity to review and identify potential possibilities where city-owned assets could be utilized to spur economic development, create jobs and provide cost savings to citizens, with no impact to the annual budget. Many of the city’s currently owned buildings are a huge drain on municipal resources, with the average building costing $40,000 to $60,000 annually to maintain.

A great example of economic development using a storage building is the Northern Ontario Film Studio currently operating out of the former Barrydowne Arena. As a storage facility, the building was a drain on the budget with $40,000 in expenses. It is now the headquarters for one of the fastest growing industries in Northern Ontario. Recent studies show that in 2015-16, the film industry in Greater Sudbury contributed $63 million in direct GDP and $89 million in spin-off business while providing nearly 1,000 full-time jobs.

Another example is that of the former Capreol high school, better known as the Millennium Centre. The building houses several essential services for the town, including space for meetings, a youth centre, gym facilities and performance space for the Valley Community Theatre.

What is so unique about this facility is that it operates at virtually no cost to the taxpayer. The city rents out the upper level of the building to the Northern Ontario Railroad Museum and Heritage Centre Foundation. The foundation runs an 18-room bunkhouse for Canadian National Railway crews. The rent the city receives from the foundation covers almost all of the operating costs for the entire facility. In addition, the foundation employs 12 full-time employees and the additional revenue generated sustains the Northern Ontario Railroad Museum and Heritage Centre so that it is not dependent on municipal operating funds and can contribute to the economic vitality of our local tourism sector.

People in the community with a vision and an opportunity presented these examples, which benefit the city and the partner. If elected mayor, I will ensure that we look to maximize the use of all municipally owned assets to promote new avenues for generating revenue, encourage economic development and, ultimately, create jobs. I will make it my priority to work collaboratively with any industry looking to invest in our community and grow our local economy. When businesses are thriving and successful, we as a community are successful.

 

https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/local-news/cacciotti-pushes-job-creation-for-sudbury?fbclid=IwAR0jYuWimXV7192CAml_SC7C57k8KJCMzRNV2BolTFOC8WyTPwHZiuOvhNk

It was all lights, camera and action in Bracebridge on Wednesday.

The town’s downtown has been transformed into a winter wonderland, complete with fake snow, all for a very festive movie shoot.

‘Christmas in Grand Valley’ is a Hallmark film and reunites Danica McKellar and Dan Lauria, best known for their roles on the 80s show The Wonder Years.

Many people were just as excited by the actors as the faux snow, which was made with soap and covered sections of the downtown.

“It was a bit of a heart attack when I came up, but it’s nice to see that reality is on the other side of the street,” said one person who was driving through the community.

Most of the filming is taking place along Manitoba Street, Memorial Park and at the Chancery Lane gift shop.

There are around 80 cast and crew members in town for the three-day shoot.

Some store owners have been given compensation to change their signs for the movie, and several locals were being used as extras.

“Last night we filmed in Memorial Park, and it was beautiful, just like Christmas,” said extra Maggie Rumig.

Some locals have also been hired to help with set decoration and as security.

The town says this is great for business and hopes this kind of production drums up more movie business in the future.

The movie premieres on November 22.

 

https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/hallmark-movie-shoot-brings-the-holidays-to-bracebridge-1.4138686?fbclid=IwAR1xgfmx_XB5KIbV6pYf8Gwoy4FCy6mf0b03jY4AvS301sm0vRW9mWcERyM#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=Facebook&_gsc=s47Q8Fb

And the Oscar goes to … Ontario!

As Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway crowned The Shape of Water the best picture winner at the March 4 Academy Awards, many of the film’s crew and talent jumped out of their seats at the Palais Royale in Toronto and filled the venue with wild cheers.

Earlier, as Guillermo del Toro’s Cold War fantasy walked off with the production design trophy, scenic artist Matthew Lammerich looked on with disbelief. “To be part of this team, it makes me feel as if we’re the best in the world, if only for this night,” Lammerich told THR as he watched del Toro and friends celebrate on the Dolby Theatre stage on a giant TV screen. Paul Denham Austerberry, who won the Oscar for production design, says he purposely began his acceptance speech with a shoutout to his colleagues “partying right now at the Palais Royale.”

“Filmmaking is a team effort, and we’d not have been up there if everyone behind us wasn’t doing such an amazing job and supporting us,” Austerberry insists.

And after Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, another locally shot production, won eight Emmys — including outstanding drama series — in September, Ontario’s world-class technicians and talent are suddenly Hollywood’s lucky charm.

“It’s a coming-out party for us,” Shape of Water producer J. Miles Dale says. “I’ve always tried to get people to come here. Guillermo has been an unabashed champion of this place and moved [work] here.”

Dale notes that virtually everyone behind the camera on Shape of Water, save for del Toro, cinematographer Daniel Laustsen and composer Alexandre Desplat, are Canadian. “If Guillermo is Canadian, it’s a Canadian movie,” he insists.

Adds Justin Cutler, film commissioner at the Ontario Media Development Corp., which markets the province to Hollywood: “From prep to post, The Shape of Water is an Oscar-winning Ontario film, and our companies and our talent will be adding the Oscar-winning qualifier to their calling cards.”

All this comes after Spotlight, the 2016 best picture winner, shot in Toronto and nearby Hamilton.

“The local film community rivals anyone at this point. It’s a treat to come up there,” Spotlight producer Michael Bederman says. “There are world-class crews, and they’re the kindest crews. There’s so much to offer, in varying looks and stages and equipment. It’s become a production hub.”

So how did Ontario spawn these awards season contenders?

For starters: generous tax breaks, including regional incentives for shooting outside Toronto; authentic small-town exteriors; and breathtaking wilderness. That has L.A. and local producers at work all over the province.

“You’re seeing that growth point, that bull’s-eye of Toronto, just get bigger and bigger, and we’re now calling it the Ontario industry,” IATSE local 411 business agent Chandra Li-Paul says.

Film and TV production has expanded in southern Ontario to include Hamilton while pushing north to Sudbury, North Bay, Parry Sound and beyond.

Jennifer Weiss, a principal at indie producer The Film Farm, chose a secluded location near Sudbury to shoot writer-director Darlene Naponse’s Falls Around Her. The drama, about a legendary singer who reclaims her life by seeking isolation, required a vast wilderness as a backdrop.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Weiss explains. “We’re shooting on the director’s First Nation reserve. It’s a stunning landscape. And yet, you drive 15 minutes, you’re in Sudbury, where we can put up crews and pull from different parts of the province.”

But while tax credits get the ball rolling, it’s the abundance of technical, creative and acting talent — and versatile locations — that sustains things.

Local cinematographers, production designers, set decorators, sound technicians, and makeup and visual effects artists have long worked on Hollywood projects with international partners.

Anthony Leo, who co-produced the Oscar-nominated animated feature The Breadwinner, executive produced by Angelina Jolie, was paired with the publisher of Deborah Ellis’ novel of the same name thanks to the Ontario Media Development Corp.

“[OMDC was] able to help us, financially, to option the rights to the novel. That kind of support goes a long way,” Leo says. “You’re able to shoot above your weight in terms of the pedigree of novels you can get access to.”

Mary Young Leckie, a producer on 2016’s Maudie — a Canada-Ireland co-production that starrs Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke — credits the OMDC with supporting an indie film 12 years in the making.

“We were delayed twice, significant delays, one for scheduling for an actor and another for a director, but they made the equity investment and stuck with us,” Leckie says.

OMDC president and CEO Karen Thorne-Stone calls the recent Academy Awards a watershed event for local production. “It’s nice to see Oscar make himself at home here,” she says.

An early impetus for the province’s expansion was the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. tax credit, launched in 2003. Helping to diversify mining and forestry towns, it invests up to $500,000 in local projects.

“Northern Ontario is a huge region, it’s bigger than France,” says Hideaway Pictures president David Anselmo, who has a pipeline of Netflix and Hallmark product coming through Sudbury and North Bay soundstages. “There are a lot of unique looks that we can accomplish.”

Robert Budreau, who shot 2016’s Born to Be Blue, starring Hawke as jazz icon Chet Baker, in Sudbury, says the NOHFC incentive, which was then $1 million and about 15 percent of his $6.5 million budget, was a big deal. “When I first went up there to make movies in 2005, there was absolutely nothing,” he says. “Now there’s a whole infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, the Hulu drama Cardinal and the Netflix telefilm Christmas Inheritance have shot in North Bay. “If it makes sense for them to shoot here — and Toronto being full is one reason — we have a solid, positive reputation,” says local economic development officer Tanya Bedard.

The production boom, dubbed “Hollywood Way Up North,” has locales nearer to Toronto playing catch-up. For example, in Oshawa, an hour east of Toronto, the spooky house in Warner Bros.’ It is being rebuilt for the sequel at James Street and Eulalie Avenue.

A host of U.S. TV series, including The Handmaid’s Tale, Starz’s American Gods and History’s Gangland Undercover, shoot in the Durham region. Regional film office liaison Eileen Kennedy notes that local hotels offer special rates for crews and convenient parking for equipment. “If you can shave a couple of hours for traveling, you’re gaining two hours of shooting time each day,” she says.

They’re also ramping up production in Kingston, whose market square dates to 1788 and where a Victorian penitentiary that closed in 2013 was reopened to allow the Netflix miniseries Alias Grace, based on a Margaret Atwood novel about a convicted murderer, to shoot inside.

Says film officer Alex Jansen: “Kingston has among the best architecture you’ll find in the country.”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/inside-ontarios-awards-season-success-nice-see-oscar-make-himself-at-home-here-1110534

Fell in love with “A Christmas Prince” on Netflix? Be prepared to fall in love all over again with the streaming platform’s latest holiday-themed movie, “Christmas Inheritance,” which was filmed in North Bay this past spring.

The flick was released worldwide on Netflix on Dec. 15 in 190 countries (and in multiple languages).

“We’re very excited about this,” said David Anselmo, president of production with Sudbury’s Hideaway Pictures, and the producer of “Christmas Inheritance.”

“I believe you will recognize North Bay and a lot of North Bay faces,” Anselmo said. “We’re very excited about possibly doing more of these in the future and just continuing the growth of the film industry in the North.”

The film’s synopsis is as follows: Before ambitious heiress Ellen Langford can inherit her father’s gift business, she must deliver a special Christmas card to her dad’s former partner in Snow Falls, the hometown she never knew.

When a snowstorm strands her at the town inn, she’s forced to work for her keep, and in the process, finds romance and discovers the true gift of Christmas.

Directed by Ernie Barbarash, the film stars Australian actress Eliza Taylor as Langford.

Other names on the cast list you might recognize are well-known American actress Andie MacDowell as Debbie Collins and Canadian actress Mag Ruffman (best known as Aunt Olivia on CBC’s “Road to Avonlea“) as Kathy Martin.

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE: SUDBURY STAR

 

The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation has invested $33 million in 51 film and television projects in recent months, and that’s a great thing for the north, says an industry player.

“We’re really happy that the NOHFC had the forward thinking 15 years ago to start investing in film,” said David
Anselmo, owner of the Northern Ontario Film Studios, speaking at a Dec. 15 press conference.

“It’s really helped grow a new industry and a new economy for Northern Ontario. This year we saw a $100 million plus in economic development just from the film industry.

“It’s created thousands and thousands of jobs

for northerners across the region and it has allowed a lot of people to pursue their dreams at home, including myself.”

Among the film and television projects supported by the NOHFC are Cardinal, Carter, Bad Blood: The Vito Rizzuto Story, Indian Horse, Through Black Spruce and Hard Rock Medical.

“There’s a sense of pride I see when I talk to people in the community about having these films and television projects being filmed here and showcased here,” he said.

“The dollars and cents are outstanding, but the cultural aspect is very important too.”

Sudbury MPP and Ontario Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault said the money invested in film and television is doing “great things.”

“Not only is it helping our economy create more jobs and creating an infrastructure to continue to create more television and film here, but it’s also allowing us to be seen as not just a resource community,” he said.

“We’ve got artists and culture happening here with these film and television productions. It’s a win-win for us because we’re going to continue to see this as one of our largest employers in the city now.”

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE: NORTHERN LIFE

Accent: City remains an untapped resource for filmmakers, director says

Inside The Asylum concert hall, a chilling scene is taking place. Two 20-something women cling to each other desperately as they look up a flight of stairs, their only means of escape, their eyes wide with terror. A man in a pig mask stands behind them, breathing heavily. They prepare to run.

“And action!” calls out John Alden Milne, director and producer of the film being shot. This was one of the many sets of “The Savage Tales of Frank MacGuffin,” a full-length feature filmed in Sudbury last fall that highlights local talent and venues. Besides “Savage Tales” providing opportunities for local artists, Sudbury businesses were keen to support the production to help the city’s growing arts community.

“Sudbury is a producer’s dream location,” says Milne, owner of Greenboots Media Company. The crew was able to travel from one location to another in short amounts of time, never having to deal with big-city traffic jams, says Milne, who has lived and worked in Sudbury for 11 years. And the assistance from The City of Greater Sudbury, including Fire Services and Police Service, was essential to the production.

Sudbury is an untapped resource for shooting films and television shows. It has beautiful landscapes and a variety of venues that were easy for Greenboots to secure. One of them, Respect is Burning Kitchen and Bar on Durham Street, has a moody feel often sought by filmmakers. Its owner, Rob Gregorini, also cooked for the crew.

“I know the players (of “Savage Tales”) through the community,” says Gregorini. “How could I help? I make great food and people need to be fed. I think it’s important for the local community to embrace the fact that the art culture and film is growing in Sudbury.”

Stack Brewing, a northern craft microbrewery, provided beer for some scenes as well as for between shoots.

“He (Milne) was using a lot of local resources that people usually glance over,” says Rob Majury, Stack Brewing’s sales and marketing manager. “When they came in and asked for local products, we gave it to them because that’s what they usually drink. For filming, the canned product was filled with water so that when they were slamming them back, it wasn’t 8 per cent beer they were chugging.”

Mark Gregorini, Rob Gregorini’s brother, is the owner of Verdicchio Ristorante on Kelly Lake Road and has known Milne and Greenboots for years. He says that he and Milne, both big fans of horror movies (“Savage Tales” is a thriller/horror hybrid), were talking about the film one day. “I offered them meals,” says Gregorini, who provided dinner almost every day of the shoot. “They’re a local crew and we try to support them. I think it’s important.

“And it’s important for (Greenboots and crew) to provide jobs for people in the community.”

Pierre Laframboise’s score for the film is his first. He says that if Milne hadn’t asked him to work on “Savage Tales,” “I don’t know how I’d work on a feature.”

“Because it was an independent film, and being local, it gave talented people an opportunity to work in the movie industry without having much experience.”

Laframboise says he viewed the film as a co-creating process from the start.

In helping artists to develop their skills, “Savage Tales” uses local musicians as actors.

“I worked with musicians instead of actors because I knew they could perform. I’ve used them before – musicians as actors,” says Milne. “It’s rewarding to get a great performance out of someone who has never acted before. And it’s natural. It doesn’t feel forced or studied.”

Local musician Clayton Drake plays the film’s main character, Frank MacGuffin. Performing on stage in a band has made him comfortable in front of an audience, he says. “I’m quite used to playing a character in a lot of ways from playing in a band.”

Drake says working in a movie has allowed him to make his concerts more cinematic. He says he doesn’t think he would have had the confidence to be creative if he hadn’t worked on “Savage Tales,” where he had creative control of his role. “Not only the actors had creative control but everyone involved. That’s the way to motivate people. They have control.”

Drake says the film’s greatest contribution to the community will be to encourage a new wave of creative-driven work from the North.

David Anselmo, CEO and president of production at Hideaway Pictures Inc., says that Hideaway Pictures and The Northern Ontario Film Studios are happy to support “Savage Tales” and Greenboots. Anselmo says nurturing local talent, especially talent of this calibre, is very important for the sustainability of the film industry in Northern Ontario.

“I love creating something out of nothing,” says Milne. “It would be great if more people did this “¦ took risks.”

“Savage Tales” follows a cab driver named Frank on a hallucinatory odyssey. Concepts for the story that became “Savage Tales” had been floating around for a few years before the film took shape. Several short-story ideas came together, were refined and further developed into the feature film. The final product consists of different movie genres, including horror, western and fairy tale.

Greenboots Media Company worked with a modest budget funded by private investors for this production. It’s the first feature film directed and produced by Milne and Greenboots. David Anselmo is the executive producer.

This is an original screenplay. Milne had another film idea that was much bigger and more expensive, but he wanted to produce something immediately, which was feasible with “Savage Tales.” Production started on Sept. 5 and took 40 days over the span of two months.

Milne says he hopes to show the movie at this year’s midnight-madness film festivals for genre films. Given the amount of local talent involved, he would love to see “Savage Tales” screen at this year’s Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival.

Majury says he’s seen a couple of scenes “and they looked great. We can’t wait to see the finished product.”

In 2015, NOFS serviced 15 of 16 film and television projects in the Sudbury area, and six projects in other parts of Northern Ontario, attracting over $30M of economic development for the region.

The Northern Ontario Film Studios has announced it is opening a North Bay studio Friday.

In a news release, NOFS says it has been working closely with its partners in the region to offer a full-service facility dedicated to the feature film industry in North Bay.

“This studio launch will begin to provide the resources and infrastructure necessary to support the ever growing industry in North Bay. With an established facility in Sudbury, NOFS is dedicated to expand across Northern Ontario to ensure growth and sustainability for the film industry in Northern Ontario,” says David Anselmo, President of Production, Hideaway Pictures Inc.

 

Its sister company, Hideaway Pictures is a full-service feature film and television production company behind the very popular Flowershop Mystery Series featuring Brooke Shields and Beau Bridges, Christmas With Tucker starring James Brolin and five more films shot in the North Bay and surrounding area since 2013.

See: Hallmark movie shot in North Bay to air soon

“The fact that NOFS is opening a studio in our city shows that they have faith in the availability of both artistic talent and experienced crew members in North Bay,'” Jim Calarco, president of North Star Talent told BayToday.

North Bay Mayor Al McDonald says he’s excited by the prospect.

“We have had great success attracting films to our city. This industry has injected millions of dollars into our economy, created jobs in front and behind the cameras, and has helped keep our young people in our community. I am in full support of the film industry here and work with local champions to help bring more shoots to our city.”

The Northern Ontario Film Studios is located at 1765 Jane Street.

 

A major, multi-picture deal announced Wednesday means a local film studio will be even busier over the next few years in supporting TV and movie productions in the North.

Hideaway Pictures of Sudbury has inked a three-year agreement with the Los Angeles-based Motion Picture Corporation of America worth nearly $100 million, according to a release.

“I’m extremely happy to be moving forward in the industry and excited to be recognized by a big, international film company,” said David Anselmo, founder and CEO of Hideaway Pictures. “We’re building a strong reputation in Northern Ontario and I think this is an example of that.”

Anselmo was speaking from North Bay, where a shoot was under way for the third installment in a movie series for the Hallmark Channel called the Flower Shop Mysteries.

He described this franchise as the “first and biggest part” of the partnership between Hideaway Pictures and the U.S. company, which is best known for producing such Hollywood comedies as Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin, but also supplies programming for Hallmark through its Brad Krevoy Television subsidiary.

Anselmo said the first movie in the Flower Shop series, Mum’s The Word, drew a record number of viewers for Hallmark and “very positive ratings” when it aired in January.

The second film, titled Snipped In The Bud and starring Brooke Shields and Beau Bridges, finished shooting recently in North Bay, he said, while Dearly Depotted, the third, is close to a wrap.

“This year we’re looking at five movies for the Flower Shop Mysteries,” said Anselmo. “We plan to come back in the fall for four and five, and I expect there will be a lot more beyond that.”

While that series has used North Bay as a backdrop, Hideaway Pictures and Anselmo’s affiliated Northern Ontario Film Studios have also facilitated plenty of Sudbury-based productions.

“Last year, Hideaway Pictures was involved in producing eight pictures in Sudbury,” he noted. “And Northern Ontario Film Studios serviced 15 out of 16 projects that shot in Sudbury last year.”

That means a big boost for the local economy. “Our numbers show that, just taking last year alone, there was $30 million of direct spend in the City of Greater Sudbury,” he said.

The overall impact is triple that when you apply a “conservative multiplier” for economic spinoffs, said Anselmo. “So we basically have a $100 million industry in Sudbury.”

Anselmo said 2015 was a record year across Ontario for movie and TV productions, with about $1.5 billion pumped into the province’s economy.

And while Northern Ontario may not get the lion’s share of that activity, it has certainly become an increasingly popular location for film and TV crews to book shoots.

“We’re happy to have our little piece of that and keep growing,” said Anselmo.

Actors and directors like the North because of the hospitality they encounter, he said, and the chance — in summer, particularly– to enjoy some of time on the banks of a beautiful lake.

And for big-name stars, “it’s also a chance to get away from the tabloids,” he suggested.

Northerners, in turn, “feel pride in having big stars come to the community,” he said, and in seeing familiar landmarks portrayed on screen.

Anselmo said he returned from a stint overseas to set up shop in Sudbury because he wanted to “create opportunities for young filmmakers” and others — be they actors, technicians, costumers or caterers — interested in being involved in productions.

Those opportunities seem to be growing.

“We’re creating a lot of jobs in an economy that isn’t doing that well,” said Anselmo.

Sudbury is attractive to U.S. filmmakers because of tax incentives, the low Canadian dollar and grants provided through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, he said, but also because the city can now offer the expertise and equipment to make a shoot go smoothly.

“We have professional film studios and can provide all the infrastructure needed to film in Northern Ontario,” said Anselmo. “This reputation has really made waves, and it’s exciting to grow the industry and move it forward.”