Expect more filming in Sudbury, North Bay and Northern Ontario, thanks to a deal signed between Sudbury’s Hideway Pictures and Motion Picture Corporation of America.
The head of a Los Angeles production company sees great potential for growth in the Northern Ontario film industry.
Brad Krevoy is CEO of Motion Picture Corporation of America, which recently announced a three-year, $100-million, multi-picture deal with Sudbury-based Hideaway Pictures. He said Northern Ontario offers “a very solid opportunity for filmmakers over the long term, because of the crews, because of the landscape and because of the people.”
“I think there’s great potential moving forward to further expand what already exists,” Krevoy said. “It’s exciting, because there’s such a great level of enthusiasm, and that’s always great to be around, because it makes everybody more happy and glad to be doing what they’re doing.
“Filmmaking is not always easy. You have so many unknown factors — you’re not sure how it’s going to work with a particular scene as written, how your stars are going to get along with the director, how the crew is going to get along with each other, how the weather is going to be that day — yet somehow, in Northern Ontario, it all comes together so nicely. It’s a perfect mixture and so far, we’ve been very blessed to have a great experience and great movies. The final product, the movies, are terrific, so that’s why we have decided to do a bunch more and make an investment into the future in the Northern Ontario region.”
MPCA, a 29-year-old company, has more than $1 billion in worldwide revenue, including the Dumb and Dumber franchise, along with a thriving television division. Its subsidiary, Brad Krevoy Television, supplies programming to the Hallmark Channel, including movies in the Flower Shop Mysteries franchise. The first film in that series, entitled Mum’s The Word and starring Brooke Shields, was produced by Hideaway Pictures and Brad Krevoy Television. It was Hallmark’s most-watched January premier.
Read more by Ben Leeson in Sudbury Star