$2.5 million in provincial funding is supporting four area film and TV projects along with some studio improvements.
Vic Fedeli, Nipissing MPP, says the funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund will propel the local film and television industry forward and strengthen the local economy.
“[The] $2.5 million investment through the NOHFC will increase the industry’s jobs and investments in Northern Ontario, including right here in Nipissing,” says Fedeli. “The Ontario government will continue to elevate this region’s world-class film and television industry, drive the local economy, and attract projects.”
Derek Diorio, President of Distinct Features, Producer of “Driven” says ongoing support from NOHFC has helped them develop a world-class production and acting community.
“Distinct Features’ production of the movie “Driven” will be one of the most Northern productions ever shot, with 95% of the cast and crew coming from the North and more specifically North Bay,” Diorio says.
Local film and television projects receiving NOHFC funding include:
- · $800,000 for Blood Lines Films Inc to produce the film Blood Lines, shot in and around North Bay, a feature film that follows the story of a woman who is both a reporter and grocery store clerk whose world comes crashing down with the homecoming of her estranged mother and the appearance of a mysterious woman in both their lives
- · $500,000 for Distinct Features Inc to produce the film Driven, shot in and around North Bay, about a young lawyer is trapped in a high-tech car on an isolated northern highway by a malevolent force
- · $500,000 for Embers Film Inc to produce the film The Embers and the Stars, shot in and around North Bay, a feature film that follows the story of an astrophysicist stationed in the north of Canada who discovers that there are two non-human powers positioned to take control of earth and its inhabitants
- · $500,000 for HP Productions Inc to produce the film Operation Mistletoe, filmed in and around North Bay, about an expert decorator and her former high school crush, who returns to sell a house that her best friend hires her to decorate
- · $200,000 for Mukwa Studios to improve its studio space with a new rigging grid to support lights, backdrops and safety harnesses
The province says since June 2018, the NOHFC has invested more than $147 million in 865 projects in the Nipissing area, leveraging more than $637 million in investment and creating or sustaining 1,531 jobs.
