City Committee approves $10M for Calgary film studio
Final approval to come from city council later this month
A city council committee approved $10 million for a proposed Calgary film studio.
Proponents say building the $23-million studio could double the size of the movie industry in Calgary.
Calgary Economic Development film commissioner Luke Azevedo says getting into the studio business is like a line from a movie — "if you build it, they will come" — and by "they," he means more Hollywood productions.
“To be able to create the infrastructure that's necessary to attract that type of production is very expensive and to put ourselves in a position where we are looked at as one of the most legitimate locations in Canada to do film, television and digital media production, you need to build the facilities.”
Final approval on the city contribution for the studio is expected from city council later this month.
Four possible sites are still being looked at and Azevedo says a location will be picked soon so the film studio will be ready for its first shoot next year.
The province says it will chip in $5 million for the project.