Cambridge movie business booms in August

The month of August is traditionally a slow period for film shoots in Cambridge, but you wouldn't know it given the influx of TV and movie shoots the city has seen recently.

A total of eight productions were on the go the week of Aug. 12 in Hespeler, Galt and a residential area west of Galt.

"I'm just working on a notification for the end of next week. I've already got three days on my schedule for September," said Devon Hogue, the business officer for the City of Cambridge.

"If you look historically at film production within the City of Cambridge, it's October, November, December. That's where we see a lot of our projects come in."

Filming of The Handmaid's Tale, based on Margaret Atwoods' popular novel, has attracted some larger productions to the area, Hogue said.

Word of mouth has also helped Cambridge attract productions. Hogue said the group of people who choose film locations is close-knit, so word can travel fast.

Hogue said the three original downtown cores in Cambridge offer a unique back-drop that you won't find in many communities.

But the look of those core areas could change with the creation of the Gaslight District in Galt, a re-development of the former Southworks and Tiger Brand properties.

"You know [it] will obviously change a little bit of the landscape that we have here downtown. I don't see that being a negative because the film industry is looking for certain things," said Hogue.

"And if we have apartment building in the background of a shot they're just going to use CGI to get that out of the picture if they don't want to see it."

The film and TV shoots bring a financial benefit to the city: Hogue said that last year $2.3M came into Cambridge from the movie industry, with hotels and restaurants benefiting because of the film crews needing to stay a few nights in the area.