(Beverly Hills, California) On a mission in the Hollywood region to encourage major studios to choose Montreal for their filming, Mayor Valérie Plante hopes to attract more productions of television series, in addition to films.
“We have had a few TV series filming, but there is room to have a lot more,” underlined Mme An enthusiastic Plante met at his Beverly Hills hotel after the first day of his two-day mission to the cinema mecca.
With half a dozen representatives of Montreal companies active in this sector, the mayor of Montreal had meetings at Warner Bros. television studios, Netflix, Disney, Amazon MGM Studios, HBO Max and Skydance Media.
“What’s fun is that they already know Montreal. They know that it is a complete ecosystem, with several studios, high technology, the availability of extras from all cultural communities, in addition to post-production, special effects, animation, for which Montreal is known. Plus, they know it’s cheaper for them,” points out Mme Plante, who mentions that the tax credits offered by the Quebec government, recently enhanced, also serve as incentives.
If Montreal’s expertise is already recognized in this area, why is it necessary to organize an economic mission there?
There is still fierce competition from Vancouver and Toronto, which is a bigger player. We’re doing well, but we can’t take anything for granted. I don’t do many economic missions, I choose them carefully, but here, I found it important.
Valérie Plante, mayor of Montreal
According to the Quebec Cinema and Television Bureau, the audiovisual industry represents $2.3 billion in direct spending for Quebec, of which $995 million is attributable to visual effects, $247 million to animation and $399 million to filming. foreigners. Local and foreign filming represents more than $1 billion per year.
The audiovisual industry represents 57,000 direct and indirect jobs.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Recently, films Scream VI, Beau Is Afraid, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts And X-Men: Dark Phoenix were filmed in Montreal.
The Hollywood mission also puts forward the “We turn green” initiative, which aims to raise awareness and support productions towards an ecological transition. Since its launch in April 2021, it has enabled 104 productions to obtain accreditation for their sustainable practices and continues to train producers in environmentally friendly production methods.
“Montreal is cool! »
The companies CINE SITE, Difuze, Grande Studios, Hybride, MELS, Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and Rodeo FX are participating in the economic mission. Some have had discussions that could eventually lead to the conclusion of contracts, mentions Mme Plant.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
The mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, is on an economic mission to Los Angeles.
“I’m the one who tells them that Montreal is cool! “, she says.
In addition to discussions with representatives of major studios, the mayor of Montreal met Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles. She noted that the two metropolises shared similar concerns and priorities, such as economic development, cultural vitality, ecological transition and the fight against homelessness.