Richmond Hill earns gold for film guidebook and ice storm crisis plan

Town aiming to be Hollywood North


Yorkregion.com
Jan. 27, 2015
By Kim Zarzour

Could Richmond Hill be the next Hollywood north?

A new guidebook, aimed at enticing filmmakers to bring their productions to the ‘little north, little nicer’, has just received recognition in an international competition for marketing and communication professionals.

The MarCom Award is one of the largest of its kind of competition in the world with about 6,000 entries, communications director Meeta Gandhi told councillors last night.

Gandhi presented to council two gold awards, lauding the town’s film location guide along with another publication, the ice storm crisis communications plan.

You may not have noticed it - sometimes the filming just spans a day or two - but during the last 10 years, dozens of locations in Richmond Hill have been home to film production, television and commercial shoots, including Cracked, Foxfire, Hannibal, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Moon Point, Nikita, Paranormal Witness and Saving Hope.

The film shoots create multiple spin-offs for the local economy, said senior communications officer Libbi Hood, which is why Richmond Hill aims to publicize, through the guidebook, its “film-friendly” reputation.

The guide, promoting the Town of Richmond Hill as a “location of choice” for film and television production, was created through the office of economic development.

Richmond Hill is a great location for filming because of its diversity - from the demographics and cultural backgrounds of its residents to the varied geography and buildings - Hood said.

In a compact area, producers can find modern buildings, rural farmland, lakes and ponds, an observatory, Chinatown and heritage areas.

The guide, a PDF produced in-house by staff, includes photographs showcasing town highlights, demographic charts, information on tax credit availability and media-related links.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for filmmakers from Toronto or around the world,” Hood said.

Ontario is the largest film and television production centre in Canada and one of the largest in North America, the guidebook says.

Film and television activity contributed $1.28 billion to the provincial economy in 2012 and accounted for almost 29,000 full-time direct and indirect jobs. Since 2008, economic activity has increased by 90 per cent and the 2012 financial results are the strongest ever, according to the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.