Cinespace studio deal falls through

Company’s withdrawal doesn’t mean project is dead, official says

The Toronto company chosen by the City of Ottawa to build a film and television studio at Bayview Yards is out of the project, the Citizen has learned.

Cinespace Film Studios was selected in December as the winning bidder after Invest Ottawa issued a request for proposals for the project. The city was keen to serve a perceived growing demand for studio space, and was to contribute $1.5 million in capital funding through its armslength economic development agency Invest Ottawa.

The city will now have to go back to the drawing board.

“It was a mutual parting of the ways the week before last,” said Blair Patacairk, a senior adviser with Invest Ottawa.

Cinespace has developed large-scale brownfields as studio spaces in other cities, and were very interested in the site. But through negotiations it became clear that an agreement could not be finalized and the company dropped out, Patacairk said.

He would not elaborate on what the stumbling blocks were with Cinespace.

Patacairk said the company’s withdrawal doesn’t mean the film studio project is dead, and Invest Ottawa is inviting the two other companies that submitted bids to reapply. “We’re going to look at the other proposals and see if there is something that will work for what we’re trying to build here,” said Patacairk.

He said there will be discussions with the other bidders about what else is needed to get project back on track. He expects a decision to be made in April.

Last month the province gave Ottawa $15 million to redevelop the 6.7-hectare cityowned property on Bayview Road, north of Scott Street, and build an “innovation complex” that would also include new offices for Invest Ottawa. The choice of Cinespace as the project’s studio partner left some Ottawa film companies grumbling they had not been given a fair shake.

Nick Mirkopoulos, founder of Cinespace, said the Ottawa studio was plagued by “handicaps” which persuaded him to drop out of the project.

“Ottawa has to compete with lots of other places which are organized, and where they have a film industry, crews and producers and all the machines (movie equipment),” he said.

“To put business in Ottawa it needs only one thing, a united approach with the city, citizens, industry, colleges and universities because today the film industry has changed completely.”

Mirkopoulos said he disagreed with Invest Ottawa’s insistence details of the project remain private even though it was getting public money.

He said he felt the project was underfunded and that the City of Ottawa’s $1.5 million contribution wasn’t enough. “Well, a million-and a-half is like a toothpick in the steak. I have to provide the whole steak and they give a toothpick and want me to be partner,” he said.

Cinespace is an industry leader in movie production and has operated in Toronto for more than 20 years.

Its studio facilities have been used for many film and TV projects including Chicago, X-Men, Saw and Flashpoint.