Written by on Nov 3, 2014. Posted in On Location

Calgary film studio development starts with groundbreaking ceremony

Work has started on the Calgary Film Centre studio in Alberta, Canada, with a groundbreaking ceremony. The USD 20 million complex will eventually offer more than 80,000 sq ft of production facilities and could help attract more shoots on the scale of the recent Fargo miniseries.

“Today’s groundbreaking marks a huge step towards making the Calgary Film Centre a reality,” said Bruce Graham, President and CEO of Calgary Economic Development.

“We have been working closely with our colleagues in the provincial and municipal governments as well as our other funding partners to move this project forward. We are excited to see the facility take shape over the next 12 months.”

Added Luke Azevedo, Commissioner for Film, TV & Creative Industries at Calgary Economic Development: “The Calgary Film Centre will allow us to grow our local crew and talent base and peripheral industries.

“It has the potential to substantially increase our production volume over the next five to seven years, and it will provide opportunities for our indigenous, home-grown talent to showcase their projects and ideas, while working full time in this province in their chosen industry.”

Alberta is a popular international filming location, with production usually focussing on Calgary and routinely doubling for other parts of Canada and the US.

Christopher Nolan doubled the province for the American mid-West in his epic sci-fi Interstellar and the remote Yukon settlement of Dawson City was recreated on a standing set at the CL Western Studios & Backlot for the period miniseries Klondike. Western TV drama Hell on Wheels is still based in Calgary. This year’s acclaimed miniseries adaptation of Fargo doubled the city for rural Minnesota and built sets in a warehouse.

The Calgary Film Centre is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2015 and could help boost Alberta’s international appeal.

(Photo: Chris Large/FX)