Pinewood Toronto Studios (formerly known as ''Filmport'') is a major

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television studio A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the production of live television and its recording onto video tape or other media such as SSDs, or for ...

complex in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada and is the largest of its kind in Canada. It is the first in Toronto capable of accommodating the production of large-scale films. The studio is named for the British Pinewood Studios Group. In March 2018, it was announced that

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...

would be buying a controlling stake in the studio. It is located across the shipping channel from

Hearn Generating Station The Richard L. Hearn Generating Station (named after Richard Lankaster Hearn) is a decommissioned electrical generating station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The plant was originally fired by coal, but later converted to burn natural gas. The pl ...

along Commissioners Street.

History

The project covers of land in the Port Lands area of Toronto, a former industrial area, that is already home to a number of smaller studios. The Port Lands site was originally a

brownfield site Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...

owned by

Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited () is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-largest integrated oil company. It is majority-owned by American oil company ExxonMobil, with a 69.6% ownership stake in the company. It is a producer of crude oil, ...

, and required considerable cleanup prior to reuse. Initial work on the complex began in August 2006. In June 2009, the studio entered into a comprehensive sales and marketing agreement with the Pinewood Studios Group, resulting in the facility being renamed Pinewood Toronto Studios. Pinewood Toronto Studios was constructed to be a "green" facility with a number of environmental considerations. In March 2018, Bell Media reached a deal with the UK-based Pinewood studios group, the

City of Toronto government The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the ''City of Toron ...

, and several holdings companies to purchase a controlling stake in the studio. As part of the deal, Bell Media announced that an additional 170,000 square feet of sound stages would be built at Pinewood Toronto to ease scarcity of production space in Toronto.

Stages and facilities

The 11-hectare lot features seven purpose-built

sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a large, soundproof structure, building or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or te ...

s and one converted warehouse, ranging from to . The largest sound stage, called the Mega Stage, is more than and until 2016, was the largest purpose-built sound stage in North America. In May 2024, it was announced one of the studios sound stages would be named "The ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' Stage", on which the television series '' Star Trek: Discovery'' and the film '' Star Trek: Section 31'' were shot. In January 2025, another sound stage was named "The

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (July 21, 1926 – January 20, 2024) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was known for directing films which addressed topical Social issue, social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects acces ...

Stage" in honor of the filmmaker.

Expansion

In November 2020, the company reported that an expansion has commenced, with a plan of adding over 200,000 square feet to the campus. The announcement specified that the expansion would "include five new sound stages (totaling 102,000 square feet), 58,000 square feet of office and support space, and 15,000 square feet dedicated to a mill shop and workshop". When the work is finished, the Toronto location will offer a total of 16 sound stages.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{The Pinewood Studios Group Buildings and structures in Toronto Canadian film studios