Toronto is getting into the movie business under mysterious terms that the city can’t yet reveal.

In a closely guarded deal worth undisclosed millions, city council approved a loan for the purchase of a minority stake in Filmport in order to partner with the producers of the legendary James Bond blockbusters to operate Toronto’s state-of-the-art studios.

But while Mayor David Miller touted the secrecy-shrouded arrangement as a boost for Toronto’s slowly reviving film industry, councillors privy to the terms said alarm bells were going off.

Few details were made public yesterday after council voted 31-7 in favour of the impending deal with Pinewood Studios for the operation of Toronto’s Filmport, which opened for business last year.

Mr. Miller said that once finalized, the terms and the amount of the loan being made via the Toronto Economic Development Corporation.

Until now, the city has been the landlord of Filmport through TEDCO.

“The arrangements that council passed today included the city giving a loan and receiving a minority ownership interest. That allows us a better ability to steer the future so that the risk we already have as the landlord is mitigated,” said Mr. Miller. “We don’t in the long-run want to run a film studio. That’s not what we’re good at. But we do want this film studio to succeed to create jobs in Toronto. We view this as a transition measure, but the transition may be several years.”

The money — “millions and millions” according to councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (Don Valley East) treading as close as he could to the line without breaching the confidentiality code — will come out of the city’s land acquisition reserve fund.

“Your political antennae go up in this place when you get a report worth a lot of money and it’s dropped at your desk in your office around 4 o’clock or thereabouts on a Friday afternoon. So that’s alarm bell Number 1,” said Mr. Minnan-Wong, who tried and failed to have the action delayed for further discussion. “Alarm bell Number 2 there’s lots of money involved. Alarm bell Number 3 is that they write it in such a way that it’s so complex that you can’t really figure out the financial implications. But you do know it’s a complicated deal and there are things hidden within the report that put the city at a financial risk.”

Councillor Michael Walker (St. Paul’s) will be reported to the integrity commissioner for taking the confidential report to an outside forensic auditor over the weekend seeking insight — a potential violation of council rules.

He urged council not to rush into the deal, to no avail.

Mr. Miller said that the new arrangements would actually work to mitigate Toronto’s risk by giving the city a stronger say in Filmport’s operations, including a seat on the board. When operating at full capacity, Filmport could create about 1,000 jobs and generate $50 million worth of economic spinoffs.

“Overall what will happen as a result of this is that Filmport will be in a much stronger financial position to succeed going forward,” he said. “The underlying reason behind this transaction is to ensure it’s future success, to ensure it’s sufficiently capitalized to succeed for the future.”

There were hints the deal is something of a bailout of the brand-new Filmport, which has yet to rent out its biggest soundstage.

Reports suggest Sam Reisman, the CEO of Rose Corp. and Filmport’s founder, is looking to offload his 20% ownership stake after the Ontario Municipal Board vetoed his Smart! Centres development for former film studios.

The Mayor said the ownership changes might also mean a management shakeup.

“I can’t comment on Pinewood. I can say that TEDCO does hope to have a new management partner. It very much respects the work that Ken Ferguson has on behalf of Toronto Film Studio [where he is currently president], but if there were an international corporation in this industry who was a partner it would be a very positive development for us,” Mr. Miller said. “In Los Angeles they’re used to negotiating with corporations of that kind. It would mean Toronto would be a much more viable destination for the success of films.”

Source: The National Post

The planned ceremonial opening for Toronto’s Filmport has been postponed due to a conflict with Mayor Miller’s appearance before a Senate Committee hearing on controversial Bill C-10.

The Mayor was to officiate at the Filmport event on June 5th, but has been asked by the mayors of other Canadian cities to lead a delegation against legislation that threatens to censor film production nation-wide.

Filmport has said that it applauds the Mayor’s actions in speaking out on behalf of the film industry. Mayor Miller has been a staunch supporter of the company and they will not cut the ribbon without him.

Tedco and Filmport are working with the Mayor’s office to arrange an alternative date for the ceremony.

Toronto – Architect Will Alsop, renowned creator of the elevated polka-dotted Ontario College of Art and Design, will design the first commercial office building for a new film and media centre in Toronto. Working with local architect Quadrangle, the sleek building, with its red exterior and curved form, will be FILMPORT’s first commercial building, an 11-storey office tower, film studio and event space.

"There’s a whole bunch of great things going on in the Port Lands and we’re pretty happy about it," said Jeff Steiner, the president and chief executive of the Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO), which owns much of the land in the area.

When it is complete, Filmport, which is financed by multiple shareholders including Comweb Corporation and the Rose Corporation, will be the largest complex of film studios, sound stages and post-production facilities in North America outside of Los Angeles.

Together, the shareholders will invest over $30 million of equity capital in the venture.

Conventional construction-to-permanent debt financing will make up the balance of capital for the $60 million Phase 1 Complex. Lytton Financial Inc. acted as exclusive advisor to TFS with respect to the financing of FILMPORT. 

Construction is already underway on the $700-million project. The first sound stages are expected to open next spring. FILMPORT will comprise 550,000 square feet of production offices and sound stages, including the mega-stage which will cover a massive 45,500 square feet, more than an acre of column-free space.