New Niverville film studio expects to bring lights, camera and ecomomic action to rural Manitoba

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 29, 2025 12:19 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

A film workplace successful a agrarian Manitoba municipality is acceptable for lights, camera and action, offering a caller abstraction to marque everything from diagnostic films to euphony videos — and it's expected to bring an economical boost to 1 of the province's fastest-growing communities.

Jette Studios successful Niverville, a municipality of astir 6,000 radical that's 30 kilometres southbound of Winnipeg, is simply a imagination that's been decades successful the making, says Juliette Hagopian, a movie shaper and proprietor of the movie accumulation institution Julijette, which is down the project.

"It was a beauteous large endeavour," said Hagopian, adding her imaginativeness was a abstraction "where radical would person the abstraction truthful they could bash the films they wanted to do, and they could travel from anyplace successful the satellite to bash it."

The much than 25,000-square-foot studio, with 40-foot (12-metre)-high ceilings, had its authoritative opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony connected Friday. It's expected to include high-tech features similar a configurable situation LED screen, on with state-of-the-art production suites, according to Julijette's website. 

When plans for the workplace were first announced successful 2023, it was expected to impact a $30-million concern from the backstage sector, with the past Progressive Conservative authorities saying it would generate 300 caller jobs implicit its first three years.

But determination were challenges on the way, including flooding connected the onshore Hagopian had initially intended to physique on, which prompted a alteration of location.

On Friday, she declined to springiness an nonstop fig for the project's cost, but said it's a "mutimillion" dollar studio.

Producers filming astatine the workplace tin payment from the provincial government's movie accumulation taxation credit, Hagopian said.

But productions besides bring an economical boost to the communities they enactment in, supporting different industries, she said.

"Not lone movie radical benefit, but the communities successful Manitoba, they'll each benefit," she said. 

While the workplace has conscionable opened, Hagopian already has plans to expand it, if she tin get the backing to bash so. 

"Everyone is ever looking for a bigger stage," she said. 

WATCH | New workplace expected to boost Manitoba's film, TV industry:

Niverville Mayor Myron Dyck is looking guardant to the economical spinoff from the studio, which helium hopes will give young radical successful the rapidly growing town a accidental to enactment successful movie and trades.

"We privation to person reasons for our young radical to consciousness inspired, and this being present conscionable gives them different accidental close successful the community," helium said.

Filmmaking has go a large concern successful Manitoba successful caller years. Last summer, Manitoba Film and Music said the estimated accumulation measurement successful the province for 2024 was a record-breaking $434.9 million.

Writer/director Shawn Linden, who has worked successful the movie manufacture for the past 20 years, said having a high-tech studio like Jette in Manitoba is simply a significant opportunity for filmmakers successful the province.

"It's astonishing that we're going to beryllium capable to person this benignant of worldly astatine our disposal.… Soon this is conscionable going to beryllium a abstraction wherever you tin marque truly immoderate benignant of situation you want," helium said.

"Places similar this are popping up fundamentally each implicit the world," said Linden. "It's large that we person one."

He hopes to usage the workplace this summer, erstwhile helium plans to conception sets inside the Niverville gathering that will duplicate a Winnipeg location.

"That's 1 of the benefits of having a space," helium said. "It's precise exciting."

Kenny Boyce, the manager of movie and peculiar events for the City of Winnipeg, said it's important to physique filming infrastructure successful the province, particularly fixed Manitoba's unpredictable weather. It volition besides take some pressure disconnected filming locations successful Winnipeg, helium said.

For section creators, it besides means having a ample plus wherever they tin movie erstwhile visiting productions aren't rolling, giving much radical a accidental to tell their ain stories, said Boyce.

"This is conscionable what I deliberation the assemblage needed," helium said. "It's high-tech —you tin spot by the scope and the size, it's just amazing, and it volition lone further, I think, our accumulation values, and the magnitude and measurement of the enactment that we do."