Canadore partners with The Stratagem Group

It’s a move officials say will expand film and TV production in the north.

A multi-year partnership has been signed between Canadore College and The Stratagem Group, a collective of creative companies, that will manage and operate the college’s state-of-the-art post-production complex.

The goal is to attract new screen activity and work with local partners to bring business, employment access and support to cities across the north.

In the short-term, they’ll be hiring three to five full-time post-production staff to live and work in North Bay, and to create other employment opportunities.

Long-term goals include developing other physical and post-production facilities and services, including the enhancement of academic programs and job opportunities for Canadore students.

Officials say over the last several years, annual production spend by the film and television industry in Northern Ontario has almost tripled to $100 million.

The Stratagem Group is committed to creating new models and approaches to sustain the current level of production and also to ensure the entire North fully captures its full future growth potential.

In so doing, Stratagem will work with and support all local stakeholders and especially those who have successfully built the Northern Ontario film industry over the past few decades.

“I was born and raised in the North and it is a dream come true for me to develop dynamic new creative business opportunities and jobs for the emerging talent of Northern Ontario,” said The Stratagem Group’s founder and CEO Michael Cerenzie. “The Stratagem Group’s commitment to Canadore College is the culmination of a two-year effort to identify opportunities to accelerate the growth of film and television production in Northern Ontario. Canadore not only offers highly-respected programs in film and television, but with its entrepreneurial spirit, has also built leading edge post-production facilities and developed a research park and incubators.”

Stratagem and Canadore intend to provide the top-tier facilities and services needed to attract considerable additional investment, while enhancing Canadore’s academic programs and creating long term employment opportunities. In a release, they says North Bay is singularly well-suited for this cooperative venture because of Canadore’s pre-eminent programs in production and entrepreneurship, and North Bay’s extensive history as a hub for Northern Ontario production.

The Stratagem Group will also work closely with the Heads of Media Arts and Design of Colleges Ontario (with a particular focus on colleges across Northern Ontario for this initiative at Canadore College) to ensure college students are receiving relevant training, internship and work placement opportunities along with access to the exceptional facilities at Canadore College.

Cerenzie adds, “The Stratagem Group’s collaboration with Canadore College will create jobs, investment opportunities and academic advancement for all Northern Ontario. We look forward to working with and supporting all productions and potential collaborators to attract and meet local, regional, inter-provincial and international content demands over the coming years.”

“Canadore College is not only committed to offering its students unsurpassed programs in film, television, media and entrepreneurship, but also to supporting their careers and to improving the overall welfare of Northern Ontario,” said Canadore College president and CEO George Burton. “By collaborating with The Stratagem Group we will make an important difference for our students and the economy and employment opportunities in North Bay and throughout all Northern Ontario.”

(File photo by station staff)