Canadian TV series moving production to North Bay

As Country 600 CKAT News first told you on Monday, officials with the Canadian TV series Hard Rock Medical have announced the series has been renewed for a third season with TVO and APTN and they’re moving production of the series to North Bay.

It’s key cast will be going to work here in North Bay from Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles and Austrailia.

A formal announcement is coming February 11th.

Mayor Al McDonald says they’re really excited to welcome Hard Rock Medical to North Bay.   He says it’s great for commerce and they’re happy with the new partnership.

McDonald goes on to say the series will attract and train crew members and the economic impact will be significant.

Meantime, Hard Rock Medical also has an educational partnership with Canadore College‘s TV and Digitial Program, as part of support from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.

Interim Associate Dean of Media, Design and Dramatic Arts at Canadore, Yura Monestime says this is the first time a TV series has been embedded in Canadore’s Digital Cinematography curriculum, giving students a great learning opportunity.

Of note, the series moving to North Bay is a homecoming for one of the stars of the show.

Jamie Spilchuk (pictured right) is from North Bay.

Hard Rock Medical is a Canadian television drama series, co-created and written by Smith Antonio Corindia and Derek Diorio.

Diorio says the local market is under serviced in TV production, but there are other reasons for choosing North Bay.

He says they start shooting on February 16th and will be doing so until March 24th.

Diorio says most of the shooting will be in and around Canadore College.

But they will also be downtown, Nipissing First Nation and Callander Bay.

He says the show, which is loosely based on the Northern Ontario School of Medicine was shot in Sudbury for the first 2 years.

Diorio calls it a “dramedy” and can be seen on APTN and TVO.

It debuted on TVO in 2013 and APTN in 2014.

Filmed in Northern Ontario, the series revolves around a group of students attending medical school, which is loosely based on the real-life Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

On the web: www.hardrockmedical.com