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Another film produced in Montréal as a result of an investment by SGF
The Factory is the third film shot in Québec under an agreement with Dark Castle and Joel Silver
Montréal, February 4, 2008 – Dark Castle, a U.S. production company owned by Joel Silver, is in the city to shoot The Factory, a psychological thriller starring John Cusack.
The Factory is the third feature film made in Montréal under an agreement between Société générale de financement du Québec (SGF) and Dark Castle. SGF partnered with Dark Castle in 2006 to finance a $270-million project involving the production of 15 feature films over the next six years. By investing $18 million in the project, SGF ensured six of the films would be made in Québec.
Two other films have already been made in the city as a result of this partnership. In the spring of 2007, Whiteout, starring British actress Kate Beckinsale (Click, Van Helsing), Gabriel Macht and Tom Skerritt, kicked off the series. In January of this year, The Orphan, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was also produced in Montréal.
SGF AND QUÉBEC’S FILM INDUSTRY
SGF recently announced it would invest $100 million in Alliance Films Inc., Canada’s largest independent film distributor, to acquire 51% of the voting rights and a 38.5% stake.
As a result of this investment, the head office of Alliance Films – the company’s decision-making centre – will be relocated to Montréal. Certain members of senior management as well as many of the company’s finance and Home Video division employees will move to Montréal.
The investment in Alliance Films is SGF’s third major investment in the film industry.
In the past two years, SGF has played a leading role in the local film industry. Partially as a result of SGF’s investments, in 2007 the sector had its best year since 2003.
In a sustained effort to attract international film production to Québec, SGF has partnered on two major projects in the past two years. In 2007, it formed a partnership with Lionsgate, an independent U.S. producer, for an overall $400-million project. By investing $140 million in the project, SGF ensured that more than 15 feature films and television series would be made in Québec over the next four years.
In 2006, SGF partnered with Dark Castle, a production company owned by Joel Silver, on a film project that totals $270 million and involves the production of 15 feature films. By investing $18 million, SGF ensured that six of the films would be made in Québec.
In the spring of 2007, the action film Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale, was shot in Montréal under SGF’s agreement with Dark Castle. The next two films in the series, The Factory, starring John Cusak, and Orphan, with Peter Sarsgaard, are expected here in 2008.
Under SGF’s agreement with Lionsgate, the sixth season of the hit series The Dead Zone, with Anthony Michael Hall, was shot in Montréal. Lloyd Segan, one of the producers, had high praise for the city and the expertise of Québec’s film workers on the series’ official website: www.usanetwork.com/series/thedeadzone/behindthescenes/fromls/lsentry061507.html
Also as part of SGF’s partnership with Lionsgate, the feature film Punisher: War Zone, starring Ray Stevenson, was one of the largest U.S. productions shot in Montréal in 2007.
Although the volume of foreign production has fallen in recent years, SGF’s investments point to a brighter future for Québec’s film industry.
In all, SGF’s partnerships will generate the equivalent of 8,200 direct and indirect full-time jobs representing $325 million of wages. The long-term spinoff benefits for the sector are also considerable, in terms of manpower development, film technologies and Québec’s reputation abroad.
Société générale de financement du Québec (sgfqc.com), an industrial and financial holding company, has a mission to carry out economic development projects, with emphasis on the industrial sector, in co-operation with partners and on standard profitability conditions, in accordance with the economic development policy of the Québec government.
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Source:
Marie-Claude Lemieux
Senior Adviser
Communications and Media Relations
Société générale de financement du Québec
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