NORTH BAY – The Stratagem Group, an integrated collective of creative companies, and Canadore College of Applied Arts and Technology, an innovative North Bay college offering advanced film, television, digital media, and entrepreneurship learning, today announced a multi-year collaboration to enhance and nurture the booming film and television industry in Northern Ontario.
The partnership will see The Stratagem Group, whose offering includes unique solutions in-studio development and infrastructure, operation, content creation, finance, production service, and workforce development, exclusively manage and operate the College’s state-of-the-art post-production complex, including one of North America’s top Dolby ATMOS 4K Theatres. The goal of this collaboration is to service local northern productions; attract substantial new screen activity and operate collaboratively with other local partners to bring business, employment access and support to North Bay and surrounding areas, including, but not limited to, Timmins, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Kenora, and Sault Ste. Marie.
In the short-term, The Stratagem Group intends to hire three to five full-time post-production staff to live and work in North Bay. This team will help create many additional full-time, part-time and freelance roles as the business expands and reaches its fullest potential.
In the long-term, The Stratagem Group and Canadore College will also collaborate on the design and development of other physical and post-production facilities and services to broaden capacity for the film industry in Northern Ontario. This includes the enhancement of academic programs and job opportunities for Canadore’s students and local talent and to strengthen a creative sector that typically employs hundreds of film technicians, crewmembers and artists for each production.
Over the last several years, the 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. 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.
Additionally, The Stratagem Group will 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.”
About The Stratagem Group
The Stratagem Group (Stratagem) is a collective of creative companies and a catalyst for transformative change in society and economies. Stratagem’s integrated portfolio of companies focuses on the development of globally competitive talent and content in Ontario, designed with and in support of extraordinary local, national and international partners, collaborators and clients. Stratagem offers unique solutions in studio development and operation, content creation, finance and production service, post-production and workforce development working with top-tier partners within Ontario and from around the world.
The Stratagem Group is committed to building and repurposing over 1 million square feet of studios and facilities. Working with a global team of a film industry leader, architects, designers, and engineers, The Stratagem Group is committed to supporting all of Ontario’s local, provincial, national and international production demand needs and aspirations.
About Canadore College
Canadore College trains people through applied learning, leadership, and innovation. It provides access to over 75 full-time quality programs and has outstanding faculty and provides success services to students from nearly 400 Canadian communities and 15 international countries. The College and its students add nearly $244 million to Nipissing Parry Sound Service Area economy. Approximately 1,000 students graduate from Canadore each year, and they join 46,000 alumni working across the globe. Canadore receives less than 50% of its traditional funding from the provincial Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and relies on its own innovation and entrepreneurial endeavors and generous donors for the balance.
