Calgary Film Centre breaks ground for new studio

A sod-turning ceremony was held Friday for a $22 million sound studio complex in Calgary.

The Calgary Film Centre will include three sound stages, offices and production-related storage facilities.

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Calgary's film commissioner, Luke Azevedo, says production companies considering shooting in Calgary ask three questions of his office.

"What's your incentives? What's your crew base? And what's your infrastructure?And they make their decisions based on those three aspects of every location they go to," he said.

Azevedo says the new facility will help his office attract more film and television productions to Calgary.

Much of the funding for the Calgary Film Centre comes from the public. The city is providing $10 million, while the province is contributing $5 million towards thecost of the project.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi says the public investment in the film centre willpay off.

"We expect that the economic impact of this will be well into the hundreds of millions," he said."So this is actually a very good use of money."

The studio complex is located in a southeast Calgary industrial park. It is expected to open for business late next year.