The direct spend of film productions in Hamilton was about $60 million in 2019 on everything from permits to spending at local businesses.

Debbie Spence is the Business Development Consultant for the Creative Industries Sector in Hamilton and she’s collecting stats on the film industry in the city.

“The number of permits issued in 2019 will have similar numbers to last year,” says Spence. “There were 811 film permits issued in 2018, which was a 50% increase from 2017.”

Step into your favourite movie! 9 famous filming locations throughout #HamOnt 🎬 https://t.co/GmwLPRZshH — Tourism Hamilton (@TourismHamilton) December 4, 2019

These numbers make Hamilton the second busiest film location in Ontario, which is important for the city in building its reputation as a North American film hub.

According to Spence, when productions want to film in the city, they need to provide the Hamilton Office of Music and Film with an estimated amount of money they intend to spend in the city. This includes things like hotel stays, private property rentals, donations to BIAs, restaurant and retail spending, city-owned facility rentals, equipment purchase or rental, parking permits, road closure permits, and filming permits.

“Typically, there’s a direct correlation between the number of permits and days productions spend in Hamilton with direct spend,” says Spence. “The longer a production is here, the more they spend.”

In many ways, film crews are not unlike hosting conferences in the sense that they bring out-of-towners to the city who need a place to sleep, eat, and spend within the local economy for the short duration they’re here. It goes without saying then that the longer film productions stay in Hamilton – and the more frequent they become – the more economic uplift the city will receive.

Hamilton already has a thriving film industry making it an attractive location for production companies. There’s about 900 film related businesses in the city and a labour force of 9,140 people who live in Hamilton.

The significant development of Hamilton-based film productions makes the film industry the top sector for growth in the Creative Industries Sector of Hamilton, says Spence.

To put things in perspective with the film industry in the rest of the province, filming in Ontario has increased by 23% and $1.6 billion in direct spend between 2014 and 2017.

The industry is expected to continue to grow by 5.3% annually and to $2.1 billion by 2022.

With this upswing in momentum, there is a real argument for the city to become the new Hollywood North.