Netflix inks ‘very long-term’ deal for Vancouver production hub

If you’re the kind of Canadian viewer who notices when Vancouver shows up in a TV series, get ready to be spotting it more often.

Streaming giant Netflix has inked a “very long-term” deal with a Burnaby production centre to make the Lower Mainland one of its three international content hubs.

Terms of the deal with the Canadian Motion Picture Park have not been released, but CMPP principal Marjorie Poore told Global News it will see the company lease seven of its 18 film stages.

READ MORE: ‘Hollywood North’ workers from outside Canada will be required to quarantine for 14 days once back in B.C.

The massive property, located between Marine Drive and the Fraser River, covers 25 acres, with studios ranging between 12,000 and 40,000 square feet.

“It was a great fit for Netflix because they’re going to pick facilities that help them accomplish their goal of producing great shows,” Poore said Friday.

“It  means we’ve got a tremendous depth of talent in every area.”

3:54 Hollywood North gets boost from streaming giant

While the deal secures longtime stability for Netflix in the Lower Mainland, it’s far from the company’s first foray into the region.

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In recent years, the company produced Altered Carbon, Lost in Space, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and other titles in Vancouver.

The deal will be good news for local film workers, according to casting directors Catherine Falcon and Bim Narine.

“The streaming services are getting bigger and bigger and they’re wanting to create more and more content. And the fact that they’re wanting to create content here … is a really big deal,” Narine said.

1:48 B.C. film industry hoping to bounce back after coronavirus closure

Falcon said with quarantine requirements on U.S. actors entering Canada during the pandemic, it could also mean more work for local actors.

“It’s a very good sign. It will bring a lot of additional industry to us,” she said.

“We have Lifetime and we have Hallmark and Netflix and so many big studio productions happening here, so it’s a great opportunity for everyone.”

The Canadian Motion Picture Park says the first productions to get underway at the new Netflix hub will be an untitled Sandra Bullock project, and the Supernatural horror series Midnight Mass.

With files from Aaron McArthur