Kingston’s film office says 2021 will be a record year for film and TV production in the city.
“Since the Kingston Film Office was established in 2018, the city has increasingly become a sought-after location for film and television production, and is projected to see record levels of production this year,” the office said in a news release Tuesday.
This comes the same day Season 14 of Murdoch Mysteries begins filming in the city.
The film office estimates that all in all, productions in Kingston will bring more than $1 million in direct spending in the community over the course of the year.
In addition to CBC’s Murdoch, Kingston has already played host to Amazon Prime’s Reacher, and will soon be the site for Paramount series, The Mayor of Kingstown.
According to local film commissioner Alex Jansen, these big budget pieces are the only types of productions the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed in the city.
“We’ve been very limited as to which productions we can allow. Productions must meet the crucial COVID-19 safety requirements, so we’re mostly seeing larger studio productions,” Jansen said.
Despite enhanced guidelines and limiting of small productions in the city, the Kingston film office is optimistic that the success seen over the pandemic year means even more fruitful years to come.