Vancouver’s Shooters opens in T.O.

Vancouver production services and rental company Shooters has taken up residence at the Toronto Film Studios complex at 629 Eastern Avenue, an association designed to provide a new broadcast production alternative for the Toronto market.

Shooters, an arm of Vancouver’s Stay Tuned Communications (which includes Finale Editworks and Image Engine), services the video market in Vancouver as a diversified broadcast services shop, with equipment rentals, production crew and studio, and a 30-foot broadcast mobile unit.

The company recently launched its Toronto office at the 16-studio tfs facility, which is currently undergoing a $1.5-million renovation.

Two of the studios adjacent to Shooters will be targeted to the broadcast production market. The smaller studio, at 4,200 square feet, will be designed specifically for tape-based, three-camera shows, like cooking and kids’ shows as well as other projects. Studio 1, a 10,000-square-foot space, will be dedicated to tape-based broadcast production, including variety and magazine shows, as well as to commercial production.

Both will be top-quality stages, says tfs vp Kenneth Ferguson, with upgrades to include control rooms for the video stage, sound proofing, lighting grids, increased power as well as support facilities including hair and makeup, prep kitchen, production offices, wardrobe, lunchrooms and the like.

Shooters currently has eight camera packages available to producers, as well as full lighting and audio gear and accessories, and will add more as market demand dictates.

The company has enlisted the services of Arnie Wood as operations manager and Wayne Hicks in sales and marketing for the new office, both of whom have extensive experience in the Toronto production services market.

Shooters had already established a presence in Toronto, with president Dale Johannesen’s activities split between the coasts for some time.

The move to Toronto is part of a plan to expand the scope of work the shop can handle across the country, says Finale president Don Thompson. The company had been planning to move into the Toronto market for several years, and had long received feedback which indicated a space in the market for a broadcast facility alternative, says Thompson.

Wood says the company’s niche will be multicamera work at a competitive price. ‘This company has extensive experience with multicamera scenarios,’ says Wood. ‘We can put things together effectively and offer proximity to the studio; no one else is doing anything like this.’

For tfs, the goal was diversification, says Ferguson. ‘Most of our tenants now are in feature film or mow or tv series work,’ he says. ‘What we would like to do is accommodate some of the shorter term work provided by these markets.’

The target date for completion of the studio renovations is April.