Montreal: Three Montreal studio groups have announced major expansion plans.

Construction is underway on Mel’s Cite du Cinema III, a four-studio facility adjacent to the south-central Mel’s Cite du Cinema and Technoparc facilities.

The expansion, an $11-million private investment by partners Mel Hoppenheim and Michel Trudel, will bring the total number of Cite du Cinema soundstages to 13, the largest being Studio H at 37,000 square feet. Cite du Cinema III will house four fully soundproofed soundstages, two at 15,000 square feet and two at 10,000 square feet, the fourth with 50-foot clearance, as well as production offices and areas for makeup and wardrobe. The new facility will also house a 24,000-square-foot lighting department operated by film equipment rental company Location Michel Trudel.

‘Mel and I are making this investment to make sure we have something for our Quebec and Canadian clients,’ says Trudel. Cite du Cinema III will open for business by the end of April, he says.

Shoots at Mel’s Cite du Cinema and Technoparc soundstages include CDM Productions’ (Miramax Films) Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, George Clooney’s directing debut; Beyond Borders Films LP’s (Mandalay Pictures) Beyond Borders, directed by Martin Campbell; and The Human Stain, a Lakeshore Productions feature starring Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins and directed by Robert Benton.

The Moliflex-White Group, a Comweb company and operator of the Studio St-Paul and Cine-Cite Montreal complexes, has purchased the Ice Storm Studios located in the former Angus shipyards in north-central Montreal. The Ice Storm facilities have been used for various shoots, including The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne. Executive VP Benoit Hogue says expansion plans for the studio and lot (280,000 square feet) will be announced later in January.

Cine-Cite, located on the former St-Hubert military air base, houses four soundstages, including a 15,000-square-foot studio. It is servicing CineGroupe’s FX series Galidor, the Rose Films feature coproduction The Book of Eve and the Paramount Pictures feature Time Line, which is in early preproduction and using a 40,000-square-foot converted hangar.

At Playback press time, a third studio investor group said it plans to convert the 1.25-million-square-foot former Hyundai plant in Bromont, QC into a full-service film soundstage complex. There is not much information as yet on Studio Bromont’s principal investor group, but Ernst & Young is reported to be financial counsel on the $10-million project. Quebec promoters associated with the Bromont project include Thomas Rioux and two production industry names, Jocelyn Parenteau and Alain Gagnon.