Pinewood Toronto Studios’ expansion continued Friday with three new soundstages opening for low-budget features and episodic TV shoots.

The new 10,000 square foot soundstages come ahead of 100,000 square feet of new office space being built at the Toronto mega-facility as a host of indie producers and production service providers gravitate to the portlands studio.

Pinewood Toronto Studios chairman Paul Bronfman said the new initiatives will underpin a growing production sector city-wide.

“This is great news for Toronto. It’s a symbol of our growth and our desire to support all levels of film in Toronto. And it fits in the greater picture of Toronto,” Bronfman told Playback.

Pinewood Toronto Studios has been able to attract big-budget movie shoots like Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim.

At the same time, Toronto is bursting at the seams with episodic TV production, from local series like Degrassi, Orphan Black and Lost Girl to U.S. series like 20 Century Fox’s The Strain, also directed by del Toro, and Covert Affairs.

Pinewood Toronto Studios president Blake Steels said the new soundstages give the facility options.

“What we’ve done is given ourselves the opportunity to house two tentpoles, or one tentpole and a large TV show or a couple indie films,” Steels said.

And the new soundproofed soundstages were built at a price-point to accommodate cost-conscious producers.

They also allow Pinewood Toronto Studios to avoid turning anyone away if a tentpole movie shoot, as with Gil Kenan’s Poltergeist remake or del Toro’s upcoming Crimson Peak, dominates the mega-studio.

“Having a big tentpole is two-edge sword. The good news is everything is filled. The bad news is everything is filled,” Pinewood Toronto Studio’s Bronfman said.

Pictured, from the left: Michael Kraljevic, President & CEO of Toronto Port Lands Company; Blake Steels, President of Pinewood Toronto Studios; Peter Tabuns, MPP Toronto-Danforth; Paula Fletcher, City Councillor Ward 30; Alfredo Romano, Director, Pinewood Toronto Studios; Paul Bronfman, Chairman, Pinewood Toronto Studios; Craig Scott, MP Toronto-Danforth; Glen Murray, Ontario Minister of Infrastructure & Transportation; Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture & Sport.

Photo credit: Jag Gundu