Pinewood Toronto Studios has renamed a soundstage after founding partner and chairman and Canadian industry leader Paul Bronfman following his death earlier this year.

The Paul Bronfman Stage, formerly Stage 7, was unveiled in a ceremony last Wednesday (Aug. 13). It had previously been a site for Canadian productions like David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis as well as series such as Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Section 31.

Members of Bronfman’s family attended the ceremony, including his children Jonathan, Alexandra and Andrew Bronfman. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Ontario culture minister Stan Cho, Ontario film commissioner Justin Cutler and Marguerite Pigott, Toronto film commissioner and director of entertainment industries, were also in attendance.

In 2008, Bronfman, along with other investors, became a founding partner in Toronto’s Filmport. Later in 2009, the studio partnered with U.K.-based Pinewood Studios Group and the Toronto lakefront facility acquired its current name. Bronfman sold his stake in the studio to Pinewood in 2023, remaining as senior advisor to the Toronto studio. He died in February at the age of 67 following a decades-long struggle with multiple sclerosis.

Outside of his work with Pinewood Toronto Studios, Bronfman was the chairman and CEO of his 1988-founded Comweb Corporation and William F. White International (WFW). In 2019, the latter sold to U.K.-based Ashtead Group, the parent company of Sunbelt Rentals. He continued as senior advisor and co-chairman of WFW before stepping down in 2023.

Inducted into Playback‘s Canadian Film and Television Hall of Fame in 2010, Bronfman served as a board member for several organizations, including the Canadian Media Producers Association and the Canadian Film Centre (CFC). His foundation was the lead funder for its August 2024-launched Cinematography Intensive. Late CFC founder Norman Jewison was honoured with a Pinewood Toronto Studios soundstage this January.

“Our dad was incredibly passionate about providing first class production service infrastructure to the Canadian and international film and TV communities,” said Jonathan Bronfman, producer and CEO of Toronto VFX company MARZ, in a statement. “Being a founding partner in Pinewood Toronto Studios embodied that mission. It’s tremendously meaningful to us that Pinewood will continue his legacy in this way.”

Premier Ford added: “[Bronfman’s] hard work and passion helped build Pinewood’s Toronto studios into one of North America’s top production facilities. This tribute is a well-deserved recognition of a man who believed in Ontario talent and helped make our province a world leader in film and television.”

Photo by Steve Blackburn