Ken Ferguson fired back at his critics last month – looking to put down rumors that have surrounded his deal to build Toronto’s newest, biggest studio with an open letter to the local film community.

Ferguson’s Toronto Film Studios and its parent The Rose Corporation are preparing to build the so-called Port Lands megastudio on the Toronto waterfront, a $175-million bid by the city to attract bigger-budget Hollywood movies.

But the project – and other goings-on involving TFS, the City of Toronto and its waterfront – have left many stakeholders asking questions about the Port Lands deal. Its contract has not been made public but is expected to be reviewed by city council shortly.

Toronto filmmakers have expressed concern that the studio would lead to the closure of smaller facilities, reducing the overall soundstage space available in the city. Others fear that a non-competition clause in TFS’ contract with the city would bar their businesses from the Port Lands area.

Not so, according to Ferguson. ‘While the city’s political leadership and the vast majority of the film community are strong supporters of the Mega-Studio,’ he writes in the letter e-mailed to some 400 industry stakeholders, ‘some unfounded rumors have been circulated recently by parties who are opposed to the project.’

Port Lands ‘will not monopolize the industry or kill other studios and film-related businesses – it will actually increase their workload,’ he insists, although he did not offer specifics.

The letter goes on to explain the non-competition clause, confirming that during a ‘limited stabilization period,’ TEDCO, the city’s economic development office, will not be allowed to lease land to other studios in the megastudio’s neighborhood. But ‘other film-related tenants such as equipment suppliers will be welcomed to the area and no existing TEDCO tenants… will be affected.’

Ferguson also echoed assurances by city officials that there is no connection between Port Lands and the recent evictions of service companies from nearby provincial land. The companies are being moved to make room for a long-planned waterfront revitalization, unrelated to the studio.

The letter comes after several weeks during which Ferguson, TEDCO and Toronto Mayor David Miller have worked to deflect criticism about the project.