Provincial authorities are preparing to boot an assortment of film and TV companies from Toronto’s waterfront, taking the first of what is expected to be several bites out of the city’s busy production ghetto.

Absolute Location Support Services, Big House Special Effects and roughly 10 other companies have all reportedly received eviction notices from the Ontario Realty Corporation – a government body that has stewardship over much of the city’s industrial lakeshore.

They have until the end of the year or, in some cases, Oct. 31 to move out, making way for a long-planned revitalization of the waterfront. Other sections of land – including the city-leased home of Cinespace Studios – are expected to be vacated in the coming years.

Many are worried that the evictions will scatter the tight-knit film and TV community. ‘You’ve got a bunch of things happening at the same time and you’ve got all these displaced persons with really no place to go,’ says Paul Kenyon, president of Absolute, a 53-person provider of rental equipment and location services.

The companies hope to be relocated en masse, still close to the action of the busy production center, but say the city has been slow to respond. A City of Toronto spokesperson says a meeting with the companies is planned for mid-July.

But some suspect that the evictions have more to do with the city’s new Port Lands megastudio.

Port Lands, developed by TEDCO and Toronto Film Studios, is set to begin construction next spring and, in light of the pending evictions, may be one of the only studios left standing in the area.

The move has prompted accusations of secrecy and double-dealing from at least one studio boss.

‘They promised us transparency when this [studio] initially was proposed a few years ago. What we have received has been a conspiracy of silence,’ says Peter Lukas, president of Showline Studios.

‘My view is you’re seeing the destruction of the film and TV infrastructure that took us 30 years to build… I’m very, very concerned.’ Showline is under lease to ORC and has not yet received but is expecting its eviction papers, says Lukas.

The contract between the city and TFS is known to include a non-competition clause that prevents other studios from entering the Port Lands neighborhood.

But officials have insisted that there is no connection between the megastudio and the waterfront evictions.

Studio reps and other stakeholders have had little luck getting details about the Port Lands deal, despite a series of meetings in June and July with officials and with TFS boss Ken Ferguson.

TEDCO president and CEO Jeff Steiner, however, is quick to defend the deal.

‘All real estate transactions with the city are always in camera. They’re confidential. The only reason some people want to see this lease is… to find out how much [TFS is] paying for rent, so they can figure out what their costs are.’

The lease is expected to be reviewed by city council in the coming weeks.