Why the Ottawa film industry set a record — yet again — for the most holiday movies made in a year

Christmas doesn't come just once a year in Ottawa, a stand in for big-city New York or small-town Philadelphia

Christmas came early in Ottawa  — 16 times since April, to be exact, based on that record number of holiday films shot in 2022 in the city and nearby small towns.

The speedily finished films, from All I Didn’t Want For Christmas to Mistletoe Time Machine to Holiday Heritage, have already begun airing on streaming services and channels such as Hallmark, discovery+ and W Network.

“Everybody wants a piece of Christmas now. It’s such a successful part of the film industry,” says Shane Boucher, owner of 1Department Entertainment Services on Woodward Drive.

His five-year-old Ottawa-based service production company made nine holiday movies this year, including A Christmas Fumble and the Great Holiday Bake War, both set to air this month on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Two decades ago, when movies were shot in Ottawa, they were usually low-budget thrillers, Boucher says.

But the last few years have seen the filming of holiday movies take off, with the tally growing, says Stephanie Davy, the film office’s senior manager for communications and operations.

The feel-good movies aren’t just generating warm vibes for viewers. The Ottawa Film Office says the 16 films employed hundreds of people and contributed $28.5 million to the local economy — roughly half of $55 million generated in 2022 by the live-action production sector, which also made 13 other feature-length films and more than 14 TV series.

Among this year’s hires was Ottawa chef Harriet Clunie, who was recruited this summer for crucial work on the food-centred movie One Delicious Christmas. While Clunie was never shown on camera, she was head chef for the film, which debuted last month on discovery+, Crave and CTV Life.

For nearly a month, Clunie, a freelance chef who most recently ran the kitchen at Das Lokal in Lowertown, worked 12- to 18-hour days, readying real food — rather than prop food or overly styled dishes — that had to look good for cameras and taste good too.

Clunie also coached the film’s star, Alex Mallari Jr., regarding the mannerisms of a chef and how kitchens work. She also met U.S. celebrity chef Bobby Flay, who has a cameo role in the film.

“It ended up being a whole month of craziness, but it was great,” Clunie says. “I am looking forward to exploring other film food opportunities.”

Widespread demand for such light, frothy entertainment drives this boom not only here but elsewhere in Canada, says Boucher. Still, Ottawa has some competitive advantages, he says. Chief among them is the range of locations, from big-city to small-town, that Ottawa plus neighbouring towns such as Almonte, Kemptville and Arnprior provide, says Boucher.

In the films, Ottawa is standing in for everywhere from New York City to Philadelphia to small-town Vermont. Sparks Street plus the ByWard Market’s courtyards and coffee shops have attracted film crews. So too has Almonte’s main street, except when it was under construction. Then, a stretch of empty stores in Kanata Centrum was converted into a Christmas-y set. An elementary school and Centrepointe Theatre also figure in some of this year’s holiday films.

“Ottawa has it all,” says Ottawa’s film commissioner Sandrine Pechels de Saint Sardos “It’s really a warm kind of place, and filmmakers understand that.”

This year, most holiday films were shot between April and October, in some cases forcing actors to swelter in winter clothing during the summer heat. Ottawa’s Glitch Inc., a special effects company, has provided copious amounts of fake snow in all of its forms.

Along with different locations in close proximity to each other, Ottawa offers cheaper crew costs, Boucher says. For films that shoot in just 15 days or less, working with budgets between $1 million and $7 million, these considerations can be very attractive, he says.

“The networks definitely have Ottawa on their radar,” says Boucher, adding that his company gets a lot of repeat work from companies that pitch projects to the channels and streaming services.

“That’s why we’re growing exponentially. They have more and more projects and they trust us to do them,” Boucher says of his company.

phum@postmedia.com

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