Rural film ‘field of dreams’ Groundbreaking event calls action on revamped Niverville production studio plan By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 5:51 PM CDT Monday, Jun. 10, 2024

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NIVERVILLE — After nearly a year of delays, crews have broken ground on a studio anticipated to make Niverville a movie production hub.

“Look at the set dressing,” Juliette Hagopian joked, motioning to the stagnant construction equipment behind her.

She and prominent members of Manitoba’s film and business sectors gathered Monday in Niverville for the official sod-turning of Jette Studios.

Hagopian announced the film production studio last March. She owns Julijette Films, a Manitoba production company, and bought a 17,000-square-foot Winnipeg studio during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She’d been looking to create a rural studio for years. Niverville checked her boxes: she had close friends there; it’s a growing community, 35 kilometres south of Winnipeg.

However, Hagopian’s initial plans changed. She’d aimed for shovels in the ground in June 2023, but financing pushed the date back to June 2024, she said.

She’d previously shared intentions to build a pop-up sound stage, only seen at Lionsgate Studios and Greece. Now, a permanent structure is set for Phase 1.

“I really wanted a solid building that would last 100 years,” Hagopian said, adding the pop-up wouldn’t be warm enough or as environmentally sustainable.

She joined local politicians to ceremoniously dig at the 25,000-sq.-ft. studio’s site in a field off Provincial Road 311.

If all goes well, it will be completed in January, Hagopian said afterwards — sound stage and 360-degree LED wall included.

“This will propel the community in hyperdrive in many ways,” remarked Gordon Daman, former mayor of Niverville and liaison for the project. “This is a significant milestone.”

Mayor Myron Dyck, meanwhile, speculated Jette Studios would push Niverville closer to becoming Manitoba’s newest city.

Niverville is among the fastest growing towns in Canada. It’s more than tripled its population in 30 years, to almost 6,000 people in 2021.

“This field, it kind of feels like … a field of dreams,” Dyck said in a speech Monday. He pictured more businesses and people drawing near as production begins.

Hagopian obtained four acres for Jette Studios’ first phase. It has 20 acres available for expansion over the next five years, she explained.

She’s envisioning production offices and housing for film casts and crews. Phase 2 would be 90,000 sq. ft., she told attendees.

“I’m just putting the feelers out there for any investors,” she semi-joked at the podium.

It’s an expensive operation, she later noted: the new studio’s construction will cost an average $250 per square foot.

There are land costs and interest, too, Daman added.

“Owner investment risk is here, (but) the community is walking alongside to mitigate that risk as much as possible,” he continued. “This is for Manitoba … This is ‘Come to Niverville.’”

Hagopian plans to rent the city studio to other production companies, alongside Julijette Films’ use. Hundreds of jobs will be created, Dyck touted.

The mayor is seeking to add curriculum on performing arts and film industry trades to the local high school.

(There have been leadership changes in the school system, which is why he hasn’t brought it up yet, he clarified. Dyck said he’ll meet with Manitoba’s education minister and the new Hanover School Division superintendent.)

“I’m very excited that this project has come to fruition,” stated Kenny Boyce, City of Winnipeg manager of film and special events. “It’s great for the Manitoba film community.”

The new studio should bring some relief for Winnipeg locations, he added — productions will be able to film nearly anything using the Niverville LED wall.

Rural Manitoba can be a popular location for filming because of the province’s film tax credit. Companies receive up to 65 per cent back on corporate income tax if they staff their sets with Manitobans; five per cent is guaranteed for rural shoots.

Jette Studios isn’t competition with the city, it’s a positive, Boyce reiterated: “The film community, when the water goes up, everyone’s boat goes up.”

Derek Dupont, who attended the sod-turning, works in the film industry’s transportation sector. He’s noticed an uptick in film production since the U.S. actors’ and writers’ strikes last year.

“Hopefully, this is going to take off,” he said of Jette Studios. “I don’t see how it can’t, as busy as the film industry is these days.”

The province hosted 87 film productions during the 2022-23 fiscal year, according to Manitoba Film & Music’s latest annual report. More than one-third — 35 per cent — were shot in rural settings.

Volume Global, who’d originally announced it would build a pop-up soundstage in Niverville, will provide the LED set for Jette Studios, Hagopian said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com