City to introduce 72-hour turnaround time for filming permits at select TDSB schools

Nearly a dozen Toronto schools could soon play host to a myriad of film and television shoots thanks to a new pilot project that will streamline and expedite a permit process that Mayor John Tory says was previously “too cumbersome” for the fast-moving film industry.

The pilot project, which is scheduled to run until next June, designates 11 Toronto District School Board schools as pre-approved for filming. At those locations, the timeframe for issuing permits will be 72 hours, and there will be special rates for film and television shoots.

As part of the project, co-op placements will also be created for TDSB students, allowing them to get on-the-job training in Toronto’s film industry.

“One of the things that we are told when we meet with people from the industry is that they want us to have more places to make movies and TV shows and they want us to make it easier for them to use those places,” Mayor John Tory said outside Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute, which is one of the schools that will be pre-approved for filming. “This is a direct response to that.”

Film and television shoots at the 11 TDSB schools will primarily be restricted to the summer or on nights and weekends during the school year.

Tory said that the initiative is exciting, as it will benefit the film industry in two different ways. He said that the streamline permit process will give production companies access to 11 schools that are already “very desirable to productions filming in the city” but were previously difficult to actually use due to the complicated permit process.

Secondly, Tory said that the co-op program will help nurture the next generation of film and television industry workers in the city.

“We are helping to build a better and bigger pipeline to feed new talents,” he said. “There is nothing like practical experience and being exposed to the network of people involved in the industry to help these students secure a foothold in the industry.”

Designated staff will help speed through permit applications

As part of the pilot project, designated personnel at the city’s film office will work with TDSB staff, so that permit applicants don’t have to deal with multiple agencies.

Though the scope of the program is limited to 11 schools for now, the head of a union representing film industry workers in the city told CP24 that he is optimistic that it will eventually being expanded to other TDSB and city-owned properties.

He said that the program strikes the “right balance” between allowing producers access to “highly coveted” schools and allowing students access to film sets.

“We found a synergy between being able to get into these schools and give producers from around the world the access they want while also giving students access to sets and career opportunities that they wouldn’t have otherwise had,” NABET 700-M UNIFOR President Jonathan Ahee said. “We do have a challenge in this city with building infrastructure but also workforce infrastructure, so we have started a process with these young students to be able to give them a chance to enter this business.”

Ahee said that students who had dreams of working in the film industry previously had to rely on “nepotism” and “knowing somebody” in order to get their foot in the door.

TDSB Trustee Jennifer Story, however, said that the program will now mean the beginning of a relationship between the board and the film industry that could give many students a head start on careers behind or in front of the camera.

“The exiting thing for me is that this is the beginning of a relationship between schools and the film industry that I think has even more potential than what is actually included in the pilot project,” she said. “I am really looking forward to what may come going forward.”

Toronto’s film and television industry employs about 30,000 people.

Last year, the industry contributed more than $1.5 billion to Toronto’s economy.

The following schools are a part of the pilot project: