Toronto Film Production Studios Infrastructure Hollywood North: Pinewood, Cinespace, and the Port Lands Creative District
Toronto’s position as the third-largest film production center in North America—behind only Los Angeles and New York—is built on a studio infrastructure that has attracted the world’s largest entertainment companies to establish permanent production hubs in the city. The Toronto film production studios infrastructure Hollywood North designation reflects decades of investment that have transformed the city’s Port Lands industrial district into one of the continent’s most concentrated production zones, with Pinewood Toronto Studios and Cinespace Studios anchoring an ecosystem that includes Amazon MGM Studios, Netflix, and a growing cluster of VFX companies.
For anyone providing Toronto videographer services—from major feature film productions to commercial and corporate shoots—understanding this infrastructure is essential to operating in a market that generates an estimated $2 billion annually in economic activity and supports more than 44,000 jobs.
Pinewood Toronto Studios: The Mega Stage and Beyond
Pinewood Toronto Studios is the largest purpose-built studio complex in Canada, located on 11 acres in the Port Lands area of Toronto. The facility offers 16 purpose-built stages, including the Mega Stage—the second-largest sound stage in North America at 45,900 square feet of filming space with a ceiling height of 60 feet, capable of accommodating the massive set builds required by tent-pole productions. For his 2015 film “Crimson Peak,” Guillermo del Toro constructed a five-storey Victorian-style gothic mansion on the Mega Stage, demonstrating the kind of production scale the facility can support.
In May 2024, one of the stages was named The Star Trek Stage, honoring its role as the production home for “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Star Trek: Section 31.” In January 2025, another stage was named The Norman Jewison Stage in honor of the legendary Canadian filmmaker. In January 2024, Amazon MGM Studios launched a production hub at Pinewood Toronto, signing a multiyear lease for five new sound stages and office space totaling approximately 160,000 square feet. Ontario’s film commissioner Justin Cutler called the deal an immense vote of confidence in the province, building on Amazon MGM’s track record of shooting around 40 films and TV series in Ontario, including record-breaking hits like “The Boys” and “Reacher.”
Cinespace Studios: Ontario’s Largest Studio Landlord
Cinespace Studios operates as Ontario’s largest studio landlord, with more than 1.4 million square feet of production space at three different locations in Toronto, encompassing 29 sound stages. The company’s facilities span the Marine Terminal campus on the waterfront (where Netflix has a long-term lease for four stages and support space totaling approximately 164,000 square feet), the Kipling Campus in Etobicoke (home to “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the Titan Studios expansion), and additional facilities in Leslieville. Cinespace is expanding further, breaking ground on additional sound stages and support space at the Marine Terminal location.
Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” for Netflix, starring Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac, was shooting at Cinespace’s Marine Terminal campus in 2024, with an ominous ship docked in an adjoining harbor for the production. Cinespace’s director of industry and community relations, Magali Simard, described the post-strikes recovery as a reset year for everyone while expressing confidence in a strong bounce back, noting that the next two years were expected to be full and citing Ontario’s established collaboration with U.S. producers as a competitive advantage.
The Port Lands Creative District and Basin Media Hub
The Port Lands area has transformed from an industrial wasteland into Toronto’s de facto creative district since Pinewood started the trend of opening studios there in 2009. The city’s real estate agency, CreateTO, has invited proposals for the Basin Media Hub—an 8.9-acre former industrial site that could include up to 500,000 square feet of creative spaces, at an estimated development cost of $175 million with no taxpayer dollars required. The site formerly served as the headquarters of Sun Oil (later Sunoco), and its 1930s-era heritage building will be integrated into the new studio complex.
Beyond the Port Lands, Toronto’s studio ecosystem includes Studio City (featuring a 36,000-square-foot sound stage called Jumbo with 55 feet of overhead clearance and a separate stage with an 1,800-square-foot LED wall), and expansion into the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area through facilities like Aeon Studio Group’s converted manufacturing plant in Hamilton. The city also hosts a growing VFX sector led by DNEG, which opened a new facility in the King West district in May 2022 with 150 employees after winning the Oscar for its work on “Dune.” Paul Bronfman, chairman and CEO of Comweb Corp and senior adviser to Pinewood Toronto, described the market’s trajectory: production will return, though not necessarily to its previous peak, and Ontario has continued building infrastructure with new studios and a larger, more skilled workforce ready for high-end film and television production.
