The Canadore Digital Cinematography & TV studio was full of excitement as Hard Rock Medical held its formal press conference to rubber stamp its relationship with North Bay and Canadore College.
Starting on Tuesday, February 16th the cast and crew of the Canadian produced TV series will begin shooting season three of the series which airs on TVO and APTN.
The series which is loosely inspired by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, is now calling North Bay home for the next six weeks.
Derek Diorio, the Executive Producer for the series, believes Canadore College and North Bay will be a perfect production fit.
“This is very much a partnership, we are using different locations around the school as offices, board rooms and hospitals because they have a nursing program. So we are using a lot of the facility and the location,” said Hard Rock Medical Executive Producer Derek Diorio.
As many as 30 local actors are expected to get work out of this latest movie project, while 75 Canadore Digital Cinematography students will be hands on experience in the season three production.
“To be able to cast people locally is a huge cost saving,” said Diorio.
“But it’s not like you are degrading the show by using locals, they got the parts, they are up against people in Toronto or elsewhere but they get the part because they are the best person for the job.”
The show has another North Bay connection too. Local actor Jamie Spilchuk plays one of the lead roles in the series. Spilchuk, who will start shooting his scenes in North Bay in early March, is excited to be back home.
“When the show first got picked up in 2013 we were headed to Sudbury and I considered it a somewhat of a homecoming because I’m from the North and now that Season three is actually coming to North Bay it’s actually a true homecoming. I am actually coming to the town that I grew up in,” admitted Spilchuk in a post media conference interview with local media.
“It’s pretty special for me, I moved away back in 2003 and now it has come full circle to me which is pretty awesome.”
The project got a funding boost as well as the Ministry of Northern Development & Mines announced $825,000 in funding for the North Bay area project.
“By investing in exciting production projects such as Hard Rock Medical, the NOHFC continues to help cultivate and support Northern Ontario’s growing television and film industry,” said Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines and Chair of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.
