HAMILTON — As Aeon Studio Group looks to help build the city of Hamilton into an international hub for film, television and digital media production, it announced today its new Aeon Bayfront Studios will be open for business on February 1, 2021.
Situated in Aeon’s Hamilton Studio District mixed-use development, Aeon Bayfront Studios is located at 243 Queen Street North and comprises an approximately 80,000-square-foot facility on a total of 7.5 acres of land. This is the first soundstage to open as part of Aeon’s new studio district in Hamilton. (Pictured is a conceptual rendering by ESR Design Co. of Aeon Bayfront Studios.)
The Aeon Bayfront Studios facility boasts the following features:
- 27,000-square-foot main stage with 50-foot ceilings and clear span
- 40,000-plus square feet of additional production space of varying ceiling heights
- 6,500-plus square feet of furnished office
- Paint shop in an out-building with two paint booths
- Approximately four acres of outdoor space, cleared and treed, suitable for backlot uses
- Proximity to transportation and ancillary production services
“There are only a few facilities in southern Ontario that can cater to productions requiring large clear span stages with high ceilings and significant outdoor space,” said Aeon partner Mike Bruce, in a press release. “243 Queen Street North is that facility and the first of its kind in Hamilton.”
The studio is located across the street from the Barton Tiffany lands, where Aeon plans to build the rest of its Hamilton Studio District, which the company envisions as a “Live-Work-Play hub for the creative industries that will feature studios, offices, retail and residential space,” says the release. Aeon’s real estate partner in its multimillion-dollar purchase of 243 Queen Street North is Forge & Foster, a Hamilton-based investment firm.
“Aeon Studio Group’s announcement of the opening of a studio space in early 2021 helps demonstrate Hamilton’s continued film sector growth and key role in building Ontario’s film and screen industry,” said Hamilton mayor Fred Eisenberger, in the release. “Hamilton is Canada’s third-largest film cluster and is home to over 9,000 people who work in the film industry and over 900 film businesses. The opening of this studio will create high-value, high-paying jobs for people in the film industry right here in Hamilton. Aeon Studio Group is a great partner and I look forward to our continued collaboration.”
“Additional studio space of this significant size presents the opportunity for business growth and talent development for Hamilton’s film industry and other industries that benefit from film production spend, such as hospitality and accommodations, VFX, and construction,” added Debbie Spence, creative industries business development consultant for the city of Hamilton.
Aeon also announced today the launch of its location representation service, which helps film and TV productions find unique filming locations in the Hamilton area.
“We have a growing portfolio of diverse locations for every filming need, all close to one another in the Hamilton area,” says Aeon partner Robbie David. “Filming in Hamilton, always easy, just got easier.”
For more, please click here.
Conceptual rendering issued with news release.
