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Dondale said major investors from Canada and the U.S. are committed to financing the massive construction project on an 80-acre parcel that would also include a business and industrial park, a 120-room hotel, a shopping village and a technical academy for film apprenticeships and skills training.
Dondale did not identify the investors, but said announcements, including a timeline for the project, will be made early in the new year, after the feasibility study is complete.
“This is not a pipe dream … this has been in the works for many years,” Dondale said in an interview Wednesday.
“I have all the players to make it possible, especially the studio portion [people] who are experts and have done it before. Once we have the feasibility study, the investors I’ve had hiding in the woodwork will come out.”
VICTORIA The film industry on Vancouver Island is booming and now the Malahat Nation is partnering with Victoria-based Alpha Select Production Services to build a large film and television production studio on Malahat Nation land, just south of Mill Bay. The proposed 80-acre, $300-million project would be called Malahat Film Studios. “We’ve never seen anything this large,” said Vancouver Island South film commissioner Kathleen Gilbert. “It’s going to attract huge productions.” The proposal includes six sound stages, a business park, industrial park, and a technical academy for apprenticeships and skills training. It will also include a shopping village and hotel.
Film Studio Proposed Near Mill Bay
SHARE ON: Photograph by Hunter Moranville
The Mill Bay area may be the location of a motion picture film studio in the next few years.
The Cowichan Valley Regional District is being asked for a letter of support for the project partners, the Malahat Nation, and a Victoria film services company, Alpha Select Production Services.
In a presentation to the CVRD, Alpha CEO, Beverly Dondale and Josh Handysides, CAP of the Malahat Nation, explained the proposed Malahat Film Studios project.
The plan is to build six sound stages and the necessary offices and workshops to go with them on Malahat Nation land near Mill Bay.