Brantford was honoured with a nomination at the Location Managers Guild International (LGMI) Awards Ceremony that took place in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, August 27, 2022.
Brantford was nominated for the Outstanding Film Commission Award alongside five other locations, with Oklahoma Film & Music Office ultimately taking home the award for Reservation Dogs.
A film commission is a specialized office under the authority of a government entity with the purpose of promoting the region through the development of film, video and multimedia production.
The international nomination recognized the City of Brantford’s work with The Handmaid’s Tale in 2020, whereby the City and production company worked closely together to alter the area of Queen Street and Colborne Street to play the role of Chicago in a future dystopian world. Months of planning and days of filming transformed the setting into a sequence of visually-amazing and memorable scenes.
City of Brantford Economic Development Officer, Kevin Dekok, was in attendance to represent the City and network with film producers. “This nomination shows that Brantford is a world-class location for producers to consider for their film projects,” said Dekok. “It truly is a privilege to be nominated alongside such established film commissions and the City shares this honour with the many people who collaborated with the City on this project including local businesses, community partners, City staff and leadership, as well as the production’s locations team lead by Anne Richardson and Jeremy Pinard.
More than 300 international submissions were considered for all of the LGMI Award categories. In addition to Oklahoma Film & Music Office who won for Reservation Dogs, Brantford was nominated alongside the City of Kingston, Ontario for The Mayor of Kingstown, the Hawaii Film Office for The White Lotus, Jamaica Promotions Corporation for No Time To Die, and The Royal Film Commission, Jordan for Zara Man.
“Since 2018, the City of Brantford has worked hard to position the community as a top destination for filming; it’s very exciting to be recognized on the international stage for this work,” said Sara Munroe, Director, City of Brantford Economic Development and Tourism department. “This growing sector brings investment into Brantford and film productions offer a number of key benefits including additional revenues, film tourism, civic pride and opportunities for the creative industries that are essential to a well-rounded community.”
Film productions bring money into the community. In 2021, the film industry brought 12 projects to Brantford resulting in an estimated $1.16 million in related budgets, $220,000 in City-billed costs and revenues, nearly 1,500 hotel room nights and about 116 days of filming activity.
