Ballinran Entertainment announces intent to establish film-and-television-production hub in Stratford

An early design concept for Stageview Studios, a proposed film-and-television production centre to be established by Ballinran Entertainment and its partners in a former warehouse building on Downie Street.

Ballinran Entertainment is leading the charge to establish a film-and-television production facility in Stratford to capitalize on the city’s creative potential and take advantage of the transformative changes in the global media and entertainment sector.

Dubbed Stageview Studios, early plans for the project designed by architect Michael Wilson will involve the redevelopment of an existing warehouse on Downie Street, just beyond the city’s heritage downtown, in close proximity to the city’s proposed Grand Trunk Community Hub, and adjacent to another recent, adaptive-reuse project, the Bradshaw Lofts.

“We’re repurposing an existing warehouse on Downie Street next to the Bradshaw Lofts and adapting it,” Ballinran Entertainment president and executive producer Craig Thompson said. “ … We’re using the existing floor plan and the existing structure and building up.”

The plan, Thompson explained, is to incorporate a film studio and video and audio editing suites into one multi-purpose production centre with the goal of tapping into the creative talent that exists in Stratford. The production centre won’t just be for the use of Ballinran Entertainment, it will be available to other filmmakers and organizations in the city and beyond that are looking to create content but perhaps don’t have the equipment or infrastructure necessary to do so.

“The facility available to sort of a spark a regional content-production industry in this part of Ontario,” Thompson said. “ … It’s going to help new companies get started. … We haven’t got all of the plans as to what’s going to be inside the building. All I can say is it’s going to be designed to make film and television and digital-media technology and resources available in this part of Ontario.”

Though completion of this 33,000 square-foot production centre isn’t expected until at least 2027, Thompson and Ballinran Entertainment have garnered the support of several local business leaders, including Lee Helperin, a prominent business figure, musician and property owner in Stratford whose family has owned Hudson’s of Stratford, a premiere home furnishing store, for more than 100 years. Helperin also owns the warehouse property which will be adapted for the studio development.

“For more than four years, I’ve had a ring-side seat witnessing the trajectory and creative journey of Craig and his team at Ballinran Entertainment,” Helperin said in a press release. “It’s truly remarkable what they’ve been able to accomplish, and I believe Stageview Studios will be an asset to the creative economy of Stratford and southwestern Ontario.”

The project has also been endorsed by Nick Aroutzidis, an accomplished civil engineer involved with charities and community service organizations over the years in Stratford including the United Way Perth-Huron, Rotary Club, Stratford Warriors Hockey Club and the Rotary Respite House.

“This is truly a visionary project that aligns perfectly with the planning currently underway for the redevelopment of the Grand Trunk Railway shops property in Stratford,” Aroutzidis said in the press release. “This is an exciting project that will elevate Stratford to a higher level, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.”