Thank you to everyone who took the time to join our Member Town Hall on June 17th. 

The Town Hall was an opportunity to hear about FilmOntario’s ongoing advocacy activities and to provide input on these activities to ensure that the industry gets the support it needs for a strong return to work. We were also pleased that His Worship John Tory, Mayor of Toronto, and the Honourable Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries were able to join us. 

You can view the Town Hall in its entirety here.

As reported at the Town Hall, FilmOntario will be appearing before the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, as part of its study into the impact of COVID-19 on the Culture and Heritage Sector. Our appearance has been scheduled for Thursday, June 25th at 1:00 pm. Stay tuned to our Twitter account (@Film_Ontario) for information about a video feed if one is made available. 

We are currently in the process of finalizing our written submission, which will be shared with members once complete. Thank you again to all who have provided input.

As of 12:01 am on Wednesday, June 24th, all parts of the province except for Windsor-Essex will move into Stage 2 of the provincial re-opening. This means that film and television production will be able to re-start in almost the entire province. 

Please refer to the province’s website for more information on the province’s re-opening plan. 

Also, please stay tuned for more information on return-to-work health and safety guidelines. The industry Section 21 Committee has submitted industry-developed guidelines to the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development for approval; we will let you know when those have been approved. 

In the meantime, Ontario Creates has set up a central location for industry-related COVID-19 reopening guidelines and resources on their website. 

If there are any updates or announcements you would like to share with your fellow FilmOntario members, please don’t hesitate to let me know at clynch@filmontario.ca and I will include them in the next member update.