More money for North Bay's film industry

There's even more money coming from the province for film and television projects in North Bay and the surrounding area.

The production team of a show called Essex County received $2 million, a portion of a $6 million the province is spending on six film and TV projects in and around the city.

"We have to keep building capacity here to really be competitive with down south," said Christina Piovesan, Essex County executive producer.

"Whether that's growing the employment pool or resources and simple things like hotels and restaurants."

Piovesan and her team at First Generation Media finished shooting in a North Bay studio and in locations around the city.

Essex County is based on the graphic novel of the same name. She said the local landscape was perfect for filming.

"The farmlands were beautiful and for us. The locations were the character in the show so it was really important we found the right ones," Piovesan said.

"They looked like the graphic novel."

Neil Lumsden, Ontario's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, said the north has a "great opportunity" to develop the industry.

"And that opportunity comes from setting, scenes and the personality, which was said a bit earlier," Lumsden said.

"Everybody gets touched by it. It's not just overnight. It's long term and the employment side of it. The industry can really become a piece of education."