Ottawa’s downtown streets turned into Brooklyn for the movie “Penthouse North.”
Posted Dec 7, 2011 02:13:36 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – The cast and crew of a Hollywood feature film are working on day one of shooting here in the capital, turning Ottawa’s downtown streets into Brooklyn for the movie “Penthouse North.”
The film stars Michael Keaton as the villain and Michelle Monaghan as the victim in a thriller producers say is of the same vein as “The Panic Room.”
Local producer Michael Baker told 1310News he and his colleagues worked hard to bring the production here.
“We’re pumping about $6M into the local economy and we’re very happy about that. We’ve got a great crew and we’re keeping them working so that most of them will stay and hopefully do other films. And I think we’re also just showcasing the city and what it can do,” said Baker who is originally from Ottawa, and like much of the crew returned from Toronto for this fillm.
Producer and owner of Zed Filmworks, Rob Menzies, said he’s excited to bring hollywood here to the capital.
“This crew is 90 per cent from Ottawa and this is giving them a level of expertise that they could only get in a bigger centre,” said Menzies. “It’s allowing us to employ local Ottawa crew, a lot of young people right out of school are getting jobs in this industry.”
Much of the action will take place outside a brownstone apartment building on Metcalfe Street that, despite being a little short, will take the viewers to Brooklyn. Menzies said with the help of CGI and shooting in New York, most people watching won’t know the difference.
Producers hope that as more films of this calibre are shot and produced here in town we could see Ottawa develop into a major hub for the film industry.
Producers said to be prepared for some road closures throughout the next few weeks as crews will be filming here in town until the end of January.
