Less than two years after going public with plans to open the region's largest film studio, North Star Studios has suspended its North Bay operations to restructure amid financial struggles.
The company has informed its full-time staff of 44 — temporarily laid off since November 2023 — they are officially permanently laid off and the company benefits program has ceased.
Several of the former employees of North Star Studios claim they have not received their termination pay and some vacation pay, and have had difficulties in receiving firm dates for those disbursements from executives Mitch Ouimette and Paul Walsh of North Star Studios and their associated film production company Theia Productions.
The companies were focused mostly on producing low-budget short documentary films, including what one employee categorized as a disastrous and financially draining series of shoots in Iceland.
BayToday obtained copies of emails and letters sent and signed by Ouimette and Walsh covering the period from November 2023 to early February.
They notified staff that, among other things, they would not be paid on time but would be paid within the week, followed by an email the next week extending that period of non-payment, then a mass email layoff, followed by a paper copy of the final termination letter.
On multiple occasions, the North Star Studios staff was notified by email at the end of the day on a payday that they would not be paid for their work.
Blaming "hiccups" North Star Studios had experienced — such as a delay moving into the former Epiroc building at 125 Ferris Dr., and strikes by the Writers’ Guild and Screen Actors’ Guild — Ouimette and Walsh offered to give references to their terminated staff.
"Please understand that we have not arrived at this decision lightly. Together, we've shared in a wonderful experience and we value each and every one of you. We recognize and sympathize with the impact that this will have on you."
The letter from Ouimette and Walsh notes the company's uncertain status "has been a challenging time for all of us. We both remain optimistic, and we continue working hard toward building a strong group of companies. Winding down North Star Studios, although a difficult decision, is a necessary one."
The studio and storage spaces at the leased Ferris Drive building have been largely emptied.
In an interview, Ouimette acknowledged there are wages owed to his former staff, but disputes that vacation pay is missing. He contends staff had already used their vacation time, but did not provide evidence to this claim.
"The last two paycheques that our staff received were on borrowed money. I went and borrowed $250,000 personally that I have to pay back to pay the staff," Ouimette said.
Ouimette said that North Star Studios had not received any government assistance — neither film grants nor tax breaks — from the provincially administered NOHFC. Multiple attempts to contact the NOHFC for confirmation went unreturned.
Besides the difficulties in taking over the Ferris Drive studio space and the industry strikes that halted production, Ouimette said a key contributing factor that led to the company's current state was the resistance he encountered from North Bay's inner film and business circles to set up shop in town.
Ouimette said there are plans to revive the company "somewhere that isn't North Bay." Despite the cash flow issues, Ouimette continues to live in a North Bay hotel.
"We have invested considerable amounts of money here. I'm not a wealthy person with tonnes of cash. Technically, I'm homeless because I did sell my house in order to build this business," he said.
North Star Studios made its entrance onto the local film production stage in May 2022. Ouimette was an unknown with little film industry experience who surprised even municipal economic development movers and shakers with his bold statements in announcing this private enterprise that had seemingly materialized out of thin air.
Initial construction of North Star Studios called for five film and television stages to take up 68,000 of the 100,000 square feet available at the leased Ferris Drive location. Future plans called for the addition of 500,000 square feet of support space over the following five to seven years.
During the May 2022 event, North Star Studios announced it had struck a 24-month, $150-million film and television production deal with an ORWO Family production company that North Star estimated would result in $60 million in direct spending into the local economy and had the potential to eventually create up to 1,000 new full-time jobs.
— BayToday
