Ottawa film industry thriving: City

The film and TV production industries are thriving in Ottawa, the city posted on X.

This comes after Tom Brown arena was used as a production set for a television series for five days in August.

“Even though our season takes place from September to January, we’re all shooting interiors and we decided to shoot in August and not all arenas have an ice surface in August, so the Tom Brown arena did, and they were available,” said Jocelyn Forgues, director of Gang de hockey season two.

Ottawa had everything the filming staff needed to bring the show to life, adds Forgues.

“I think that Ottawa had a lot to offer, and I’m very happy to be able to shoot in my own backyard instead of having to travel,” Forgues said.

Gang de hockey season two is scheduled to air in 2024 on TFO.

Ottawa has taken centre stage in several Christmas movies filmed between 2022 and 2023. A total of nine Christmas movies filmed in the city premiered on CTV Life Channel, Hallmark, OWN and Lifetime over the holidays.

Meanwhile, one Christmas movie -- entirely filmed in the nation's capital -- made its streaming debut this holiday season.

"Santa Stole Our Dog: A Merry Doggone Christmas!" stars the late Ed Asner as Santa Claus, who accidentally takes a family's dog, named Rusty, on Christmas Eve, prompting the family to travel to the North Pole to get their pooch back from the jolly old elf.

The film was first released in 2017. It was written and directed by Bryan Michael Stoller, who grew up in the nation's capital.

"It's always nice going home and we shot it at my mom's house where I grew up," Stoller told CTV News Ottawa. "My mom, I cast her as Mrs. Claus, opposite Ed Asner, so she got to do some scenes with an iconic, award-winning actor. That was kind of cool, having Ed Asner come to my family home and shoot those scenes."

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Ted Raymond