Stephen Cannell to Build Studio in Vancouver

Vancouver’s reputation as a film and television production center received a boost on Friday when TV writer-producer Stephen Cannell broke ground for what is being billed as Canada’s largest production studio.

The $20-million center, a joint venture between firms headed by Cannell and Toronto movie executive Paul Bronfman, will be completed next summer on a 13.5-acre site on Vancouver’s mountainous north shore.

“Since the inception of the project, we have always been interested in bringing in a Canadian partner based on our feeling that the studio will be more successful as a U.S.-Canada joint venture,” said Cannell, the producer of several prime-time television series.

Cannell said the North Shore Studios would include seven state-of-the-art sound stages and more than 100,000 square feet of offices and production rooms. It will service present and future Cannell series in Vancouver, including “21 Jump Street” (Fox) and “Wiseguy” (CBS).