The Paul Bronfman Stage, Pinewood Toronto Studios. Pinewood Group Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Pinewood Toronto Studios is set to name one of its soundstages after Paul Bronfman, the Canadian industry pioneer who died in February at age 67. Bronfman was a longtime chairman of Pinewood Toronto Studios, and before that a founding partner and a major shareholder in Filmport Studios, a production studio complex that opened in Toronto's portlands in 2008. A year later, the facility was rebranded as Pinewood Toronto Studios, with Bronfman in the role of chairman and a key shareholder. In 2023, Bronfman sold his minority stake to the Pinewood Group, the London-based studio group that runs Pinewood Studios in the U.K. and now owns all of the Toronto mega-studio. Related Stories Movies Czech Republic Nominates 'I'm Not Everything I Want to Be' for Oscar Race General News U2's Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Muller Jr. Release Statements on Israel and Gaza "Pinewood Toronto Studios would not exist today, had it not been for Paul Bronfman's personal and professional support throughout the years - first as an investor and our founding chairman, and following the sale of the business to Pinewood Group in 2023, as a dear friend and advisor to the leadership team. He was a great man who earned remarkable influence throughout the Canadian film industry and we are delighted to commemorate his legacy with a stage named in his honor," Sarah Farrell, general manager of Pinewood Toronto Studios, told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. The Paul Bronfman Stage, Pinewood Toronto Studios. Pinewood Group The Paul Bronfman Stage, formerly Stage 7, over the years has hosted production for Star Trek franchise shows like Star Trek: Section 31; five seasons of Star Trek: Discovery; the 2015 Adam Sandler sci-fi comedy Pixels; Paul Verhoeven's 1987 sci-fi drama Robocop; David Cronenberg's 2012 fantasy thriller Cosmopolis; and the 2011 thriller Dream House, which starred Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz. The stage renaming is especially poignant for the Bronfman family, who will be part of an unveiling ceremony at the Toronto waterfront studio Wednesday. "We are grateful to Pinewood Toronto Studios and the Pinewood Group for their tribute to our father Paul Bronfman by naming stage 7 in his honor. Our dad was incredibly passionate about providing first-class production service infrastructure to the Canadian and international film and TV communities. Being a founding partner in Pinewood Toronto Studios embodied that mission. It's tremendously meaningful to us that Pinewood will continue his legacy in this way," Jonathan Bronfman, co-president and CEO of Toronto VFX studio Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies (MARZ), said in his own statement. In recent years, Pinewood Toronto Studios has played host to production for a steady flow of Hollywood tentpole movies and TV series, with Netflix and Amazon MGM Studios each having a long-term lease on soundstages as part of Toronto production hubs. But Bronfman is remembered for keeping the faith with the original Filmport studio from its original financing and construction through to a difficult launch of the then seven-stage studio during the 2008 Wall Street financial crisis, which put the squeeze on Hollywood production budgets. Pinewood Toronto Studios Courtesy of Pinewood Studios "For its grand opening in 2008, he (Bronfman) raised its profile by honoring his good friend David Cronenberg with the privilege of cutting the ribbon. He then used his considerable influence in Los Angeles to drum up business, though few may remember that the Canadian dollar exceeded the value of the U.S. dollar at the time, so bookings were scarce in the early years," Ken Ferguson, former president of Toronto Film Studios and Filmport, recounts. Bronfman remained a key shareholder in the post-Filmport rebranding of Pinewood Toronto Studios in 2009 when Britain's Pinewood Studios Group came on board to promote the Toronto soundstages as a manager. Alfredo Romano, a Toronto real estate developer at Castlepoint Development, recalled while the studio's original builder, real estate developer Rose Corp., wanted to exit Filmport, Bronfman was keen to stay on as part of the new ownership consortium for Pinewood Toronto Studios. "Having developed film infrastructure across Canada, he knew Toronto could not sustain a place at the Hollywood table without well run purpose built studios - ours would be the first. He had no intention of selling and we quickly agreed to a partnership," Romano tells THR. He adds: "As Pinewood Toronto's first and long-serving chairman, Paul was a key protagonist in several expansions that saw Pinewood Toronto grow to a 16 stage facility and become a best in class facility. In the darkest moments when the studio was st