‘I am like Benjamin Button’: Power Gems interviews Michel Trudel of Mels Studios

October 23, 2019

Michel Trudel founded Mels Studios, one of Canada’s largest film production facilities, with partner Mel Hoppenheim. Back in the ‘90s Michel invested his own money to attract Paramount and other Hollywood producers to Montreal, helping create a thriving film industry. As President of Locations Michel Trudel/Mel’s Cité du Cinéma Studios, when Michel speaks, people listen – including politicians. Over the last 20 years, Michel has championed Power Gems ballasts; we went to talk to him.

Quebec attracted $400 million worth of foreign production last year, according to the Canadian Media Producers Association. What makes Quebec, and Montreal in particular, an attractive place for filming and the after-effects industries?

“At Mels, the fact we own 21 purpose-built stages and offer a one-stop-shop. Foreign producers can arrive here and use the stage, the post-production, the visual and sound effects; everything is under one roof.

Then there’s the tax credit situation. In London, for example, there’s a 30% tax credit above-the-line; we have 20% below-the-line. Montreal is working hard to get business because of that.

In 2008 tax credit was so low, we had no work. That’s why I asked the premier minister of Quebec to change the taxation. He saw how much film production could be attracted to Montreal as a result, and he agreed with my demand. So he put 25% below-the-line, and since then, it’s never stopped.”

[Where ‘above-the-line’ means the costs for securing the producer, cast and rights. Below-the-line are the costs for production and post-production.]

How busy is Montreal?

“It has been a little bit quiet between January and June; for the rest of the year the place is full. And 2020 is going to be booming!

In Montreal, the fourth season of The Bold Type is in production. The series, which follows the lives of three young women working for a women’s magazine, has been filmed here for the last four years.

Blood & Treasure a CBS action-adventure drama shot on in Montreal, Italy and Morocco, is filming here for a second year.

More and more productions are coming to Montreal because elsewhere all the stages are booked. Netflix, for example, has taken eight stages in Toronto for the next five years, creating about 1,850 production jobs.”

In recent years, a number of major Hollywood films have been shot in Montreal, including X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Pet Sematary, On the Basis of Sex and Amazon’s Jack Ryan series. Is it true you persuaded Paramount to shoot a film in the 90s by offering to build a soundstage big enough to host the production – and this became the basis for Cité du Cinéma, Montreal’s biggest film studio complex?

“We decided to build a studio complex in the late 1990s, for Paramount Pictures to shoot the movie Pluto Nash with Eddie Murphy. At that time, Montreal didn’t have soundstages to support such a big production.”

[Trudel and Hoppenheimer bought the piece of land where the Cité du Cinéma now stands, on the side of the Bonaventure Expressway]

“The new studio was ready by the time Pluto Nash began shooting in the spring of 2000 and the year after, 2002, we added another for the filming of The Day After Tomorrow. Since then, the Hollywood blockbusters have never stopped coming, and in fact, we are planning to build another complex, with a 60,000 sq ft stage.”

[While the first, Pluto Nash, a science fiction comedy bombed at the box office, The Day After Tomorrow remains the highest-grossing Hollywood film made in Canada.]

The relationship with Power Gems goes back 20 years, to the time you were establishing Cite du Cinema. Why did you choose Power Gems? How do you decide on the equipment you stock?

“I opened in 1998 with camera, lighting and grip equipment rental. Now we have post-production, visual effects, even a photochemical laboratory. Our cameras, 35mm, 60mm and super 60mm still get rented out – it’s like they have a second life. And of course, they go with lighting, grip, dolly and everything.

It’s like when you go to a store. You know, they always put the milk at the back, so that you pick up other things on the way. You buy twenty dollar’s more than you intended to.

With equipment, it’s the same.

Why choose Power Gems? We supply the customer, and they love your product.”

The French-language film industry is booming like never before. Directors Denis Villeneuve and Jean-Marc Vallée have established careers in Hollywood directly because of the success of their franco-Quebec films. What are your thoughts on this trend in the market?

“Most of Quebec is multi-lingual, so we have no problem communicating. I am in Hollywood three or four times a year.”

You’ve been in the busy for over 40 years, no plans to retire then?

“Retire? What are you talking about? I see Kirk Douglas is 102 years old and he is still going. After 40 years, I am like Benjamin Button, I am getting younger and younger.

The reputation I have is that ‘Michel Trudel is always open’. At 3am, you will find me awake. Call me at 3am, and I will answer you. Don’t be shy, I will always have the equipment.”

Our thanks to Michel for sharing his experience of the film industry in Montreal. You can find out more about Mels Studios at www.mels-studios.com