Film festival HQ gets $10M from Ontario

The new headquarters of the Toronto International Film Festival is getting $10 million from the Ontario government.

The Bell Lightbox, a five-storey building under construction in downtown Toronto, will be open in time for the 2010 film festival.

Culture Minister Aileen Carroll announced the funding Wednesday, hailing the film festival and the TIFF Group, which plan to offer year-round programming, as job creators.

The festival has 450,000 attendees and generates $67 million for the local economy, the province said in a news release.

TIFF estimates the Lightbox, which will include cinemas, studios, galleries and workshops, will generate $200 million annually by 2015.

The construction, which is to include a condominium project, is also estimated to have created 1,300 full-time jobs.

TIFF has conducted a $196-million capital campaign to pay for the building and was successful in getting lead donor Bell, but the recession has stalled corporate donations.