The Northern Ontario Film Studio is now open in Sudbury.

A television crew is already working in the temporary facility — the former Barrydowne arena — which the city has rented to the group for the next three years.

The chief executive officer of the Northern Ontario Film Studio said the building, located in the New Sudbury area, will allow movie crews to work year-round in northern Ontario.

The Northern Ontario Film Studio will use the former arena for the next three years until it finds a permanent location in Sudbury. (Nael Shiab/CBC)

“We have harsh winters. And those winters make it extremely hard and extremely expensive to shoot film productions and television productions. It's still done, but it's not as attractive in the winter time,” said David Anselmo, who is also the CEO of Hideaway Pictures.

“We now have somewhere they can work out of which allows the industry to expand [and] possibly [have a] 365-day work year."

Anselmo said he's been working to get a project like this off the ground for the past few years.

He said using an old arena allows crews to start working on shoots right away — and a television production is already being filmed at the facility.

Hideaway Pictures plans to lease the old arena from the city for the next three years, as it looks to build a permanent location somewhere in Sudbury.