TFS Earns Special Mention as MovieMaker Magazine Ranks Toronto Among the Top Film Cities of 2025
Toronto was recently named one of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2025 by MovieMaker Magazine – and Toronto Film School was cited one of the reasons for the city’s #2 ranking.
The annual list – which also includes Calgary (#5), Vancouver (#9) and Ottawa (#25) – takes into account everything from tax incentives, to industry presence, to cost of living, to proximity to other film scenes, as well as to nearby festivals and film schools.
“Canada’s largest city can feel, in many ways, like a film and TV industry utopia,” reads the piece, which was published on January 22 by MovieMaker Editor-in-Chief Tim Molloy.
“In addition to hosting many of television’s most popular shows, from The Boys to the Star Trek franchise, it raises the curtain on many of the best films of the year with the annual Toronto International Film Festival, which invites film icons from around the world to explore its clean, bustling streets.”
The article goes on to praise Toronto’s “impressive film programs,” singling out Toronto Film School – which, Molloy notes, was also named one of MovieMaker’s 30 Best Film Schools in the U.S. and Canada for the sixth consecutive year this past July.
Molloy also calls to attention the ways Toronto continuously works towards building a more sustainable industry through innovation and green initiatives, and its commitment to inclusivity and focus on welcoming underrepresented communities into the business. This city, he notes, is home to the Black Screen Office, the Indigenous Screen Office, the Disability Screen Office, The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and the Canadian Film Centre, as well as Amazon Studios Canada and Netflix Canada.
Add to that Toronto’s plethora of facilities, booming production sectors, enviable tax benefits, and the fact that it’s especially adept at substituting for New York City on the big screen, and its place at the top of this year’s list was sealed.
“Sound stages and post-production facilities abound, and the VFX, animation and virtual production sectors are thriving,” Molloy writes.
“The diverse city of 3 million employs 35,000 industry professionals who are among the best in the world, and Toronto can convincingly stand in for many other locations.”
To learn more about what earned Toronto a top 3 placement on MovieMaker’s list, as well as the other cities that made the cut, read the full article here: https://www.moviemaker.com/best-places-moviemaker-2025/