Brampton is a regional municipality of Peel, southeastern Ontario, Canada, located on Etobicoke Creek, just west of Toronto and founded in 1830. The city is blessed with people and stunning landscapes perfect for movie making.

Its Mayor, Patrick Brown, was in Nigeria to exchange ideas and knowledge on new ways of doing business with the one of the biggest movie industry market in the world, Nollywood and also find a way of building a lasting and beneficial relationship with the country.

The interactive session, which was held at the popular Terra Kulture in Lagos and facilitated by Pertinence Limited, witnessed the presence of industry stakeholders and members of the press.

It was a successful event as the Mayor was exposed to many obstacles being witnessed by the stakeholders, which discourage them from visiting or shooting in Canada, which include visa acquisition and tax incentives among others.

“The trauma of acquiring visa for Canada is really a put off and this is not so with United Kingdom with whom we enjoyed great relationship. It will also go a long way if the visa is made affordable too,” Bolanle Austen-Peters, a celebrated Nollywood producer and director, said.

Ufuoma McDermott wanted to know about the cinema culture in Brampton to encourage a Nigerian production company to move its set there.

Other stakeholders who also contributed in the discussions included Samuel Olatunji, Bayo Adebayo, Zack Orji and Ayo Badmus.

In his response, Brown explained that all the issues raised would be given proper attention. He also noted that with the presence of the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ryan Ward, at the event, he was certain timely resolution.

“Movie production is cheap in Brampton as there is practically no language that is not represented in municipality. Besides, if we have the list of of your needs sent to me or the High Commission, it would be looked at and considered.

“The Deputy High Commissioner is also here and I can assure you, we would work together in ensuring that visa acquisition is easy,” he said.

Pertinence Limited, which put together the event, is an enterprise development and people empowerment company with interest in real estates, business consultancy and financial advisory.

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