Vancouver’s film studios, often shrouded in mist and nestled amidst towering pines, have long been a hub for producing high-quality television movies. These productions, ranging from heartfelt romances to gripping thrillers, have found a new audience across the Atlantic.
In May 2025, the launch of Studio TF1 America marked a significant expansion of French broadcaster TF1’s content offerings. This collaboration has brought Vancouver’s cinematic storytelling to French screens, enriching TF1’s programming with a diverse array of English-language films.
Studio TF1 America emerged from the merger of Vancouver-based Johnson Production Group (JPG) and Montreal’s Reel One Entertainment. The rebranding consolidated their operations under the Studio TF1 banner, aiming to enhance global distribution and production capabilities. With over 100 new scripted hours slated for 2025 and a catalogue exceeding 3,000 hours of content, the studio has positioned itself as a leading producer and distributor of television movies worldwide.
This strategic move not only bolsters TF1’s content library but also underscores the growing influence of Vancouver’s film industry on the international stage.
The Roots: From Hollywood North to French Screens
Vancouver’s reputation as “Hollywood North” was built over decades of high-volume production, thanks in large part to its rich natural backdrop, competitive tax incentives, and pipeline of skilled crews.
While the city’s skyline and seascapes serve as familiar stand-ins for U.S. locations, the story of its rising European reach begins with one of its home-grown powerhouses: Johnson Production Group (JPG).
Founded in 1992 by Timothy O. Johnson, the Vancouver-based firm has packaged, financed and distributed television movies in genres ranging from romance to thriller, claiming involvement in “over 3,000 hours of television” and more than US$1 billion in production cost.
In 2024, another major shift took place: France’s Newen Studios, itself a subsidiary of Groupe TF1, signed an agreement to acquire a 63 % stake in JPG. This move was part of Newen’s broader international push and followed its 2019 acquisition of Canada’s Reel One Entertainment.
On May 5 2025, JPG and Reel One rebranded under a unified banner: Studio TF1 America, marking a convergence of North American production capacity with French-language distribution ambitions.
What makes this alignment so logical is the economics of British Columbia’s film sector. The province’s roughly 35 % tax credit for eligible productions continues to draw international projects, making high-volume English-language shoots viable in Vancouver at scales and speeds that few locations can match.
Against this backdrop, TF1’s appetite for efficient, globally-local content found a natural home. Vancouver-filmed titles offer scenic richness, cost-effectiveness, and multilingual adaptability for platforms like TF1.
This structural foundation, Vancouver’s production ecosystem, JPG’s packaging model, Newen/TF1’s international strategy, has now created the launchpad for Studio TF1 America’s 2025 expansion. The coming section will shift the focus to how this content pipeline is actively fueling TF1’s global ambitions.
Vancouver’s Production Powerhouse: Fueling Studio TF1 America’s Global Ambitions
Vancouver’s rise as a global content hub is not accidental, it’s the outcome of decades of strategic infrastructure build-out, fiscal incentives and geographic versatility that make it uniquely suited for high-volume production. The newly established Studio TF1 America is tapping directly into this ecosystem to power its ambitions.
From studios to scenic backdrops
The Vancouver region boasts a depth of facilities that few other markets can match. Large-scale sound stages such as those at Bridge Studios and Mammoth Studios, together with an extraordinary range of natural and urban filming locations, from downtown high-rises and industrial zones to forested mountains and ocean-front vistas, give producers enormous flexibility. This makes Vancouver a practical one-stopshop for genres ranging from romantic comedy to gritty thriller to holiday specials.
Strategic content sourcing for TF1
As Europe’s leading free-to-air broadcaster, TF1 Group is looking for content that can travel: productions made in English (or easily adaptable) with universal themes, localized via subtitling or dubbing, and scheduled into prime-time slots across France and French-speaking territories.
For TF1, the Vancouver link offers three key advantages:
- Affordability + volume: High-tax-credit jurisdictions like British Columbia (BC) allow efficient production scaling. For example, the BC film and television tax credit has a basic rate of 35% labour expenditure for qualifying domestic productions and rises to 40% for projects beginning principal photography after 31 December 2024.
- Versatile settings: Vancouver’s varied geography lets a single production mimic many locales, ideal when TF1 requires films with broad appeal across French-speaking European markets.
- Global-ready English content: Vancouver crews and facilities are geared to English-language builds, meaning the content is export-friendly and easily repackaged for localization.
Industry context & economic impact
The backdrop of Vancouver’s filming ecosystem is not just qualitative; it’s measurable. For the fiscal year 2024, British Columbia reported film and television tax credit certifications totalling approximately C$2.975 billion in estimated production volume and about C$711.98 million in tax credits claimed.
Meanwhile, industry analysts note that BC’s new incentive regime, boosting the production services tax credit (PSTC) to 36% for productions starting principal photography after December 31, 2024, and introducing major production bonuses for C$200 million+ projects, fortifies Vancouver’s competitive edge.
From TF1’s viewpoint, aligning with such a production base gives the broadcaster a reliable pipeline of content produced on a cost-effective basis, with the added benefit of leveraging Vancouver’s established reputation for efficient turnaround and production-ready talent.
Bridging Cultures: Impact and Horizons for Vancouver–TF1 Ties
Beyond the glitter of film sets and prime-time slots, the TF1–Vancouver partnership represents something larger: a genuine bridge between two distinct storytelling traditions. On one side, France brings its long-established culture of auteur-driven television and cinematic nuance; on the other, Vancouver offers a production ecosystem fine-tuned for global collaboration and technical excellence.
This synergy has created opportunities not just for co-productions, but for creative cross-pollination. Vancouver’s post-production and VFX teams, already in high demand across Hollywood, are gaining new exposure within the European market, while French production companies are learning to tap into Canada’s advanced infrastructure and bilingual talent pool.
The partnership’s impact also extends to education and training. Local film schools, such as Capilano University and Vancouver Film School, have begun exploring exchange pathways and internships linked to TF1 projects. These initiatives signal a shift toward a more globally connected creative workforce, capable of working fluidly across languages, formats, and platforms.
As French broadcasters continue to diversify their content sources, Vancouver’s rising profile could redefine how European networks approach international collaboration. What began as a handful of co-productions is gradually evolving into a broader cultural dialogue, one that positions Vancouver not only as “Hollywood North,” but as a global nexus where European storytelling finds a distinctly Pacific voice.
Wrapping Up
As TF1 deepens its footprint in Vancouver, the collaboration signals more than just a wave of co-productions; it marks a shift in how international television is conceived, financed, and distributed. Vancouver’s balance of world-class infrastructure, technical expertise, and creative openness has positioned it as a natural partner for France’s largest private broadcaster.
For TF1, the move represents a strategic investment in fresh creative ecosystems beyond Europe, while for Canada, it reinforces a growing reputation as a hub for globally resonant storytelling. Together, they are expanding the boundaries of what cross-continental partnerships can achieve in television and digital media.
If the success of recent projects is any indication, the TF1–Vancouver connection is only the beginning. As production schedules fill and new collaborations take shape, this alliance could very well define the next chapter of international broadcasting, where French creativity meets Canadian innovation, and the result shines on screens around the world.