The Canteen Story

Canteen owner Mir Lada

Canteen Studios was designed and built in 2021 by an experienced food stylist, for photo shoots, commercials, TV shows, cooking demos, and cooking classes.

He saw there was a lack of large spaces available for day-rentals to do commercial culinary shoots. There was a need to have camera-ready, easily re-configurable kitchens, prep kitchens stocked with hundreds of items a stylist or chef needs, and enough room for full crews and client teams to be accommodated effectively and comfortably, while recording sound.

In the 2 studios at Canteen, all 3 kitchens are modular, using popular Ikea kitchen componenents. This facilitates quick and economical changes to doors, finishes, handles, to suit client needs, without having to build a new kitchen set. There is even an Ikea nearby!

For 2024, the space and all studio assets have been acquired by Mir Lada, an experienced commercial photographer and gaffer. Mir has spent years designing and operating high-usability day rental studios for still and motion productions in Toronto.

The facility will have a great selection of lighting, grip, specialty items, and backgrounds. Backgrounds available include 36’ x 17’ chroma greenscreen, 30’ x 20’ bluescreen, 20x, 12x. 8x greenscreens and bluescreens, various backdrops and seamless, rigging, hundreds of fixtures available on site, or brought from the equipment warehouse: LED fixtures from Aputure, KinoFlo, Astera, Prolycht, Arri, DMG, Luxli, 100w to 10,000w tungsten; 575w-12,000w HMI. On the photography side, dozens of strobe systems by Profoto and Speeditron, specialty modifiers, as well as Canon R5 system with extensive RF and EF lens selection.

Canteen Studios will be upgraded and expanded starting in 2024 with general studio features to make it even more capable:

  • 200A 3 phase power, with ballnose E1018 Seaway, Joy, as well as US standard J E1016 Cam-lok, 100A & 60A Bates connections and suitable distro and cabling

  • 32’ white cyc in Studio 2, a 10x20’ softbox with app-controlled RGBWW fixtures

  • Modular lighting grids over 3 kitchens sets as well as 3 other set areas

  • turnkey DMX / CRMX and iPad / Blackout / Moonlite app-controlled lighting setups over the 6 areas in both studios

  • Suitable, camera-ready flooring for the above set areas

  • dozens of feet of finished paintable, clean, featureless drywall

  • improved integrated storage for a visually streamlined look for events, or if studio is used as a location.

  • ambient lighting creating visually stunning environments…whether just a cool space to hang out in, or used as sets, or for professional or small events.