Ottawa Offers Up A "Sacrifice"

Production started March 28 in Ottawa, Ontario, on the $6.8 million cop action-thriller "Sacrifice" starring actors Cuba Gooding Jr. and Christian Slater.

Although the feature is set in Toronto and Los Angeles, Ontario offers better provincial tax breaks for producers, if they shoot outside of the Toronto area.

"There's a lot of real benefits to being in Ottawa," said Rob Menzies of Ottawa's Zed Filmworks. one of the film's co-producers, noted for the gross-out horror feature "Smash Cut", starring porn-actress Sasha Grey.

Shooting to late April, the "Sacrifice" production will dress the sets, including Ottawa's Byward Market and other residential areas including a downtown church, to look like Los Angeles and Toronto.

Premise of the film follows a 'broken-down' cop whose family is targeted. The cop later uncovers a smuggling ring in which criminals hide drugs in statues of the Virgin Mary.

"This is a big deal for Ottawa, and it meets our mandate to bring this level of production to the city," said Menzies.

"The movie has a lot of religious overtones, especially with the Virgin Mary being made of heroin, but it's a no-holds barred action film with lots of interesting themes."

Ottawa-area actors appearing in the film include Matt Stefiuk, Pete Dillion and Sean Tucker...