Butter Bandits
Local & organic Signs of a growing film & television industry in the Bay of Quinte
Belleville-based filmmaker Victor Cooper is being hailed as a homegrown success. Raised in nearby Madoc, he has lived, studied, and worked in Belleville for the past 20 years. A major player involved in growing the film and television industry in the Bay of Quinte region, Victor and his team are spearheading a movement to make truly local work in the place we call home.
Written by Allison Nichol Longtin
Read time: 4 min
Victor and his wife, Jodi, moved to Belleville to attend Loyalist College’s Television, Filmmaking and Digital Content Creation program, and he’s worked in the business ever since. Over the years, Victor has created a strong network of clients, collaborators, and supporters. He founded his company, Eighty Twenty Studio, with the support of business partner, Kelly McKinney, in 2019. Victor and his team are feeling the local love, “When I tell my friends in Toronto about premieres we’ve held here and that we packed the Empire Theatre, they’re like, ‘for a short film? How’d you do that?’ They’re amazed. It’s the community, they all came out and had a great time.”
Based on a series of real-life news stories taking place in and around 2021 across Southern Ontario, Butter Bandits tells the story of desperate times and even more desperate measures. The absurdity of our times inspired Victor and his team to make the film, which boasts a sold-out premiere in December 2025 at the Empire Theatre. Filmed entirely in the Bay of Quinte region with funding from local investors who believed in the project, Butter Bandits is the studio’s first feature film.
The production is local with a capital L. Allisha Pelletier, one of Butter Bandits’ leads, even moved to the area from Toronto the day before they started shooting. The team filmed in and around their studio in Belleville, building several locations on-site, including a one-bedroom apartment, a bar, a police station, and a hospital. “We’re writing to what we have and building the extra little bits we need,” says Victor.
Why go local? “The product is better when you’re connected to the people and the places that are involved,” says Victor. With their two-season Bell Fibe series, Stoney Lonesome, Victor created a replicable model for making film and television locally that really works. He didn’t sit around and wait for the industry to come to his hometown, he got to work co-creating it, “We didn’t want to live in Toronto, we wanted to live here and we certainly didn’t want to commute…[We thought] let’s see if we can make a go of it here…it ended up being better than anything we could have asked for and now we’re seeing other production companies from Toronto moving here.”
When you watch Stoney Lonesome and Butter Bandits, you see locations from your everyday life in Belleville. Most of us delight in seeing our local grocery store, park, and even our neighbours in stories that represent our reality, even if it’s a zanier, larger-than-life version of it. “The end result just ends up being better and on top of that, we’ve built that instant fan base because everybody knows somebody who’s in it,” says Victor.
It’s about the people and it’s about the place. Not only does the community support the local film and tv industry in the Bay of Quinte, but our landscapes serve as inspiration. From sweeping rural countryside, lake views that could easily stand in for ocean or sea, and picturesque small towns, to downtown main streets, gritty alleyways, and industrial areas, to fully equipped film studios, there’s a vast and varied landscape that lends itself to being captured on camera. “We have so much here, right at our fingertips,” says Victor. “We can go 10 minutes from my house and be (what looks like) in the middle of nowhere. We have so many great locations downtown. We’ve built our studio here. We’ve got 11,000 square feet and several studio rooms.” That winning combination of community support, cinematic landscapes, and infrastructure made Butter Bandits possible.
Victor has high hopes for the future of the film and television industry in his hometown, “I want to see it grow and be vibrant… And remain local.” While he welcomes the arrival of bigger production companies in the area, Victor recognizes the importance of continuing to support local creators and the work they’re making in their own backyards. It’s clear that Victor’s grateful for the profound community support that makes his work possible and that he envisions a bright future for the local industry, “We’re on the right track and we’re having a ton of fun.”
What’s next for Victor and Butter Bandits? “When I think about the future of the film, the first thing that comes to mind is distribution. We want as many people as possible to see the film. We are talking with film festivals and distribution companies now, and we hope to know more soon.” And what about Eighty Twenty Studio? Victor and his team have a lot on the go, including several feature-length scripts sitting on a shelf that they’re keen to dust off. “We have such a great crew here, I want to keep them working until we’re all old and cranky,” says Victor. If the success and community support they’ve experienced in the Bay of Quinte so far are any indication, Victor and his team will be busy making film and television well into retirement age.
