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Crawley Films Building

540 Driveway, 2025

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The Beginnings
Budge felt the pull and attraction of Hollywood, but Judy felt strongly about staying in Canada, so they decided to start their own film company.[1] Arthur A. Crawley felt his son's determination and supported him in 1939 to found Crawley Films, but the firm only became incorporated in 1946 after the War.[2] They worked from the attic studio of Arthur A. Crawley's family home at 540 Driveway (the house is still there). With a loan from his father and an additional loan from the bank, Budge purchased a vehicle, a camera, and some equipment, and so was born Crawley Films Ltd.[3] It was a small family adventure with Judy's brother, Rod, and sister, Cecily, who joined in the process of film reels.[4] Crawley Films now had responsibility for a payroll covered by paid contracts for the National Film Board of Canada and government sponsorship, such as training films for the Canadian Armed Forces and projects of the Motion Picture Bureau under the backing of the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, as well as from non-profit groups.[5] Crawley Films got to do these films because there were few Canadian film production companies. With financial resources, Budge hired his first non-family employee, Grant Crabtree, who would be a cameraman.[6]

When the War ended, and there were fewer government film contracts, Crawley Films developed its private sector business of making and selling films. Budge Crawley’s daughter Michal writes that her father felt this when: "You had to go out and hustle. You knew if you put in a certain amount of time, you could sell a picture, but your volume would be 12 to 15 thousand dollars a year gross, and your film costs might be two or three thousand.”[7]

In 1946, Crawley Films, with its small group of seven employees consisting of family members and friends Grant Crabtree and Dorothy Munro, moved from the operation tight quarters at 540 Driveway to St. Matthias Anglican's old church hall at 19 Fairmont Avenue, purchased by Budge Crawley's father Arthur A. Crawley.[8] More people were hired. Graeme Fraser, a high school friend, became Crawley's best salesperson, promoting the company's projects and services.[9] The location was likely selected because Budge and Judy lived nearby on Wellington Street (later, they would move and make their home in Chelsea, Quebec).

By 1946, the story we see happening with Crawley Films started with the vision and ambition of a husband and wife that required the financial backing of an established businessman, Budge's father, Arthur A. Crawley. However, the narrative continues and is about growth, and success reflected in the purchase of St. Mathias Hall and later their investment and expanded operations in a new building, a large modern addition. The progress described is reflected in artifacts like the fire insurance plans and the tax rolls in the City Archives. Looking at these documents, one can see the shape, surface, and building materials of Crawley Films in 1946 and 1956. Viewers see the expansion and increased square footage (and city taxes).[10]

The new workspace allowed production through film units of three or four persons who scripted, filmed, and edited projects. Because of this system, Crawley Films Limited was an excellent milieu in which to learn about filmmaking and its process.[11] James Forrester wrote an article about this fact and sentiment that can be read at https://canadianfilm.ca/2025/02/20/crawley-college/

Arthur A. formally incorporated Crawley Films Ltd. in 1946, which was likely the first year the firm made a profit.[12]
Fire insurance documents and City tax rolls in Ottawa City Archives show that in 1946, the old church hall occupied but a small land parcel and that there was vast space available in front. Before the significant 1955 addition, Crawley Films Limited had several small to medium additions built on. Newspaper lines reported alterations to the church hall/studio in 1948 when a storeroom and garage were built for $3,200, and additional unspecified alterations in 1950 were made for $12,000.[13]

The company went from functioning in a space for two in an apartment, then four and six between 1939 and 1945 in the attic at 540 Driveway, to 33 in 1949 in the St. Mathias Church Hall, and 100 after 1955 upon moving into the new addition at 19 Fairmont Avenue.[14] The studio also evolved in its functional requirements because it needed to accommodate more staff and film equipment, filming studios, darkrooms, projection spaces, and production suites, and it became a motion picture studio. The employees came from Ottawa but also included young, eager filmmakers from other provinces who called on Budge and his firm to train them.[15] Salaries were low, but the team of creators at Crawley Films felt like a family.[16] The changes to the number of employees and the technological advances give glimpses into the societal change Canadians were going through regarding the entertainment industry. Who knew then and now that this was a phenomenon in Ottawa?

The Crawley film firm was an important local employer but also contributed to the local economy by contracting services and making purchases that benefitted industries, the community, and families. Along with these changes in staff and operations, revenues increased.

For an overview of the history of Crawley Films, see https://canadianfilm.ca/2015/12/03/history-of-crawley-films/ by Michal Crawley.
[1] Rose, Budge: What, 41.
[2] Forrester, Budge: F.R., 18.
[3] Rose, Budge: What, 41.; Rose, Budge: What, 41.
[4] Rose, Budge: What, 45.
[5] Rose, Budge: What, 45, 47.; Forrester, "The Crawley," 22.
[6] Rose, Budge: What, 46.
[7] Crawley, "The History," Canadianfilm.ca.; Forrester, "The Crawley," 22.; Forrester, Budge: F.R., 18.
[8] Forrester, "The Crawley," 22.; Forrester, Budge: F.R., 18.
[9] Rose, Budge: What, 56.
[10] City of Ottawa, Insurance Plan of the City of Ottawa, map (Ottawa, ON, 1948), City of Ottawa Archives, Ottawa, ON.; City of Ottawa, Insurance Plan of the City of Ottawa Volume 3, map (Ottawa, ON, 1956), City of Ottawa Archives, Ottawa, ON.; City of Ottawa, City of Ottawa: Assessment Made in 1946 for 1947 Taxes, chart (Ottawa, ON, 1946), City of Ottawa Archives, Ottawa, ON.; City of Ottawa, City of Ottawa: Business Assessment in Ottawa, chart (Ottawa, ON, 1957), R64 - 454, City of Ottawa Archives, Ottawa, ON.
[11] Rose, Budge: What, 56-57.
[12] Rose, Budge: What, 58.
[13] The Ottawa Citizen, "$20,000 Tops Property Sales in Nepean Area," The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, ON), March 5, 1948, 18, digital file.; The Ottawa Citizen, "$1,010,547 Expended in December Building," The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, ON), January 9, 1950, 16, digital file.
[14] Forrester, Budge: F.R., 18-19.
[15] Barbara Wade Rose, 71.
[16] Barbara Wade Rose, 63.