Filming in Hamilton: The last man on earth turns up at Tim Hortons Field
If you heard small explosions near Tim Hortons Field a couple of weeks ago, it wasn't anything nefarious.
The stadium was the backdrop for scenes being filmed for the new FX Network fantasy-sci-fi-action series Y: The Last Man."
The show was at Tim Hortons Field the week of March 15-21 and filmed the scenes over March 18-19.
The production appeared to be filming in the north end of the stadium. There was film equipment located in the northwest corner of the stadium, at Beechwood Avenue and Melrose Avenue North. On the field by the back gate was a motorcycle.
Signs dotted the area outside the Beechwood Avenue gate, telling passersby that public access was denied. There were orange cones with the words Property of Y: The Last Man' plopped around the stadium.
It is one of three sci-fi shows that have filmed in the city this year. The others are The Boys" and Titans."
Y: The Last Man", which has also been filming in Toronto, is based on a popular comic book series. A cataclysmic event kills every male on the planet except for Yorick Brown and his pet monkey. It stars Ben Schnetzer, who plays Yorick, Diane Lane and Olivia Thirlby are also in the series.
The show has also been filming in Mississauga. Filming is set to wrap up by July and it will premiere on FX on Hulu later this year.
The Playhouse Theatre is aiming to show movies the way they were once shown.
The Sherman Avenue North movie house has a 35 mm projector and plans to turn it on when the pandemic is behind us. Movies are now shown with digital projectors.
One day, when we reopen, we will be able to screen real film, alongside digital projection at the Playhouse," according to a message on Twitter.
It has asked for suggestions of movies to screen in the old format.
Cineflix is shooting one of its true crime dramas in Hamilton.
The film company has been shooting a movie about the 2006 case of 17-year-old Ashley Reeves, who was attacked and left for dead in the woods.
Called Left for Dead," the production was shooting at a location on Fletcher Road in Binbrook in February.
The production was outside the Old Firehall Arts Centre on Wilson Street in Ancaster that same month, and at a location on Jerseyville Road March 18-19.
At the firehall, two actors were filmed sitting on the hood of a car.
David Hutt of Binbrook watched the film trucks set up at the Binbrook Fairgrounds and went over to the Fletcher Road film site.
Unfortunately, there wasn't any filming visible to the general public going on that I saw, but it was pretty neat to have these types of things going on in the area," he said. It wasn't Marvel or anything like that, but still kinda cool."
Cineflix Productions Inc. has been involved in such crime shows as Ted Bundy" and The Clown and the Candyman", which is about serial killers John Wayne Gacy and Dean Corll. It is also known for Wynonna Earp" and Property Brothers."
Reeves, who lived in Millstadt, Ill., was a high school junior in April 2006 when she left her home for a job interview. She did not come home and her family called the police.
Her boyfriend told police that she had told him she was planning to play basketball after the interview. Friends knew she played basketball with 26-year-old phys-ed teacher, Sam Shelton.
Reeves was found by police 30 hours after she went missing. She spent time in a coma and it took months for her to recover from her ordeal.
There is one other Hamilton connection to the Golden Globe winning Schitt's Creek, other than co-creator Eugene Levy. Andrew Cividino from Dundas has directed episodes of the show and won an Emmy with co-creator Dan Levy last year. Cividino went to Yorkview Elementary School, Parkside High School and got his degree in Image Arts (Film) at Ryerson. He was a classmate of Dan Levy.
Daniel Nolan is a freelancer who writes about film for The Hamilton Spectator. He can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com