New Crave sitcom featuring Guelph’s Jus Reign films across Hamilton
A new sitcom built around the comedy of Guelph comedian and internet star Jus Reign (real name Jasmeet Singh Raina) chose Hamilton as part of its backdrop.
Late Bloomer" is about a young Indo-Canadian (Reign) trying to balance life between his dysfunctional, yet loving family, and his new found fame on YouTube, plus his struggles to find the balance between Sikh customs and the Western ideal of individualism.
The eight-episode half-hour show, first announced in November 2020, was destined for the CBC, but is now headed to Crave. The series was created by Reign and comedian Russell Peters (The Indian Detective") is an executive producer.
The show filmed from east Hamilton to Ancaster last week. It shot at the David Braley Health Sciences Centre; Eastgate Square; Sam Manson Park; a home on Lady Court, near Eastgate; a home on Kentley Drive, also near Eastgate; a small strip plaza on Centennial Parkway North; and a home on Roselawn Avenue in Ancaster.
Reign has nearly a million subscribers to his YouTube channel and more than 167 million views, says Pier 21 Films, which is producing the show. It also notes the 33-year-old comic has more than a million Facebook fans.
Jasmeet is a one-of-a-kind talent and the latest in the long line of incredible Canadian comedians to find stardom on the global stage," Bill Lundy, Pier 21's senior vice-president of development, said in a statement.
The series Jasmeet has created offers him the freedom to delve into a longer narrative allowing him to be more authentically funny and vulnerable than ever before."
Pier 21 produces the sitcom Run The Burbs," which films on the west Mountain.
Flipping for Christmas" filmed in Hamilton, Dundas and Flamborough last week. The plot and players have not been publicized, but it is from Vortex Productions, which made Christmas Reboot" in the city a few months ago.
The film is being helmed by Katherine Barrell, who was Joy in The Good Witch" and has been in a few Christmas flicks.
Flipping for Christmas" filmed at The Staircase, Dundurn Park, Carnegie Gallery and at a Christmas tree farm near Lynden.
A sci-fi film that shot in Hamilton hits theatres this Easter Weekend.
Simulant" is about a woman in the near future who replaces her deceased husband with an android copy of him. The affair attracts the attention of a government agent who is trying to halt the rise of consciousness in androids and a sympathizer who helps the android.
The movie, which involves Ancaster producer James van der Woerd, filmed in Hamilton between January and March of 2022. Van der Woerd works for Wango Films.
The movie is set to be released May 5 on the DIRECTVOn demand streaming service and June 2 on home video.
The film was initially called Hello Stranger" and also filmed a scene by a bridge in Cambridge.
The film has plenty of special effects and van der Woerd said the film has a Blade Runner" feel to it. The trailer can be viewed on social media.
The movie shot scenes at Skylight Steelworks, the film studio on Stelco lands, and at two homes on Chippewa Road East in Glanbrook and a home on Sydenham Road in Flamborough. It was also filmed at FirstOntario Concert Hall (Hamilton Place) which saw its second floor turned into a laboratory.
Other locations included a Barton Street East auto repair shop, James Street Bookseller, Sheraton Hotel and Art Gallery of Hamilton.
The movie stars Jordana Brewster (The Fast and the Furious" series) as Faye and Robbie Amell (The Flash") as Evan, her husband and simulant.
Sam Worthington (Avatar") plays agent Kessler and Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings") plays Casey, the activist who helps Evan.
It was directed by April Mullen and written by Ryan Christopher Church.
Daniel Nolan is a freelance writer who writes about film for The Hamilton Spectator. He can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com