Hamilton a Hollywood destination with 111 movie or TV shows filmed here in 2020
Even in a pandemic, it's hard to keep Hamilton off movie and TV screens.
There have been 111 movie or TV shows that set up their cameras in Hamilton, before March when COVID-19 shut everything down, and after July when restrictions were eased by the provincial government.
In Dundas this week, a Lifetime Channel movie is wrapping up two weeks of filming at a home on South Street. The film is called Death She Wrote."
It's been really rewarding to see so many people back to work with film, and to hear stories from productions about the extra steps they take to support our businesses and communities," said Kim Adrovez, senior project manager at the city's film office.
At this time of year, we see crew members making a point to do their holiday shopping at local merchants, and many productions are making donations to food banks and community programs."
The major production to film in the city is The Man from Toronto," starring Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson. The Columbia Pictures production was at the Hamilton International Airport in mid-November.
Filming of the comedy-action movie, centring on mistaken identity between an assassin and a bumbler, has also taken place in Milton, Brampton, Toronto and Elora. It is set for release in September 2021.
To be sure, the film productions are following COVID-19 protocols (There has been no report of an outbreak at a film location).
Since 1988, the film industry has had a standing health and safety committee, which works with the Ontario Ministry of Labour, and has specific health and safety guidelines.
Adrovez said all productions in Hamilton are required to confirm that they are following the guidelines - such as wearing masks and testing crew members for COVID-19 - and have a site-specific plan in place for each location.
She said most productions also have a designated COVID-19 specialist on staff.
Some other productions in Dundas over the past several months were the Hallmark Christmas film True Meaning of Christmas," the horror comedy Syfy Channel film Letters to Satan Claus," the TV show Fear Thy Neighbour" (which was also filming in east Hamilton in November), the TV prison comedy Pink Is In," and Departure," the Global TV drama that stars Christopher Plummer (the series was also filming at a house on South Street).
The Lifetime Channel movie A Family Seduction" filmed on Locke Street South and in a farmhouse at the new Knollwoods golf course on Shaver Road in Ancaster and the feature film Albatross" filmed on the central Mountain.
Disney's Sneakerella" - an updated version of Cinderella - has been filming downtown. And the Canadian-made feature Dying to be Your Friend" was also filming in Hamilton last month.
Outside of Hamilton, The Handmaid's Tale" filmed in Brantford and was a stand-in for Chicago.
Adrovez said the productions have reported spending $50 million in Hamilton this year, compared with about $60 million in 2019 when there were 141 productions (such as Netflix's well-received The Queen's Gambit.")
Adrovez said the outlook for 2021 looks positive, with continued demand and several productions already planning their shoots for early in the new year.
She said there are more than 9,000 Hamiltonians employed in the film industry and more than 900 Hamilton-based film businesses.
James Bond goes to exotic locations around the world, so why wouldn't he come to Hamilton.
Sir Sean Connery, who died Oct. 31 at age 90, came to the Steel City in 2000 for Finding Forrester." The film is about a young man named Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) who befriends a reclusive writer named William Forrester (Connery). Think J.D. Salinger.
Connery was at Copps Coliseum, standing in for Madison Square Gardens, to film a scene in which his character gets separated from Wallace and has an anxiety attack. The movie was directed by Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting).
Daniel Nolan is a freelance writer who writes about film for The Hamilton Spectator. He can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com