‘The Umbrella Academy’ will be back filming in Hamilton next month
The popular superhero show The Umbrella Academy" will return to shoot on the streets of Hamilton next month.
The Netflix series, which stars Elliot Page as a member of a dysfunctional family of former child heroes, is set to begin filming its third season on Feb. 8, says the industry outlet Production Weekly.
The series, which also shoots in Toronto, is expected to shoot until the summer.
It might appear questionable to see filming proceed in the face of a provincial lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where people are being told to stay home, but the Ontario government has allowed filming of movies and TV series to go on.
Filming is allowed to continue per provincial regulations," Monica Ciriello, manager of Hamilton's licensing division, said in an email to The Spectator.
Section 1 of the Stay at Home Order permits working where the nature of the work requires the individual to leave the residence. Film and television production is permitted ... subject to enhanced workplace safety standards."
About half a dozen productions were rolling in Hamilton this month, including one in the downtown area on Jan. 11 - Augusta and James Street South - and a Hallmark Christmas movie in Ancaster called Loving Christmas" on Jan. 17.
Health and safety rules on film sets have been in place for decades, but new rules have come into place because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
This includes wearing masks, not allowing studio audiences on a set, not allowing more than 10 performers on a film or television set at once and requiring sets to be configured in a way that allows everyone to maintain a physical distance of at least two metres except for filming.
The restrictions also require makeup and hair services to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).
Film companies have had on-site COVID-19 officers and have performed daily testing and enhanced cleaning. Companies have kept extras in a bubble for an entire shoot instead of hiring extras as the production unfolds.
Filming was shut down during the first wave of the pandemic but the provincial government allowed it to resume on June 12.
Page made international headlines last year when he announced he is transgender and nonbinary. The Oscar-nominated actor (for Juno") plays Vanya Hargreaves, a sibling in this superhero family who must reunite after growing apart to protect the world from a coming apocalypse and to also solve the murder of their adopted father, eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreaves (the always excellent Colm Feore).
Set in Dallas, the series has had action, adventure, chases, mystery and time-travelling visits to November 1963.
The show features Hamilton actress T.J. McGibbon, who plays the teenage Vanya Hargreaves. It also stars Tom Hopper, Emily Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan and Aidan Gallagher.
During its first two seasons shooting in Hamilton - 2018 and 2019 - The Umbrella Academy" shot at such places as Hamilton City Hall, Dundurn Castle, Liuna Station, Corktown Pub, The Cotton Factory, The Vienna Tavern, the Emerald Street North pedestrian bridge over a CN spurline and Dyments Farm Market on the top of Sydenham Road in Flamborough. It has also shot at Gage Park, Ottawa Street and in the Corktown neighbourhood.
The series, needless to say, is one of the largest and most popular productions filming in the city. Netflix said in 2019 it had been streamed by more than 45 million viewers during April, its first month of release. It was Netflix's third most popular series that year.
In 2020, Netflix said it was its sixth most watched series, behind such shows as The Queen's Gambit," which, incidentally, had a scene shot in Hamilton. It is where Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) is sent to the store to buy cigarettes for her mother. It was shot at King Street East and Walnut Street, in the International Village.
Daniel Nolan is a freelance writer who writes about film for The Hamilton Spectator. He can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com