Hurricane Katrina medical drama will shoot in Hamilton
A series based on the terrible times at a New Orleans hospital during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 will be shooting in Hamilton.
The production company behind Five Days at Memorial" are planning to build a set on a vacant Gage Avenue North lot, between Beach Road and Barton Street East. It once housed warehouses but the property has been vacant since about 2015.
What they are planning to build is not yet known. Spokespeople for ABC Signature could not be reached for comment. A sign on the property says the lot is for essential construction" (the pseudonym for the series is Kingswood"). The series has been seen at the former Branson Hospital in Toronto this month.
The limited series, ordered by Apple TV Plus last fall, is based on the 2013 book called Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm Ravaged Hospital" by journalist Sheri Fink. Fink initially wrote an article on the situation for The New York Times Magazine but expanded it into the book after winning a Pulitzer in 2009. The book won a National Book Award.
Five Days At Memorial' chronicles the first five days in a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina made landfall," said Apple TV Plus in a release. When the flood waters rose, the power failed and the heat climbed, exhausted caregivers were forced to make life-and-death decisions that haunted them for years to come."
There were allegations some critically ill patients were euthanized because it was not believed they could survive. A total of 45 patients died within the five days.
A doctor and two nurses were charged with second-degree murder and accused of administering lethal doses of morphine to some patients. Charges were eventually dropped.
Apple TV Plus has managed to land Oscar and Emmy winners for the project. It is directed and written by John Ridley who won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for 12 Years a Slave" (2013). Also involved as a writer and an executive producer is Carlton Cruse who won Emmys for the TV shows Jack Ryan" and Lost." Cherry Jones, who won three Emmys, including one for playing the president in 24" is in the cast.
The show also features Vera Farmiga, who plays the role of Dr. Anna Pou, a real-life person caught in the tragedy. Farmiga was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Up in the Air" (2009).
Julie Ann Emery (Better Call Saul") plays a hospital administrator, Adepero Oduxe (12 Years a Slave") plays the ICU nurse manager and Cornelius Smith Jr. (Self Made," which shot in Dundas and St. Catharines in 2019) plays a doctor.
The agency Ontario Creates says shooting runs until Aug. 30.
Reacher" in town
Hamilton fans of the Jack Reacher books - and the two movies starring Tom Cruise - will get a kick out of finding out the new Amazon Prime TV show based on the character filmed in the city.
Reacher" was spotted filming by St. Paul's Presbyterian Church on James Street South in the middle of the month.
Alan Ritchson (Titans") plays the title character, an U.S. army veteran who investigates suspicious situations that always put him in danger.
I'm just thrilled to be part of it," Ritchson, who was also in The Hunger Games," told the website Collider in March. It's my favourite character that I've played yet."
Author Lee Childs has written 20 books featuring Reacher. The producers, which includes Paramount TV Studios, are planning to adapt a book a season. The first season will feature The Killing Floor," which is set in Georgia.
The books have sold more than 100 million copies and been translated into 49 languages.
Amazon announced in the last several weeks the show will also feature Bruce McGill (Animal House" 1978, and the TV show Rizzoli & Isles"), Maria Sten (Swamp Thing"), Hugh Thompson (TV shows Diggstown" and Pure") and Willa Fitzgerald (Little Women," 2017).
Daniel Nolan is a freelancer who writes about film for The Hamilton Spectator. He can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com