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Overview of the film industry in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, has become a popular destination for the television and film industry, attracting dozens of film and television productions each year.[1]
 | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (February 2017) |
Many prominent actors have worked on productions filmed in Hamilton, and the city has positioned itself to attract new productions with a regional tax incentive.
In 2007 the city launched an ad campaign to lure in film studios.[2]
Hamilton has a dedicated office geared towards assisting those in the film and music industry.[3]
Local TV station CHCH introduced Canadians to Smith & Smith, which featured Steve and Morag Smith (the former better known from his stint as Red Green). The Hilarious House of Frightenstein was a Canadian children's television series which was also produced by CHCH in 1971. It was syndicated to television stations across Canada and the United States, and occasionally still appears today in some TV markets. The show's cast included Billy Van, Fishka Rais, Guy Big, Mitch Markowitz, Vincent Price, and Julius Sumner Miller. One hundred and thirty episodes of the series were made in a nine-month span starting in 1971. Don Cherry's Grapevine began airing on CHCH TV in the 1980s and shot on location at CHCH TV's Telecentre on King Street West and then at CHCH's main studio on Jackson Street West. The production then moved (including the original set and bar) to the restaurant Cherry had in town, also called "Don Cherry's Grapevine". The restaurant was on Main Street East. CHCH also produced local broadcasts such as Tiny Talent Time and Party Game.[4]
Power Play was a Canadian television drama series that aired on CTV from 1998 to 2000. The show starred Michael Riley as Brett Parker, a former New York City sports agent who became the general manager of a (fictional) National Hockey League franchise, the Hamilton Steelheads.[5]
A number of Hamiltonians played a part in the early development of Hollywood, including Jean Adair (1873–1953),[6] Julia Arthur (1868–1959),[7] Douglass Dumbrille (1889–1974),[8] and Florence Lawrence (1890–1938) who was a silent film actress and often referred to as "Hollywood's First Movie Star". She was also known as "The Biograph Girl" and "The Girl of a Thousand Faces". During her lifetime, Lawrence appeared in more than 270 films for various motion picture companies.[9] Del Lord (Grimsby, Ontario) was an early Hollywood film director and actor, best known as a director of Three Stooges films. Interested in the theatre, he travelled to New York City; when fellow Canadian Mack Sennett offered him a job at his new Keystone Studios, Lord went on to work in Hollywood, California. There he played the driver of the Keystone Cops police van, appearing in several of the successful films.[10]
Modern-day contributions to Hollywood by Hamiltonians include SCTV alumni Eugene Levy, Martin Short, and Dave Thomas. All three attended McMaster University along with John Candy in the 1970s.[11] Well-known movie directors and producers in Hollywood from Hamilton are Daniel Goldberg (Space Jam, Twins) and Slovakian-born, Canadian-raised Ivan Reitman. Reitman is most remembered for directing and producing a string of comedies, mostly in the 1980s and 1990s (Meatballs, Stripes and Ghostbusters). Reitman is also a founder of the McMaster Film Board at McMaster University.[12] Reitman and Goldberg have worked together in the past on a number of film productions and continue to work together today as partners in the production company Northern Lights Entertainment.[13][14][15] Others include Kathleen Robertson, best known for her work on 90210(1994–1997) and 2002 crime film Torso: The Evelyn Dick Story and Stana Katic best known for her role as Detective Kate Beckett on ABC's Castle.
Locations across Hamilton have been featured prominently in a number of major film productions. Hamilton is often used as a stand-in for other, more recognizable cities.
Some of these filming locations include:
The DeLuxe Restaurant was a nostalgic 1950s-style diner found on King Street (Dundas), used primarily for film shoots. A number of feature films and television productions have been shot in Dundas.[23] They include:
After years of sitting closed and serving the film industry on occasion, the DeLuxe Restaurant underwent extensive renovations and opened as Thai restaurant Bangkok Spoon in 2009.[24]
Digital Canaries began as a film production company in 2007. In 2015, they stopped producing in-house content.
As of 2021, the company managed six distinct film locations. Of these, five were situated in Hamilton, encompassing a 100,000 square-foot warehouse. This facility features a bar with an upstairs apartment and a large patio, a full-size banquet hall, and two school properties.
The final studio owned by Digital Canaries in Dundas includes sets of abandoned houses, tunnels, and post-apocalyptic landscapes. Its standing sets encompass various environments, such as hospitals, police precincts, and bars. Additionally, the location contains a thoroughly stocked prop house catering to diverse set design requirements, offering furniture, decorations, medical tools, and military gear.
The studio also features several full-sized airplanes and a flight simulator. It offers a diverse range of wardrobe options, including casual wear, evening dresses, wedding attire, first responder uniforms, and continuity clothing. The CEO of the studio is Simon Winterson.
Steel Work Studios opened in March 2008, aiming to get in on the $1 billion industry. It closed three months later.[25]
A 2004 conversion of a 500,000-square-foot (46,000 m2) facility on Victoria Avenue North that was one time home of the Otis Elevator Company and Studebaker plant into a film studio failed dramatically after only a few months. Local investors were ready to open up the $30-million Hamilton Film Studios but pulled out two months after opening.[26]
In 2018, the NUVO Network opened its 150,000 square foot facility consisting of three state-of-the-art media production studios, podcasting facilities, recording and vlogging studios, alongside editing suites, office spaces, and events venue.[27]
In December 2019, Hamilton Film Studios (commonly known as HFS) opened at 400 Wellington St. North in downtown Hamilton by filmmakers Zach Zohr, Graham Purdy and Ken Woychesko. The studio supports all film from Hollywood productions to indie movies, music videos to commercials. HFS also has a location in Dundas, a retail store in Hamilton (which caters to filmmakers) and offers equipment rentals and location support. It has helped to reinvigorate the film scene in Hamilton and has been praised for inserting a true film vendor in the city.[citation needed]
The following is a partial list of films and television programs shot in Hamilton, Ontario, and their release dates:
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