Hamilton film office nominated for international award for The Umbrella Academy

The Hamilton Music and Film Office has been nominated for an international award for helping the crew of the popular Netflix showThe Umbrella Academy.

The Outstanding Film Commission award from Los Angeles-basedLocation Managers Guild International (LMGI) is given to the film office that did the bestjob helping aproduction's location managers.

"Film commissions and offices are the municipal entities that help us with permitting permission and approval and how to manifestthe vision of our creatives to actually happen on city streets ... without [them]we'd be running amok on the streets," saidJohn Rakich,LMGI president and chair of this year's ceremony.

Hamilton is the only Canadian city that made the cut, beatingout roughly60 other jurisdictions.

The city's competition forthe award, whichwill be handed out in October,includes:

• Bath Film Office inEngland for Bridgerton.
• TheEstonian Film Institute forTenet.
• Liverpool Film Office forTin Star: Liverpool.
• Savannah Regional Film CommissionThe Underground Railroad.
• Screen Queensland Australia for Love and Monsters.

TheUmbrella Academystars Canadian actor Elliot Page. For its second season, scenes were shot onOttawa Street North, City Hall and theEmerald Street Pedestrian Bridge,among other locations. It was also back in the city to film another season this year.

The city said the show filmed for more than 57 days in Hamiltonin 2019 and brought in some $15 million to the city.

A major street was shut down off and on for six months, Rakich told CBC Hamilton. "That section of Ottawa Street,onscreen, was 1963-64 Dallas ... they did an amazing job of allowing the show what it needed to do creatively while still letting the taxpayers and businessesfunction with that disruption."

Crew, fans visited local stores

Local shop and store owners say the show hada positive impact on business.

"It was a really good time for us and the street," said Catalina Prado, manager of Colombian eateryCalipanon Ottawa Street.

She said the Umbrella Academy crewrented the space, ate at the restaurantand ensured any disruptions were minimal.

"After that, [business]picked up, but then COVID came and it was a disaster, but now it's picking up again," she said. "People knew Umbrella Academy, they came to the street, they recognized the business."

Dan Hawkins, owner of Shorty's Pizza on Cannon Street East, said some of the show's stars visited the shopto eat. The show also filmed there for a couple of days.

"It was smooth ...it brought a lot of people down into that area of town," he said. "It seemed to be good for everyone."

Mark Draak, co-owner ofCabinet of Curiosities, which moved from Dundas to Ottawa Street North earlier this year, said the store wasone of theproduction's main prop suppliers.

"We supplied all their creepy props ... skulls, Victorian taxidermy, tribal material," he said. "We've had some really good shoutouts based on it ... it was a really great show for us."

Nikola Bulajic, owner of VintageSoulGeekin the International Village, said he's hadUmbrella Academy fansfrom unexpected placesvisit his store because of their work in the first and second seasons of the show.

"They loved the program so much they ... flew in from Germany," he said.

Filming set to break city records

Kimberley Adrovez manages Hamilton's filmoffice and said this year thatthe city is on track to break local records in filming and money brought in this year.

The city says 108 productions have registered to film in the areain 2021, with 543 permits issued. Productions havebrought in some $62 million so far.

Last year, there were 113 productions shot and 524film permitsissued, bringing in $53.2million. In 2019, there were141 productions shot and 790 film permits, bringing in$59.2million. The 2019 numbers are the current record.

Adrovezsaid filming in the city has been growing significantlysince 2017.

Last year was set to be a record-breaking year, but the pandemic pausedfilming for four months. Still, she said, the industry did a good job avoiding muchdisruption.

"We didn't actually lose any business. Itall just got deferred," she said.

Adrovez said some recent productions that have been shot locallyhave included The Handmaid's Tale,Locke & KeyandNightmare Alley,the latest film fromdirector Guillermo del Toro.

She said the LMGI nomination shows thatthe city and local businesses supportfilm crews coming to Hamilton.

A committee will decide the winner, whichwill be announced Oct. 23.