City Hall to fly Stars and Stripes for movie production

HAMILTON , ON – September 20, 2005 – On Saturday, September 24^th, City Hall will be transformed into the American Embassy in Yemen for the filming of a television production, and the American flag will fly from the flagpole during the shooting. The Yemeni and United Nations flags will also fly from the flag standards on the Council Chambers roof.

UHP Productions will be on site filming a miniseries starring Harvey Keitel (of Reservoir Dogs, and Pulp Fiction fame), Patricia Heaton (best known as Debra Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond), and former “New Kid On the Block”, Donnie Wahlberg. The production is currently referred to as the Untitled History Project.

The City Hall shoot is one of several taking place in the area this month, according to Jacqueline McNeilly, Film Liaison Officer in the Hamilton Film Liaison Office.

“September has been the busiest month for filming we’ve ever experienced so far,” says McNeilly. There are currently seven productions filming at various locations throughout the city including ReGenesis, Earth Storm, Citizen Duane, Jeff Ltd., Zoom, and Heart Stopper, as well as the Untitled History Project.

Many of these productions have chosen Hamilton as their home base because of our diverse locations, streamlined approvals process and 'open to filming' attitude. Provincial tax incentives are also a significant draw.

“Tax incentives have definitely influenced a number of domestic productions to film here in Hamilton rather than in Toronto. Productions shot in the Toronto area receive a 30% provincial tax credit, and productions shot outside of the GTA receive an additional 10% credit, which is very appealing when you consider most films operate on multi-million dollar budgets,” McNeilly explains.

The City of Hamilton offers hundreds of unique filming locations that continually attract dozens of film, television and commercial productions each year. Over 700 prep, shoot and wrap days generated revenues in excess of $10.5 million for 2004.

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