Recent productions at the university follow a larger trend across Hamilton, with more and more companies coming to the city to film. Pictured is the July filming of The Horror of Dolores Roach. Photo credit: McMaster University/Daily News
McMaster University’s Mills Memorial Library is serving as the backdrop for a film production from Tuesday, August 2 to Tuesday, August 9. The film, called The Incident Report, is based on a novel by Canadian Martha Baillie.
The novel is set in a fictional Toronto Public Library branch, which is why filming is restricted to the Mills Memorial Library. The novel reportedly includes elements of mystery and a love story.
The film is aptly named as it follows a library employee who has to fill out an incident report after incident report on the bizarre behaviour she encounters while working at the library branch.
Several different areas of the Mills Library will be used for filming. The Incident Report is being produced by Amazon Studios.
This is the second time this summer that McMaster has been used for an Amazon Studios production. On June 12, a film crew was on site for the filming of The Horror of Dolores Roach. For that film, crews were using various areas of the campus.
The Horror of Dolores Roach features lead actress Justina Machado and is a series of half-hour episodes. In the series, Dorolores Roach (Machado) has been in prison for sixteen years and is finally released only to return to her old neighbourhood and find it completely different: her old boyfriend and family have left, and she must survive on her own with only $200 to her name.
The Horror of Dolores Roach is based on a podcast by Gimlet Media, a subsidiary of Spotify which produces narratives and is based in New York. Gimlet describes the series as a “macabre urban legend of love, betrayal, weed, gentrification, cannibalism, and survival of the fittest.”
Both cinematic productions at McMaster University follow a larger trend across Hamilton, with more and more companies coming to the city for filming. In fact, 2021 marked a record year for film productions in Hamilton, despite challenges posed by travel restrictions and lockdowns brought on by the pandemic.
The City of Hamilton reports 816 permits issued in 2021 for 152 unique productions which include movies, TV series’, and commercials. The City calculates that the industry contributed $69.6 million to the local economy in 2021. The most well-known productions to film in Hamilton last year were the Handmaid’s Tale and The Umbrella Academy which are featured on Crave and Netflix, respectively.
Note that the author of this article, Kevin Geenen, is running for Ward 5 City Council Hamilton (Gray Rd to Red Hill Parkway plus the Beach Strip). Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Kevin Geenen reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on social media. He is a regular contributor with The Hamilton Independent and has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. He is known for Hamilton Neighbourhood Watch crime updates and no-nonsense news graphics. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal from Governor General David Johnston. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
