Toronto in Hollywood Films

Oscars

Memorable Scenes of Toronto

Bad Press

Who's Not in the Film Credits

Yearly Production Spending

TV Series

Sometimes Hollywood films shot here would have local references, for example, the turning point of Beer (1985) is in a gay bar called the Toolbox, the name of an actual place in Toronto. Although Wayne's World was set in Chicago, The Gas Works was the name of a rock bar on Yonge Street, north of Wellesley, a place Mike Myers may have enjoyed.

List of major films where Toronto is actually Toronto:

• The Sentinel (2006)
• Owning Mahowny (2003)
• Driven (2001)
• Hurricane (2000)
• Canadian Bacon (1994)
• Madonna wasn't charged when she played the Skydome, Truth or Dare (1991)
• The Kidnapping of the President (1980)

• Nicholas Cage as rower Ned Hanlon in The Boy in Blue (1986)
• Bank robbery in Toronto in The Newton Boys (1998) Toronto baseball team in Angels in the Outfield (1994)

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Contagion episode, March 1989, included the futuristic City Hall. The Simpsons cartoon family visited a film set in Toronto in a Feb. 2002 which got massive publicity. The West Wing filmed an episode in Port Hope, and Stouffville.

In the cartoon Superman, Metropolis was based on Toronto, the Daily Planet was the Toronto Daily Star where the artist Joe Shuster once worked. He and writer Jerry Siegal (b. Cleveland) sold the rights in 1940 to D.C. for $130.

Peter Fonda wrote Easy Rider (1969) in Toronto on Sept. 27, 1967 at the Lakeshore Motel.

The English Patient (1996) was based on the 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje (born in Sri Lanka but living in Toronto since 1962).

One of the busiest Hollywood actors in Toronto has been Kirsten Dunst who starred in 3 films in almost less than a year: Strike! (1998), The Virgin Suicides (1999), Dick (1999), the TV movie The Devil's Arithmetic (1999), and came back for Get Over It (2001).

Once-married couple Billy Bob Thornton and Angeline Jolie starting dating when they played husband and wife in Pushing Tin (1998). Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott met and got engaged here.

A Toronto children's choir sang in Pink Floyd's The Wall (1982).

Guinness World Records mentions the jump off the CN Tower in Highpoint (1979).

The same fake building on Cherry Street was “burned down” in Blues Brother 2000 and Dirty Work (1998).

One of the most recognizable film locations is the red brick and green trim of the Gooderham & Worts whiskey factory which has been used for over 700 productions, including Tommy Boy (1995). The R. C. Harris Filtration Plant has been used a lot as a prison and was a fortress in Undercover Brother (2002).

Ryan (2004) won the Oscar for animated short and was made with a crew from Seneca College.

Chicago (2002) won six Oscars, the most for a film shot in Toronto, winning Best Motion Picture; Best Supporting Actress, Catherine Zeta-Jones; Best Sound, including Toronto's David Lee; Best Art Direction, including Toronto's Gordon Sim; Best editing; and Best Costume Design.

The second most Oscars was four for Network (1976) which won acting for Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway, and Beatrice Straight and for Screenplay.

The third most Oscars was three for Moonstruck (1987) which won for Best Actress, Cher; Best Supporting Actress, Olympia Dukakis; and Best Writing. Moonstruck also was # 17 on the AFI's top 100 love stories, # 41 on top comedies.

2003 Oscar for Alias/Wavefront for their Maya software used in most blockbusters. Their Software created the award-winning morphing effect for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and used in 8 of the top 10 grossing movies in 1995: Jurassic Park, Mask, Twister, Toy Story, Batman Forever, etc. They've also received a 1996 Oscar nomination for Best Short Film (Animation) for By the End.

The Ontario Government Dept. of Economics and Development won the Short Subject (Live Action Subject) Oscar in 1967 for A Place to Stand, a predecessor of the IMAX process that was shown at Expo 67 in Montreal. IMAX was developed by Canadians and Ontario Place is the first IMAX theatre.

1983 Oscar for Documentary (Short Subject) for Flamenco at 5:15, filmed at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto.

Sheridan College won an Oscar for the animated short Charade (1984).

Steve Willington (b. Toronto) nominated for Oscar for his computer animation in Jurassic Park (1993).

Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart," received an honorary Oscar in 1975 (as well as Best Actress in 1928-9 for Coquette, at the second Academy Awards). Born Gladys Smith Apr. 8, 1893 at 175 University Ave.. In 1919 she formed United Artists along with Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith and William S. Hart.

Marie Dressler, born in Cobourg, won the Best Actress Oscar in 1930 for Min and Bill.

Toronto born Raymond Massey nominated for Best Actor Oscar in 1940 for portraying Abe Lincoln.

Toronto born Walter Huston won Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1948 The Treasure of Sierra Madre (directed by Irish born son, John Huston).

Toronto born director Allan Dwan directed 1,850 films (1916-1949) and invented the dolly shot.

Resident Evil: Apocalyse won the 2004 Golden Reel Genie. Crash won the 1996 Golden Reel for top gross of $ 1.23 million for a Canadian film shown in Canada and a 1995 Special Grand Jury Prize at Cannes. In 1994 Johnny Mnemonic won the Golden Reel Award, the 83rd top film in North America in 1995. In 1987 The Gate and in 1983 Strange Brew won the Golden Reel.

Milla Jovovich climbing down the wall of City Hall, helicopters and approaching zombies, and Toronto being nuked in Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

Brinks truck blowing up in Nathan Phillips Square in The Kidnapping of the President.

Train crashing through a wall of Union Station in Silver Streak.

Santa Claus with a gun pushing his way down an escalator in the Eaton Centre in Silent Partner.

Danny DeVito climbing over cars in traffic jam in Other People's Money.

Claude Van Damme's chase through the Zanzibar strip club and down Yonge Street in Maximum Risk.

Crowds rushing out of the University cinema in Strange Brew.

Racing car chase along University Avenue and Molson Indy in Driven.

Exploding bomb at Woodbine race track in Bait.

Geena Davis standing across from Honest Ed's sign in The Long Kiss Goodnight.

Rock band Lighthouse playing at U of T in Frankenstein on Campus. Other bands that have had acting rolls include Rough Trade, Bare Naked Ladies, and The Tragically Hip.

Man alone in the world in the future shot at the new Science Centre, Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future.

Crowd outside of the CN tower in the climax of Canadian Bacon.

A TD bank tower containing a drug bank in Half Baked.

Casa Loma as the school for training the X-Men.

U of T in so many films like The Skulls, Superstar, Good Will Hunting, PCU and horror ones.

Best source: Mondo Canuck: A Canadian Pop Culture Odyssey. Also Columbo's Canadian References.

The film community gets a lot of PR press of visiting stars and when they donate to charity or contribute to fixing up a local neighbourhood but tragedy makes it into the news section:

• A protest against Get Rich or Die Tryin' getting tax credit as movie promotes gang violence in a year of increased gun deaths on Toronot streets.
• Ja Rule, in town filming Assault on Precinct 13, gets fined for assaulting an insulter in a nightclub.
• The Toronto International Film Festival receives a death threat and a protest for showing a movie of an “artist” killing a cat.
• Russell Crowe and his bodyguard got into a scuffle at a bar, a misunderstanding.
• The latest campaign against "Runaway" productions has 28 US politicians urging Universal to film Cinderella Man, starring Aussie Russell Crowe, in the US.
• SARS outbreak in Scarborough's Grace Hospital has photo of actress Jennifer Esposito wearing a face mask, her trailer for Violent Crime parked next to Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital. Canadian Film Centre crew kicked out of East General Hospital. Rumoured that Halle Berry and Jennifer Lopez didn't want to come here to film in the summer, their productions moved to Montreal and Winnipeg.
• Chicago mayor complains about Oscar winning film Chicago being filmed in Toronto while Chicago's film studios close.
• Murder of a spectator outside the shooting of a music video, Get Busy.
• Not cold enough for snow in March in Whitevale for A Home At The End of the World; they lay out cotton rolls as has been done in the past for The Mighty, Pushing Tin, etc.
• Murder suspect was a minor character (pun intended) in Degrassi Street TV series.
• Officer breaks his arm removing a drifter who was disrupting filming. The drifter claims that he was later beaten up by a gang of cops, he sues, settles out of court.
• A Toronto children's show is upset at made-in-Toronto film Death to Smoochy which has similar children's show character as object of hatred. Protest outside theatre.
• American actor in Exit Wounds taken to court for sexually assaulting wardrobe crew member in his trailer.
• Nearby resident arrested for noise disturbing filming of Picture Claire in Kensington Market; she sues film.
• University Avenue closed during rush hour for car chase in Driven.
• Stuntman dies falling out of back of a van near King and River on Exit Wounds.
• Too much dynamite used in exploding window out of the King Edward Hotel on a Sunday night in Bait, resulting in swamp of calls to 911.
• Commuters complain about road closed through the Rouge valley for two weeks for the X-Men.
• Prostitutes protest The Third Miracle, the third consecutive crew filming near Sherbourne and Carleton, as loss of business to street workers.
• Film crew members injured when crane falls near Ashbridges Bay on Blues Brothers 2000 (on day when the press is invited).
• Supermodel Naomi Campbell guilty of assaulting her assistant for The Prisoner of Love.
• U of T successfully sues film Varsity Blues for tarnishing image of their sports team of the same name.
• Protesters wanted city to not issue permits for American Psycho, the bedside reading of local murderer Paul Bernardo. They also protest any attempt to film the Bernardo story here (eventually filmed in L.A.).
• Fire burns down historic building used as set in The Long Kiss Goodnight.
• Mel Gibson, in town shooting Mrs. Soffel, fined for causing a car collusion.
• Complaints about replacing Canadian flags with American ones at Queen's Park parliament buildings.
• Leftists urge actors and crew to not work on the right-wing film The Red Dawn.

So you think everybody gets their name in the film credits? List of people working on film whose names DON'T appear in the credits:

• Extras, or background performers, often in the hundreds, who sometimes face cold weather and hours of waiting in dirty rooms.
• Dailies in all departments, crew who sign on for only a day or week. Often are permittees, not yet full union members. And the dispatch people who brings in the dailies.
• Craft Service and Catering staff, the people who feed the stars and actors everyday. The actual workers are not always mentioned. Not to mention the second meal delivered on long days from local fast food places.
• Transport, studio and location security guards who work every day, even when they're not filming. Rarely mentioned. Star's bodyguards more often listed, along with the star's chef and masseuse.
• Police Officers hired mainly to stop traffic. ETF officers who monitor gun use.
• First Aid medics on standby when filming an action scene.
• Garbage truck guys who pick up the crew's garbage every day.
• Fuel truck, washroom waste removal truck, and water truck delivery drivers.
• Cleaners who clean the office and set. The results of their work, for example, polishing floors, may show up in the film.
• Workers in support services that provide props and flowers, dryclean wardrobes, orange cones and greenboard houses (to protect walls and floors from damage).
• I guess photocopy repair technicians, air conditioning installers, and property maintenance would be going too far. And the workers at the manufacturers/ distributors of the camera, lights, walkie-talkies, paper, lumber and paint, gas and electricity.
• And then there are the suppliers of food, coffee, and beer that can be traced back to farmers. So thank you farmers! Without you there would be no film industry.

$ 773 (plus Commericals $ 120.6, music videos 4.5)
(Features $355.5)
39 Features, 22 TV Movies, 5 miniseries, 84 TV shows

The Internet is playing a role in network programming. An email campaign brought Nikita back into production and viewers voted on which reruns of Earth: Final Conflict to watch in the summer of 2002.

Toronto's probably more famous for it's skit comedy shows like SCTV, Kids in the Hall, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Wayne and Shuster. New drama series recently on TV:

* Gemini for Best Drama Series or Best Children or Youth Drama.

An excellent site listing Canadian series was Screen Trade Canada www.screentradecanada.com
A good site of some of the major series is Alliance Atlantis www.aactv.com
A site which lists episodes of series on US TV epguides.com

Erik Malmsten jerik@idirect.com

Toronto in Hollywood Films

Oscars

Memorable Scenes of Toronto

Bad Press

Who's Not in the Film Credits

Yearly Production Spending

TV series