When Keith Large and the producers of The In-Laws needed to crash a plane, they went to Hamilton, ON. The script for the Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks comedy, which shot at locations across Canada a few years ago, called for a Cessna to go down with a bang at a Czech airfield, for which they used the airport in the south end of the city.

The shoot was easier than a stay at Toronto’s Pearson International, says Large, the location manager, in part because the Hamilton hub is smaller and less congested but is still big enough, and holds enough large passenger planes, to pass for any of several airports around the world.

He’s still happy about how easily it went. ‘They were really very accommodating,’ says Large. ‘They’ve got a whole runway there that’s out of service – you can do whatever you want on it.’

What was true of the airport then is true of the entire city today. Hamilton has quickly built a reputation as a film-friendly and affordable location and, since setting up its first full-time film office in 2002, has been attracting more domestic and foreign shoots to its corner of southern Ontario.

‘Hamilton has always been a bit of an underdog to the big city of Toronto, but all of a sudden people are coming in from Toronto and saying ‘Hey, this is a great place,” says film liaison officer Jacqueline McNeilly. ‘We’ve got the population, we’ve got the infrastructure, the road network, the bus system, all those good things, and we seem to have an attitude that’s quite positive.’

The steel-making town of 460,000, an hour’s drive west of Toronto, has recently hosted the Movie Central series ReGenesis, Clement Virgo’s Lie With Me, the Hallmark and CBS pic Riding the Bus With My Sister from Anjelica Huston, Clean by arthouse icon Olivier Assayas, and the feature Saint Ralph, which is set to open the new Canada First! program at the Toronto International Film Festival. S&S Productions has used the area for The Red Green Show and History Bites. Portions of X-Men, Bulletproof Monk, Death to Smoochy and John Q also shot there, and Russell Crowe’s latest, Cinderella Man, is currently camped out at Pier 10 on the waterfront. CTV’s The Eleventh Hour, now starting production of its third season, has also moved its location days, about three per episode, to Hamilton.

According to McNeilly, the city drew 58 film and TV productions over 834 shooting days in 2002, to the tune of $5 million – a respectable slice of the $984 million spent that year in Ontario. The head count dipped last year, perhaps due to SARS, to 45 shoots in town for 600 days, but spending rose to somewhere over $8 million. It’s not Hollywood, or Hollywood North, but the town has done a good deal of work without attracting much glamour or attention. Call it Burbank North.

It’s always been cheaper to shoot in Hamilton – because of tax breaks, and the CTF regional bonus – but producers say the ‘can do’ attitude of the city and its film office is a big part of the current boom. How many other cities would allow an MOW about motorcycle daredevil Evel Knevel to shoot inside City Hall, during business hours?

‘I didn’t expect there to be so little red tape for a city that’s new to movies,’ says Mike Souther of Amaze Film + Television, one of the producers of Saint Ralph. Filmmakers have grown tired of the many bureaucratic hassles in Toronto and have begun to drift away, putting eager-to-please Steeltown in a good position. Anjelica Huston had planned to spend only two out of 20 production days in the city for Riding the Bus but moved the entire project there, reportedly after Mayor Larry Di Ianni paid a goodwill visit to the set. He also got a part as an extra. Star Andie MacDowell is said to be writing an open ‘thank you’ letter to the people of Hamilton for their hospitality.

‘They go above and beyond,’ says Will Hoddinott, location manager for Riding the Bus.

The city has other draws. The locals are not yet jaded about the movie business and the city is visually diverse but not overshot, able to pass for Anytown, USA. (Or in the case of The In-Laws, Anytown, Former Eastern Bloc.) There’s an ivy-lined university campus, a concert hall, a 1950s-style train station, and a heavily industrial north end, much of which has not changed in more than half a century. A recent economic slump drove many businesses out of the downtown core.

The city did not need much work to pass for a 1950s version of itself in Saint Ralph, nor will the docks be heavily redone for Cinderella Man, which is set in 1930s New York and New Jersey.

‘You see pictures of Hamilton from the ’30s and some of those buildings are still there,’ says Large. ‘Even the downtown core, some of those buildings are great. I’m sure someday somebody’s going to come along and refurbish it all, but it’s good for us now.’

What it needs is more infrastructure for crew, a star-worthy hotel, and eventually a studio. The best places to stay in the city are the Sheraton and the aging Royal Connaught which, although fine by everyday standards, aren’t up to scratch for high-maintenance Hollywood types. If stars insist on staying in Toronto, the commute to and from set will take a two-hour bite out of the schedule.

McNeilly admits it’s a problem, but points out that there is a large market for rental houses in Hamilton, thanks to comings and goings of professors at its McMaster University. There is also a new upscale hotel under construction downtown.

Developers tried to open a studio earlier this year but the deal fell apart after a few months. No biggie, say observers. The city doesn’t need a studio just yet, there are plenty in Toronto, but it will eventually need to build something if it wants to be more than a backlot.