Actor Jason Momoa will be making his way to southwestern Ontario for several months of location shooting outside St. Thomas’s former psychiatric hospital on Sunset Drive.
The production will also require the casting of hundreds of extras with a background casting call scheduled for Jan. 21.
CEO of the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation Sean Dyke told Global News Radio 980 CFPL that the filming is for the Apple TV series See.
“The premise is basically a virus has decimated humankind and there’s only two million people alive and none of them can see, with the exception of two twins who were born to Jason Momoa.”
When asked about logistics in organizing production in the region, Dyke said that component was handled through Elgin County but he was able to highlight the growing reputation of the former psychiatric hospital as a sought-after location for filmmaking.
“We get some phone calls for the psych hospital fairly often,” he said. “It is an established site now. There’s been a number of films and TV programs that were filmed there. Most recently, they had The Boys that were filmed there from Amazon. Guillermo Del Toro just did Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark there. It’s becoming a real location of choice for filmmakers in the province.
“This one, in particular, is going to be filming from February all the way through to July so this is a five- to six-month project that will be in our community.”
Dyke also added that the latest use of the site will be unique in that it’s an entirely outdoor shoot.
“You’ll see a lot of work being taken place right now in the setup for it, and over the next month or so they’ll be developing a set on the outside part of the psych hospital which, you know, in the past a lot of the style of films that were filmed there were done interior because of the look and feel of the buildings, but this one is going to be outside in the winter for the next few months.”
Those looking to potentially see themselves in the series will want to mark Jan. 21 on their calendars.
The background casting call will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fanshawe Career and Employment Services at the Elgin Centre indoor shopping mall at 417 Wellington St. in St. Thomas.
“They’re actually looking for several hundred people,” said Dyke.
“It’s a pretty big casting call. They’re looking for people from all backgrounds. This is a very ethnically diverse production and so there’s a lot of opportunity there.”
More information can be found on the City of St. Thomas website.
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