Niagara Falls native returns home for world premiere of ‘Simulant’

Niagara Falls-born director April Mullen, who now calls Los Angeles home is set to return to the area this week for the world premiere of her new movie, Simulant.

Simulant is a sci-fi artificial intelligence thriller based in the not-so-distant future starring fellow Canadians Robbie Amell and Simu Liu. Simulant is one of a growing list of movies and tv show productions setting up shop in Hamilton.

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Whether it’s on the big screen or small screen or on the seemingly endless options of streaming services, with nearly 200 productions in the city last year alone, Hamilton was one of the busiest cities in the province when it comes to the movie and television industry.

When Mullen was scouting locations for her new movie, she didn’t have to look too far from her hometown to find what she was looking for. She says, “James Street and all of that downtown, there was the grit and also this beautiful kind of graffiti work, and the buildings were all unique and had their own kind of own aesthetic so what I was looking for was something actually very human because I wanted to augment with holograms and our sort of futuristic world.”

The trailer for the movie, which premieres in theatres Thursday features several prominent Hamilton locations including a key scene on Barton Street and Stelco which stands in for a major factory in the movie.

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Kim Androvez is the senior project manager for the City of Hamilton’s film office and says last year, a record 177 productions had cameras rolling in the city. The direct economic impact was nearly $73 million.

Hamilton Film Studios on Wellington opened up shop in the city in 2018. Co-owner Zach Zohr says there are many reasons everyone from major companies like Amazon and Netflix to smaller independent productions choose Hamilton.

Zohr says, “I think just the cooperativeness of the city. People are sort of into the film scene here. I think everyone’s made it easy for filmmakers to come to town.”

Simulant is set to debut on wide release this week, with a red carpet event in Toronto on Friday. April Mullen and Robbie Amell will be at Niagara Square for a special red-carpet screening followed by a question and answer session.