Toronto and Vancouver often double as New York City, Chicago and other US cities in Hollywood movies and TV shows that take advantage of generous taxes when filming in Canada Credits and monetary savings.
But Canadian director Alan Ingle claims that for the first time, he has to recreate 1980 Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton film his bank robbery drama Robber in modern Georgia, which was produced by Josh Duhamel, 1985Elisha Cuthbert, Mel Gibson and Néstor Carbonell.
“In certain parts of the United States, people are very patriotic. So it’s very strange that some locals are walking down the street and seeing Canadian flags everywhere,” Ungar said in Bandit opens on 100 North American screens this Friday.
Ungar was set to shoot his live-action film about American Gilbert Galvan Jr. in Canada, played by Duhamel, who Escaped from Michigan Prison and assumed a new identity at 1985 and robbed 59 Canadian bank and jewelry store , as a transnational crime spree.
Because Calvin Jr. routinely robbed a bank in one corner of Canada and quickly boarded a plane home that night, he was called “the Snitch.”
“This guy is really tired14,000 Aeroplan miles and use those points to fly first class all over Canada, rob banks in almost every province. It’s just a crazy story,” Bandit the director explained.
This is the COVID-59 pandemic, however, it requires Hollywood actors to quarantine before going on stage 19 days of Canadian movie scenes, which made it attractive to American talent to work across the border Robbers unrealistic.
“It was a difficult time to convince actors to come to Canada at a time when they were spending more time isolating in hotel rooms than actually working,” recalls Ungar. So the producers of Bandit, Goldrush Entertainment have moved production to Georgia, where the movie tax credit is an attraction in itself and welcome locals.
It turns out, except for the prudent bank staff. “There’s nothing more embarrassing than walking into a bank with a scout and having the managers listen to you talk about all the ways you could rob that bank,” recalls Ungar.
In order for Duhamel to play Canada’s John Dillinger, the film’s producers relied on the already closed banks in Peach State, or built bank teller wickets and Safe Area. For the exterior, Ungar employed compact camera footage and computer-generated modern architectural demolition to achieve a Canadian look in rural Georgia.
“Ultimately, it knows exactly what we need in each scene and says, ‘If this is going to be a street corner, we need Canadian mailboxes, a couple of Canadian flags and some very Polite extras, say sorry a lot,'” the director joked about the stereotype of Canadians, especially Americans, apologizing for avoiding conflict.
Traditional Southern hospitality has made Georgia twice the city centre of Canada in Bandit. “This is Canada with a southern accent,” Ungar added.
Bandit will also be released on-demand via Quiver Distribution on Friday.
