Location Managers Guild International

LMGI COMPASS | Fall 2020 • 35 LMGI COMPASS | Fall 2020 • 35 OTHER IMPORTANT LOCATIONS In Season 3, June moved to the house of Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) because her former home, Waterford House, burned down. "We found a house in St. George owned by the mayor," Richardson says. "We shoot exteriors on location and shoot the interiors on stage. We also did a lot of night scenes in Toronto in an area we call 'Little America,' where the refugees who have left Gilead go. It's down in the east end of Toronto, near the St. Lawrence Market area. We had a coop/condo complex that allowed us to fi lm onsite. It's where June's husband Luke ends up living with Moira." Talking about Toronto's versatility, Richardson says, "We've got Ivy League, old-money mansions, high-tech, high fi nancial, great industrial and waterfront areas. We also have diverse ethnic groups and areas like Little Italy and Little Portugal, plus a very wide range of residential areas. The city has a lot to offer for locations. "In Season 3, we shot Toronto for Toronto," Todd says. "It's the refuge community, and it had to feel different. What would Canada do if it got millions of Americans? Would it involve public housing? Where would they go, and what's the tone of that? They've lost their country and their families, but they are free and have spirit. They want to fi ght back. We had to fi nd the right neighborhoods to convey that." MORE CHALLENGES Production designer Williams had numerous challenges settling into the series. "I arrived four days into shooting after the previous pro- duction designer had done the prep and left," she says. "I relied a lot on locations and the art director to guide me through everything that had already been decided and scouted. It was super important that I got up to speed with everything that was being done." Her fi rst major location was the quarry at Uxbridge, standing in for the colonies, where uncooperative handmaidens were sent. It was a death trap because the soil was completely fi lled with radioactive materials. Williams says, "It was described in the book and we strived to create a set that honored Margaret's description. It was a diffi cult set to achieve. We worked on it for months through snow storms and fl ooding and a myriad of other challenges, but it turned out to be amazing. Contemplating other challenging locations, Williams says, "There were so many, but one that stands out is the Lake House in Season 2. It's where June hides from the Waterfords when she runs away, where she meets with Hannah and fi nally, where she gives birth to her second daughter. It was hard to fi nd and hard to deal with. It was originally scripted on a lake, but the house we needed does not exist on lakes around Toronto. After having visited dozens of houses, we found the perfect house on a wooded acreage in Cambridge, so we asked the writers if they could adapt the script to fi t the location. And they did. "This location was actually originally scouted by the other location manager, Mark Logan, for Season 2. Mark and his team started the search, and it became a recurring location for both location teams for the course of Season 2 and into Season 3. The Lake House location is a private home called the Cruickston Estate in Cambridge. The exterior, main fl oor and second fl oor were used as the Lake House location, but the basement which was really great, was used as the basement for Commander Lawrence's house in Season 3." TRAVELING TO WASHINGTON, D.C. "My favorite location had to be the Lincoln Memorial," Todd says. "It was a real challenge because when we got there, it was in the middle of President Trump's shutdown of the federal government. We couldn't get a permit. We had to get everything ready so that the minute he opened everything up, we had to get in, get a permit, throw Fort York Museum, Toronto. Photo by Jasper Savage/Hulu

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