30
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LMGI COMPASS
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Spring 2022
"I won't lie," says Matt, "I was a little worried about nding
some of these places. Especially because Calgary is a very upper-
middle-class city generally, but when they brought back photos of
this house I was like, 'how in the hell did you nd that?'"
The house, on a non-descript street that t in nearly perfectly
with the period, was inhabited by a family with teenagers, and the
idea of Spider-Man lming in their house was certainly intriguing
to the kids, but what was being asked of the family collectively
was no small decision: They would need to move out for a period
of six months and acquiesce to having the interior of their home
signicantly augmented.
"I have to say though, Matt and his team were relentless in their
attempts to bring my insane requests to fruition," Renée laughs.
"And I know they thought my requests were insane because they
told me so. But no matter what I threw at them, like wanting to
open up a wall in someone's house, they'd look at me like I was
crazy for a minute and then, a week later, there'd be construction
guys in the house with hammers taking the wall down."
Getting the family to "yes," ultimately came down to timing
according to Mike. "The father had been unemployed for a bit due
to COVID, and they needed some money to x up the house, so
we ended up paying for a new roof that was already in process
and then I managed to nd a house for sale literally right across
the street and I convinced the owner to rent it to us so the family
correct, and I think you can tell that what you're seeing isn't just
a bunch of green screen comps. That you're seeing a real town,"
he says.
In addition to the police station, Didsbury would end up as the
site of several other key locations, including a large-scale parade
sequence that included oats, marching bands and hundreds of
background in period dress passing more than a dozen businesses
and totaling about four square blocks. They also shot a series of
car chases in the town and a house for another character.
"The town was incredibly accommodating," recalls Anna. "And
the townspeople were amazing. Just lovely."
Ten minutes south of Didsbury, in a town called Carstairs, the
team found the next anchor:
Pyre's House
Detective Pyre's house is another pivotal location that would
recur across the series run and one that, like every other location
in the show, needed to pass those aforementioned tests.
"From the moment I started, I was looking for that house," says
Mike.
He had been searching for about three weeks in a town on the
opposite side of Calgary when it slowly became apparent that he
was looking in the wrong place. That's when the scouts found the
house in the small community of Carstairs.
Charlottenburg Town Hall
Clockwise from top left: Filming
downtown scenes; downtown as
transformed for the series; the crime
scene. Photos courtesy of FX networks.
