The hit Paramount+ drama Mayor of Kingstown, starring Jeremy Renner, presents a gritty portrayal of a Michigan prison town, but eagle-eyed viewers might notice something surprising about its locations. Despite the American setting, the series finds its visual identity primarily across the border in Canada.
The production team behind the popular show made the strategic decision to film primarily in Southern Ontario, creating the illusion of a decaying American industrial town through careful location selection and cinematic magic.
The Canadian Stand-In for Michigan
While the story unfolds in the fictional Kingstown, Michigan, the actual filming occurs thousands of miles away in Ontario, Canada. The production has utilized multiple locations throughout the province to build its compelling visual narrative.
The town of Hamilton, often called "The Steel City" for its industrial heritage, provides the perfect backdrop with its rugged urban landscapes and industrial architecture that mirrors the show's themes of economic decline and institutional decay.
Pittsburgh... Ontario?
One of the most intriguing filming locations isn't the famous American city but rather the small community of Pittsburgh, Ontario. This charming village in Eastern Ontario, complete with its own historic church and rural landscapes, offers a stark contrast to the urban grit seen elsewhere in the series.
The production cleverly uses multiple Ontario locations to create the cohesive world of Kingstown, demonstrating how skilled location scouts can transform Canadian landscapes into convincing American settings.
Why Canada?
The choice to film in Canada reflects broader industry trends where productions take advantage of financial incentives and diverse locations. Ontario's varied architecture and landscapes provide filmmakers with tremendous flexibility while offering cost savings compared to filming in the United States.
This approach has proven successful for numerous American productions that seamlessly transform Canadian locations into believable American settings, with Mayor of Kingstown standing as a prime example of this creative geography.
The series continues to utilize Ontario's versatile locations for its subsequent seasons, maintaining the consistent visual identity that fans have come to recognize while exploring deeper into the complex world of the McLusky family and their relationship with the prison industrial complex.
