Emmy wins for 'The Handmaid's Tale' bring joy to Cambridge

Best Drama winner creates Emmy buzz in Cambridge From CTV Kitchener’s Brandon Rowe: The Handmaid’s Tale, the winner of the Emmy for Best Drama, was partially filmed in Cambridge.

Cambridge is no stranger to film and TV shoots. After all, there were 15 in 2016 alone.

But a production that showcases the city winning an Emmy? Well, that’s something special.

“We think in Cambridge, at least the mayor does, that we should share in that Emmy,” Mayor Doug Craig joked Monday.

The big winner at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards was “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which is based on the Margaret Atwood book of the same name. It won several major awards including best drama writing, best drama directing, and the biggest prize of all – best drama.

While much of the 10-episode first season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” was shot in and around Toronto and Hamilton, Cambridge was the setting for some key scenes.

The show’s cast and crew filmed in locations across the Galt core, including Mill Race Park, the Main Street bridge and even City Hall.

Sandra Price came upon the film crew by chance, while out and about in the area. After learning which show she’d seen under production, she sought out the finished product.

“It’s not really anything I would normally watch, but I’m just fascinated to watch it to see where they were filming,” she says.

“Imagine – something that was filmed in our little town has gone that far.”

For businesses in the area, the presence of a bunch of out-of-towners looking for food and drink provided a nice little boost.

At Grand Café on Queens Square, the excitement was even greater – because the café was chosen as the setting for a scene.

Owner Michelle George calls the experience “really special.” Although it required some modifications to her restaurant – like new front glass, which could be rigged to shatter – everything was returned to normal at the end of the shoot.

“They were really fantastic to work with,” George says.

Since the series has aired, George says, tourists from Toronto and other places have visited the café. Some have even been given tours, showing specific spots where key plot points happened.

“It’s really generated a lot of excitement,” she says.

The mayor agrees. In addition to the excitement, he says, the presence of film crews brings an economic benefit to the city.

Given the Galt core’s historic nature and the presence of the Grand River, Craig calls Cambridge “the Hollywood capital of southwestern Ontario” – a label that’s not entirely tongue-in-cheek.

He says the city has already been informed that Cambridge will be used again for the second season of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

With reporting by Brandon Rowe