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‘Mayor of Kingstown’ Creator Answers Whether Show Is Based on True Story

While the big-name at Mayor of Kingstown is creator Taylor Sheridan, the show’s co-creator, Hugh Dillon had a lot to do with the story. In fact, some believe that the show is based on his life.

The show has opened up this season with two episodes. There are already twists and surprises that had fans on the edge of their seats on Sunday. However, before the debut of the season, Dillon spoke about the show and the origins of the story. Yes, his life does have something to do with the plot of the story as well as the setting.

“I can tell you this,” Dillon said to Newsweek. “I grew up in a town with 9 penitentiaries, a maximum, a medium and a women’s [penitentiary], minimum security.” For those that don’t know, Dillon grew up in Kingston, Ontario.

“You know, as a kid, my mom was a teacher my friend’s parents were prison guards, one was a warden, other friends were convicts,” the Mayor of Kingstown creator continued. “And it was, you know, in this perfectly cultivated civilized world there’s this brutality and these institutions. … So, as a kid I was fascinated with it and I remember I’d drive by with my parents and I’d see the guard tower and you think at five and six, ‘oh that’s Disneyland’, but it isn’t, it’s the polar opposite.”

Sheridan is never afraid to embrace tough subjects. So, it is no surprise that he has gone all-in on this story with Dillon. For the Canadian co-creator, the story is based on things that he witnessed personally. Criminal justice is a topic that advocates in the United States and Canada have tackled for many decades. Mayor of Kingstown sets out to tackle that topic.

‘Mayor of Kingstown’ Creator on Growing Older in Kingston

When Hugh Dillon was growing up in Kingston, Ontario, the Canadian musician was exposed to a lot about the prison industry. With his town hosting a concentration of prisoners of all stripes and backgrounds, the environment was interesting, to say the least. It definitely had an impact on how Dillon views the world and his upbringing.

“And as I got older you see these things that happen in our society, child killers to serial killers to murderers to whatever horrific thing we’re seeing in the news and they’re coming to your town. …Wherever in the country, they’ve been captured they’re coming to your town. So, I don’t know how that bleeds into my psychology or how that works but that’s what I brought [to the show].”

Mayor of Kingstown continues this season on Paramount+. Sheridan and Dillon have put together quite the world with their new series. With Jeremy Renner starring, the intensity and drama kicked off right from the start. So, make sure to keep up all season long.