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Susan Gittins

Longtime mainstream media (MSM) journalist and author Susan Gittins began writing about and photographing Vancouver’s many film and TV location shoots in the summer of 2010 after the Winter Olympics put the city and its beauty on the world stage. Movies and TV series often showcase the Vancouver area in similar fashion. Vancouver is Awesome commissioned her YVRShoots series in the fall of 2010 and it ran regularly for three years. She launched her own daily YVRShoots blog in the spring of 2012.

SHOOT: ARROW’s Motorcycle Stunt for 1×15 at Oceanic Plaza Downtown

Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen stole a motorcycle last night in downtown Vancouver’s Portal Park. Afterwards, Amell’s stunt double turned the bike around in a couple of 360s before roaring off. The next leg of the stunt was the bike racing from the roof of a yellow Starling City cab down onto West Hastings below, dodging prop traffic as it rides the yellow line to the end of the block. You can see one camera on top of a ladder on the right of the photo below and another at the end of the block near the intersection with Thurlow. Other legs of the stunt included riding down the stairs at Oceanic Plaza and up over the yellow Starling City cab. And there was talk of another segment across the Hastings pedestrian overpass. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay to see it all.

Read More »SHOOT: ARROW’s Motorcycle Stunt for 1×15 at Oceanic Plaza Downtown

SHOOT: Newlywed Stephen Amell Steals Motorcycle for ARROW 1×15 at Portal Park Downtown

Newly-married Arrow star Stephen Amell shot a scene last night in the winter cold at downtown Vancouver’s Portal Park of his character Oliver Queen dressed in a sharp suit and stealing a motorcycle. You’d think a billionaire like Queen could toss the guy a few bucks to borrow his bike but the owner refused to give it up and Queen had to adminster a beatdown. Amell did the fake beatdown himself from several different camera angles until his stunt double took over for the stunt riding and Amell waved goodbye to a fan from his departing star car. Not long after, news broke on Just Jared.com that Amell had married his longtime girlfriend Cassandra Jean over the holiday hiatus in a sunset Caribbean ceremony on Christmas Day. That might explain Arrow fight coordinator James Bamford and his wife’s Caribbean snaps over the holiday hiatus. Wonder how many Arrow cast and crew attended?

Read More »SHOOT: Newlywed Stephen Amell Steals Motorcycle for ARROW 1×15 at Portal Park Downtown

SHOOT: James Callis Films ARROW 1×15 Dodger on the Vancouver Art Gallery Roof – Updated

James Callis (best known as Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica) filmed scenes for Arrow on the Vancouver Art Gallery roof today while star Stephen Amell and co-star Katie Cassidy attended the People’s Choice Awards in Los Angeles. [Updated: As TV Guide reported last month, Callis plays international jewel thief The Dodger, who forces innocent people to carry out his heists under duress. When the Sherwood ruby goes missing in Starling City, Amell’s Oliver Queen will try to catch this elusive thief.]

Read More »SHOOT: James Callis Films ARROW 1×15 Dodger on the Vancouver Art Gallery Roof – Updated

PREMIERE: Debut of Toronto Crime Drama CRACKED Tonight on CBC

Published January 8th, 2013 on Vancouver is Awesome

New crime drama Cracked premieres tonight at 9 p.m. on CBC, starring David Sutcliffe (Rory Gilmore’s Dad) as a troubled Toronto police officer and Vancouver actress Stefanie von Pfetten as a Toronto psychiatrist, who work together in a new Psych Crimes Investigative Unit. Unfortunately, I turned down an opportunity to interview them when they were in Vancouver last May for a media preview of CBC’s 2012-13 season but did photograph the new crime-fighting duo on stage with host Geroge Stroumboulopoulos.

Vancouver’s own PRIMEVAL: NEW WORLD Debuts on WATCH in the U.K.

Are Vancouver VFX dinosaurs better than the British ones? British audiences will get a chance to compare on Primeval: New World tonight when UKTV’s WATCH channel debuts the series, a spinoff of Britain’s own Primeval. In fact, ARC’s Connor Temple (Andrew-Lee Potts) even paid a visit from London to the Vancouver set last March to warn new team leader Evan Cross (Niall Matter) about something that has gone wrong and to have a laugh with the new cast.

Here’s a WATCH promo showing Evan Cross (Niall Matter) and a predator control officer (Tom Butler) looking for anomalies (time portals) in Stanley Park.

[sz-youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MBDXFUQA658″ /]

After you’ve seen the premiere, check out the making of the kickass stunt from the cold open, filmed at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce tower in downtown Vancouver. I wish I’d known about this shoot ahead of time.

Read More »Vancouver’s own PRIMEVAL: NEW WORLD Debuts on WATCH in the U.K.