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BIG READ: Vancouver Film Crews at Work – #SaveBCFilm

Published February 15, 2013 on Vancouver is Awesome

One Valentine’s night. Three shoots. Vancouver production crews worked late into the night on Valentine’s Day to film scenes for TV series Supernatural, Arrow and Vancouver’s own Continuum in the downtown area. I looped around from Supernatural on Station Street beside Pacific Central Station to Arrow on Franklin Street near the Terminal City Ironworks complex to Continuum at the Plaza of Nations and back again to capture our crews at work.

Supernatural crew worked inside and outside the Ivanhoe Hotel at the rear on Station Street, not packing up until 2 a.m. One exterior scene had Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) arriving at the motorhome below and possibly loading a prop dead body into the trunk of a car. Arrow set up on Franklin Street either in or near the Terminal City Ironworks complex in east Vancouver to film motorcycle scenes in the morning, Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson) in a rooftop meeting and much later, someone shooting arrows into a black town car. Wonder who? Arrow ran late so probably packed up past its scheduled 2 a.m. departure.. Continuum’s crew started early too at the Plaza of Nations on the dock to film scenes aboard Kellogg (Vancouver actor Stephen Lobo)’s yacht (Adriana), then moved inside their Vancouver police station set with background performers and back outside for night scenes aboard Kellogg’s yacht and a steadicam scene of mad time traveller Jason (Vancouver actor Ian Tracey).

6:22 p.m. – Supernatural crew ready to roll at motorhome.

Our crews work up to sixteen hours a day five days a week to bring scripts to life in all kinds of weather. Mostly cold and wet. Those lucky enough to still have jobs don’t have enough time to see their loved ones on Valentine’s Day far less watch the shows they work on. So no, these aren’t “Hollywood jobs”,  but they are good well-paid ones. And they’re leaving for Toronto because of Ontario’s superior tax credits.  As a result, Vancouver lost its bragging rights as North America’s third biggest film and TV production centre to Toronto (after Los Angeles and New York). And lately, it’s gone from bad to worse. British Columbia’s third biggest industry, generating over $1 billion, faced unprecedented unemployment last month. Read More »BIG READ: Vancouver Film Crews at Work – #SaveBCFilm

BIG READ: Vancouver Crime Drama MOTIVE Debuts This Sunday After Superbowl on CTV

Published January 31, 2013 on Vancouver is Awesome.

CTV has given the debut of its new Vancouver crime drama Motive a prime spot on its schedule — the post-Superbowl slot this Sunday. In a new twist on procedurals, Motive reveals the killer and the victim at the start of each of episode or as the show’s tagline puts it — The Murder is Just the Beginning. Then we follow along with “feisty female Vancouver detective” Angie Flynn (Kristin Lehman) and her partner Oscar Vega (Louis Ferreira) as they investigate the case and discover what motive drove the killer to murder.

The Foundation Features and Lark Productions series created by Dexter writer Daniel Cerone began filming thirteen episodes in the city last September and wraps its first season late next month. If I hadn’t heard that Kristin Lehman had been cast as single mother and damn fine detective Angie Flynn, I might not have recognized her in Olympic Plaza at The Village on False Creek last October. There’s very little of her haughty blue-blooded political campaign consultant Gwen Eaton from The Killing in this new character sporting  a leather jacket, kickass boots and permed hair.

Read More »BIG READ: Vancouver Crime Drama MOTIVE Debuts This Sunday After Superbowl on CTV

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.

PREMIERE: MURDOCH MYSTERIES Detective Enters 20th Century Tonight on CBC

Published January 7, 2013 on Vancouver is Awesome

Historical Toronto detective series Murdoch Mysteries begins its sixth season at 9 p.m. tonight on CBC with Yannick Bisson’s Detective William Murdoch investigating  the death of a man killed by the crash of a flying machine at the turn-of-the-20th-century. I had the chance to interview Bisson, who directed the premiere, at CBC Vancouver’s Open House and Food Bank Day late last year.
When the CBC re-ran season five of Murdoch Mysteries in the fall to better ratings than its first run on Citytv in the summer, it proved that the public broadcaster really is a “better fit”, as Bisson put it, for this period drama about a Toronto police detective using ahead-of-his-time forensic methods to solve crimes. Read More »PREMIERE: MURDOCH MYSTERIES Detective Enters 20th Century Tonight on CBC

BIG READ: Sarah McLachlan’s Holiday Music Video Shoot

Published November 29th, 2012 on Vancouver is Awesome
Sarah McLachlan’s new holiday classic “Find Your Voice” filmed its music video on a block of West 13th Avenue near Vancouver City Hall last Sunday. It features students from her Sarah McLachlan School of Music: exuberant students who spent all afternoon doing take after take fuled by hot chocolate, craft services and joy.
All of the proceeds from the music video will go to their school which helps at-risk youth to learn music. Click on Sarah McLachlan.com for a free download and on the Sarah McLachlan School of Music to make a donation. I spoke with the lovely and impossibly serene Sarah McLachlan briefly after filming wrapped when it was too dark and too cold to say antyhing intellible, so I’ll use her prepared words instead: “Christimas is a difficult time for many both economically and emotionally and I hope this Gift of Music can help in some small way. My holiday with is that we can all find the good in everyone and  in every situation and be kind to each other. I wish you all a very Happy, peaceful holiday filled with love, laughter and light!””