She’s done with the globe-trotting pre-parties. She’s done with the smile-and-wave press sessions.

Rykka’s focus was on the really big show, the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, which is taking place this weekend in Stockholm.

Born Christina Maria Rieder, the Surrey-raised, Canadian-Swiss singer is representing Switzerland in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song The Last of Our Kind.

She didn’t make it through Thursday’s second semifinal round, ending her bid win a contest which has launched the careers of luminaries like Abba and Celine Dion.

Dion also represented Switzerland in 1988 and won the contest. Talk about a hard act to follow.

“It’s an incredible amount of pressure, but I’m always hard on myself,” said Rykka, 30, said earlier this week.

“In terms of exposure, it’s hugely important for my career, and that is key with my new album already recorded and ready for release on Cordova Bay/Little Jig/Vissen Records.”

The Last of Our Kind was written by Rykka, Jeff Dawson, Mike James and acclaimed Vancouver-based UK producer Warne Livesay (Midnight Oil, Paul Young, The The).

It was the sort of tune that Eurovision judges go for, and Rykka admitted there was some planning that went into that.

“The key is epic-ness for Eurovision,” said Rykka. “You need a song that can really come across on TV. You are singing to tape, but doing it live so you need to have certain qualities that come across in that format as well as in front of judges; no biggie.”

Rykka has been honing her skills in that format since she performed under the name Christina Maria on German TV while touring her Ryan Guldemond (Mother Mother)-produced 2010 album Straight Line. Changing both style and name for 2012s Kodiak, she entered into the Peak Performance Project and won $100,000. Full music is available at rykka.com.

Of Swiss and Dutch ancestry, she relocated to Europe where she and her husband live in Zürich.

“I have a band here, and it really is nice to be able to gig in Amsterdam or London in an hour from home,” said Rykka. “Canada has the space, but there is so much more work here and it’s the best for my career.”

What happens now that Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is done?

“My new album titled Beatitudes is out later this year,” she said. “There might be another fairly soon as we line up shows to promote it here in Europe and back home.”

sderdeyn@postmedia.com

twitter.com/stuartderdeyn

Things are about to get extra super around here with the announcement that Superman will be joining the cast of Supergirl.

The CW, which is moving production of Supergirl from Los Angeles to Vancouver, announced Monday that the Man of Steel will be part of Season 2.

“Superman will be appearing in the first two episodes of the new season and we cannot wait to see who next dons the red cape!,” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg said in statement.

Kreisberg says casting is already underway, but the popular choice among fans appears to be Tom Welling, the actor who portrayed Clark Kent for 10 seasons on the Vancouver-shot Smallville.

Whoever is cast, one thing for sure, is there will be no shortage of “Supermen” in Vancouver.

Dean Cain and Brandon Routh have both portrayed Clark Kent/Superman.

Dean Cain, who played Superman on ABC’s Lois and Clark, joined Supergirl last season as Jeremiah Danvers, adoptive father of Kara Danvers (Supergirls’ alter-ego), while Brandon Routh, who donned the cape in the 2006 feature, Superman Returns, plays The Atom on the DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, another The CW/DC Comics show filmed in Vancouver.

Production of Supergirl, which stars Melissa Benoist in the titular role, is being transferred to Vancouver to take advantage of the lower Canadian dollar and B.C. film tax credits. The show was dropped by CBS last month, but immediately picked up by its sister network, The CW.

Sbrown@vancouversun.com

Twitter.com/Browniescott

Vancouver food blogger Koko Brill got the full meal deal when she stepped into chef Michael Smith’s kitchen production studio.

With a full crew present and eight cameras rolling, a flustered Brill was asked to recreate her original recipe for vegetarian lentil shepherd’s pie without so much as a minute to collect her thoughts.

“I was absolutely terrified,” said Brill, the proprietor of Koko’s Kitchen cold-pressed juice company. “I was so looking forward to meeting Michael because I had grown up watching his show on Food Network, but as soon as we met I was on set and supposed to start.”

Smith and Canadian Lentils — marketing arm of the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers — put together the web series Stars of the Show to put five Canadian food bloggers through an immersive TV production boot camp. One at a time, they joined Smith on his set for an intensive 12-hour session on presenting on camera, including a recipe writing clinic.

The video series chronicles each blogger’s entire day, from nervous first steps to polished product at lentils.ca.

“I totally blanked at first,” said Brill, who blogs at kokoskitchen.com. “It’s a bit cringeworthy now.”

By throwing each would-be celebrity chef into the deep end of the pool, Smith hoped they would quickly understand the vast skill set they would require. 

“The intent was to grab their attention and help them understand that this is not an easy job,” said Smith, a 25-year veteran of food television. “We put them through their paces and sent them home with a new skill set and whole new appreciation for what it takes to talk about food on camera.”

After the initial shock and awe wore off, the chef put his charges at ease with the story of his own baby steps as a TV chef.

“For me the learning curve was extraordinarily steep,” said Smith. “It was so steep that the first six shows we filmed went into the garbage and we had to redo them.”

There were missteps for the bloggers, too, including a near-fire and the searing consequences of tasting a dish right from a 400 F (200 C) oven.

“The whole day was really intense, but I feel like I learned a ton,” said Brill. “I hope now that I have a future in TV, that’s my dream.”

The finished product — an eight-minute network quality video — is a world of improvement over the crude tape Brill made to audition for the project.

“I just stuck my little old video camera on a tripod and I didn’t even have a microphone,” she recalled. “Then I walk onto chef’s set and there are 15 people watching me. It couldn’t be more different.”

All the contestants in the national competition submitted a video pitching their personal for a chance to train with the best and to showcase lentils, one of Canada’s most important food crops and one its most nutritious. The United Nations has declared 2016 the Year of Pulses.

But healthy food doesn’t have to be boring. Toronto culinary nutritionist Trudy Stone made Coconut Chocolate Chip Lentil Blondies, while Sam Turnbull of itdoesnttastelikechicken.com made lentil tacos with avocado cilantro sauce.

rshore@postmedia.com

Canada’s border agency is pulling the plug on the controversial reality TV program “Border Security” after the federal privacy commissioner found the agency violated the rights of a construction worker filmed during a raid in Vancouver.

Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien recently informed the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, which spearheaded a complaint on behalf of Oscar Mata Duran, that the Canada Border Services Agency breached the Privacy Act by allowing production company Force Four to film the agency’s examination of the migrant labourer.

“As a matter of principle, it is our view that federal government institutions cannot contract out of their obligations under the Act,” says the commissioner’s 26-page report of findings.

In light of the well-founded complaint, Therrien’s office recommended the border agency end its participation in the television program, which the agency agreed to do.

Agency spokeswoman Esme Bailey confirmed that “Border Security: Canada’s Front Line” would not return for a fourth season.

The commissioner also urged the agency to carry out a formal privacy impact assessment before embarking on any significant future initiative involving the use of personal information.

“Border Security” began airing on the National Geographic Channel in 2012, chronicling encounters between border officers and the public. The unscripted series was seen by millions of Canadians and has aired in dozens of other countries.

The border agency saw the show as a means of informing Canadians and international audiences about its activities.

Opponents who considered the program crass and exploitative had long pushed for its demise.

The show amounted to a “reckless public-relations stunt,” said Laura Track, counsel for the civil liberties association.

The association hopes the privacy ruling sounds the death-knell for similar reality TV shows featuring law-enforcement agencies, she said in an interview. “Filming people in such vulnerable situations is dehumanizing, and showing it as for-profit entertainment is despicable. And what the privacy commissioner decided this week is that it’s also illegal.”

The border agency told the commissioner the TV program was strictly based on voluntary participation, adding the show would not identify anyone who had not directly agreed to participate.

During the agency raid of March 13, 2013, Mata Duran hid inside a building on the construction site but he was found and questioned by an officer about his identity, immigration status and employment. The Mexican man was later brought to an immigration detention facility, where he says he was presented with a consent form that he did not read but signed out of confusion and fear.

Oscar Mata Duran

Upon viewing the raw footage taken by the film crew, the privacy commissioner’s office concluded the entire interaction between the border officer and Mata Duran was captured on video before he was advised of the purpose of the filming, let alone asked for his permission.

Ultimately, the commissioner was not satisfied that the border agency obtained Mata Duran’s “valid consent” for the filming.

In general, the office concluded that due to the “coercive nature” of being detained by the border agency, those held “may not have a clear frame of mind to provide truly voluntary consent.”

Mata Duran’s case raises the overarching question of whether “there is a public interest to be served by a government institution televising its operational activities,” the commissioner’s report adds.

After the raid, Mata Duran was deported to Mexico, where he remains.

Track lauded him as “a real hero” for lodging the privacy complaint when there was no prospect of personal gain, other than an acknowledgment “that what happened to him was wrong.”

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Over the course of an interview with Carol Burnett, it’s possible to forget that she is recipient of double-digit numbers of awards and citations, that she is a legend of stage, film and TV history and author of numerous books and a play. 

The 83-year-old comic icon is so sharp and insightful you just end up enjoying the person on the other end of the line. Burnett appears at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre this Saturday for an evening of chat, audience Q&A and plenty of laughs in advance of the publication of her fourth book.

In our interview, she was remarkably humble when asked to describe a bio and life that read like pure fantasy. CBS offering her her own show with a 10-year contract still leaves Burnett shaking her head.

“It wasn’t normal in the world of showbiz; before or after,” said Burnett. “It was something of a golden era when I came up, back in the covered-wagon days of only three networks. I had a great training ground on The Garry More Show where we operated as a true rep company and I wanted that for my show.”

Debuting on Sept. 11, 1967, the Carol Burnett Show boasted the spectacular ensemble cast of its namesake star, as well as actors Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner. Over 276 episodes (some say there are 279, adding in non-broadcast outtakes), the team in front of the camera and backstage crafted comedy classics such as the zany Went With The Wind. The Gone With the Wind parody boasts show costume designer Bob Mackie’s “curtain rod” dress now on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. 

“I sound Pollyanna-ish, but we had a sense of family from the get-go that made it work so well,” Burnett said. “You couldn’t do what we did today, partially because of the cost — I mean, seriously, we had a live 28-piece orchestra for every show — but also because the network left us alone. They kid about the suits coming down and wanting to have their own input, but they let us be then.”

She remembers a late date in the show when “the suits” did show up and didn’t even watch the rehearsal, choosing to read along with the script rather than watch the talent improvising. It isn’t a fond memory, even as she goes through the episodes of the first five seasons for the next comprehensive series of DVD release.

“I’m not confrontational at all, but at one point I had to address them and ask them to please put away the scripts and sit on them and watch what was taking place onstage which wasn’t in the script; the comedic improvising,” she said. “Isn’t it best to let the experts do what they do best? But it has changed and I guess they all had their own reason for being there that was important for having their job.”

Burnett openly admits that the CBS Saturday night lineup was a monster.

“‘Fabulous’ doesn’t come close to it, we began with All In The Family, M.A.S.H., the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Bob Newhart and us,” said Burnett. “That’s how you average 30 million viewers because nobody left their house on a Saturday night.”

The Carol Burnett Show ceased broadcasting in 1978. Among the guests in the final season was future Saturday Night Live star Steve Martin. Martin had worked across the hall as a writer for the Smothers Brothers and used to drop in on rehearsals. Sonny & Cher recorded their variety show just down the hall, as did Glen Campbell. Burnett said that was “such fun.”

“My fourth book, titled In Such Good Company, Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem and Fun in the Sandbox, is out in September and it’s the history of our show,” she said. “It’s behind-the-scenes stories, anecdotes and stories around it, warts and all.”

One of those is about how as a kid Burnett used to roller skate down Wilcox Avenue in her Hollywood neighbourhood. Across the street in the Wilcox Hotel apartments, actor Robert Alda rented a place while he was starring in a Warner Brothers George Gershwin biopic. His son. Alan had polio and couldn’t come out to play, so the two future stars never met. 

“He underwent a very painful treatment for his illness, too, quite radical at the time,” said Burnett. “But it all worked out — today he can kick higher than a Rockette.”

The one story that Burnett will never know the truth about is who donated the $50 tuition so she could attend UCLA. “That one gesture set my entire life path,” said Burnett. 

sderdeyn@postmedia.com

twitter.com/stuartderdeyn

Actor Dylan Playfair is on a roll these days and extremely difficult to catch up with. In town briefly, the 23-year-old chatted about his busy career.

The Fort St. James native and son of former National Hockey Leaguer Jim Playfair was looking at a career in hockey. Both his brothers play in the Western Hockey League. In his one season as a left-winger with the Merritt Centennials, he registered no goals, one assist and “a lot of time in the penalty box” (56 penalty minutes in his 42-game season). 

Acting was the young man’s other passion, which he wisely pursued.

Presently filming the second season of the Comedy Network show Letterkenny, Playfair’s work as Knox in the acclaimed YTV series Some Assembly Required has scored Leo nominations and Joey Awards. He has a steady presence in B.C.’s active film industry. And in April, The Drop: Why Young People Don’t Vote, won the best producer award at the 16th annual Beverly Hills Film Festival. Playfair shared the honours with Robert Lang and former longtime B.C. NDP MP Ian Waddell.

The documentary exploring young voters’ attitudes and their reasons for not engaging in the political process in Canada, Europe and the United States is gaining renewed attention as the American election approaches.

“Ian and director Kyle McCachen were originally working on a PSA for the coming election in B.C. and I came in to do an interview and told the guys that this was a bigger issue than a provincial one,” said Playfair. “Being an activist who plays a lot of goofy type roles, I wanted something on my resume that proved I could be a goofy children’s TV actor as well as do something a great deal meatier.”

Playfair is the movie’s narrator, on-camera interviewer and worked behind the scenes as well. Maintaining a non-partisan position, The Drop caught youth-oriented movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and others in the U.S. as well as the shift in Canadian politics in the last federal election. Playfair believes that the extra attention for the documentary below the border is because of the heightened sense of awareness among young voters coming into November’s likely Trump/Clinton showdown.

“The original project was that Kyle and I wanted to show how an election is run and were originally going to focus on the Christy Clark/David Eby campaigns in West Point Grey,” said Waddell. “Early interviews had the crew coming back saying that they had been to UBC and young people didn’t even know there was an election. Then we met Dylan and the whole issue of the steady decrease in young voting overall came up and the idea exploded from there.”

Presently, The Drop: Why Young People Don’t Vote is available for purchase viewing at Kensington. Both Waddell and Playfair believe the lifecycle of the film is limited now that the election in Canada is over. But the idea of turning it into a 20-minute educational package for schools is in motion.

For his part, Waddell is working on a new film and trying to get into TIFF. Playfair has two new Netflix series in the bag. Travellers is with Eric McCormack and Haters Back Off is based on the YouTube character Miranda Sings created by actor Colleen Ballinger-Evans.

sderdeyn@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/stuartderdeyn

Dino Archie

June 28 | Jimmy Kimmel Live

Info: check local listings

A familiar presence on the Vancouver comedy club circuit, Dino Archie is about to make his debut on a late-night American talk show.

The Fresno native, who recently appeared on the Adam Devine House Party on Comedy Central, is scheduled for Jimmy Kimmel Live! on June 27. Archie is also the first place winner of the 2015 Seattle International Comedy Competition, and he’ll be releasing his second comedy album, Settling Old Scores, this summer (it will be available for download on DinoArchie.com and iTunes). We talked to the comedian about auditioning in L.A., honing his live act in Vancouver, and arm-wrestling local comedian Graham Clark.

Q: When you say “auditioning,” what kind of roles do you usually go out for?

A: It differs. Me and Daniel Day Lewis aren’t up for the same role, I’ll put it like that. It’s usually in the comedy genre. I’ve actually gotten some good scripts lately. Anything that looks like me onscreen, like my type of guy, my character, is good. ‘Cos I’m not a great actor. I’m just like, “Oh, OK, that’s me then. I’ll just do that. I’ll just be me, and see if I can fool them.” I’ve actually gotten lucky. I did a pilot in February with this very funny sketch duo called the Pajama Men. And I got cast in that. But my name’s Dino in the show. See what I mean? Not that big of a stretch.

Q: How did you wind up doing comedy in Vancouver?

A: I had a friend in high school, we played basketball together, and he was from Kelowna. We were both pretty good players, but at 16 I already knew this was the best it was going to get. After we played in summer league, he asked me to come to Canada to visit his family. I’d never thought about Canada, ever, being from Fresno. I think I hadn’t even been out of the state. I said yes, and it opened up my eyes to a different vibe up there. I always thought, “If I get a  chance to live up there I will.” I started standup in L.A., and I’d see a lot of comics come from Canada in L.A. that I liked. In fact a guy named Jason Rouse, he’s from Canada, I asked him about it. And he said, Vancouver’s the place to get better. So I packed up and drove up there, and here we are five years later.

Q: You taped the Kimmel appearance in April, but it’s just airing in June. It sounds like a less stressful situation than in the old days, when comedians would spend months or years working up to a five-minute spot on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

A: No man, not for me. Not if you give a sh** about it. I mean, yes, it’s not as game-changing, I think. There’s way more entertainment out now. But it still meant a lot for me. So I prepared for it. The comics who care, they’ll be in the clubs, doing three shows a night, working that five minutes out in front of all the different crowds, taking words out and figuring out what pause is funny. I’m not used to that because I don’t like doing the same exact thing twice. That was my struggle. It was really good though to focus and hone in on it. “OK, this is fun. I can do this. I can stick to the script. I made this up. It’s funny. They called me” — you have to do all that psychological warfare with yourself.

Q: You mentioned that someone told you that Vancouver was the place to get better, as a comic. Is that because there’s less competition?

A: I mean, there’s competition, but it’s a different kind of competition. You’re not competing to get a movie or a TV show. Canadian TV is ridiculous in the amount of opportunity. Russell Peters had to sell out every arena around the world to get a show (scheduled to debut in 2017) on CraveTV. It’s nuts. There, a lot of comics are doing comedy just to get better just for the sake of doing something creative. When you get that you get a different kind of vibe. That’s what I saw was happening in Vancouver.

Former Price is Right host and animal rights activist Bob Barker is calling on CBS to discontinue the use of wild animals on Zoo.

The Vancouver-shot summer series, based on the 2012 novel of the same name by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge, tells the story of a zoologist investigating a mysterious pandemic of violent animal attacks across the planet.

In a letter to CBS president David Stapf, Barker urges the network to end the exploitation of animals and “adopt a network-wide policy banning the use of wild animals in future CBS programming.”

Barker’s comments come one day after PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also called for animal ban on CBS.  In a letter to the network, the animal rights group urged the network to switch entirely to CGI technology and “stop using animals who are caged, whipped, and denied everything that’s natural and important to them.”

Zoo, a 13-episode series that debuted last summer, has employed trained bears and lions.

“As former host of the longest-running show on CBS, I am writing to you after hearing from my friends at PETA that your network continues to allow wild animals to be used on Zoo, despite learning that, when used for entertainment, big cats and other animals are torn away from their mothers, subjected to abusive training methods, ,” Barker wrote.

Zoo wraps production in Vancouver on July 7.

 The first episode of Season 2 is scheduled to air on Tuesday (June 28).

sbrown@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/Browniescott

In The New York Times Magazine’s virtual reality journalism project The Displaced, the viewer is transported into the lives of three children who have been left homeless and displaced by war.

Through 360-degree video and surround sound, the story is told in the words of the children in their own space and without vocal narration.

It’s a jarring, hyper-realistic experience that tells a story in ways thousands of words couldn’t. And if you ask Mike Gittens, it’s the future of journalism.

“The power of VR storytelling is a no-brainer,” Gittens says. 

Gittens has been experimenting with VR technology for two years with Vancouver company Hammer & Tusk, working as a 360 video and spatial audio expert. He also works as a control room technician at Global BC and has seen the potential for journalism to benefit from VR.

VR is not widespread among Canadian newsrooms, and Gittens and Hammer & Tusk’s Symposium on Virtual Reality Journalism, taking place this weekend at Fairmont Pacific Rim, hopes to open the VR doors to Vancouver newsmakers.

“Placing you in the story really contextualizes it,” Gittens says. “You’re no longer telling someone about it, they’re experiencing the story kind of first-hand.”

Gittens says what needs to happen next is getting the tools in the hands of newsmakers: 3D and 360-degree cameras, surround sound microphones and improved live streaming quality will eventually lead to more VR experiments like The Displaced. He adds that a new Google platform called Daydream, launching this fall, is set to change the way VR is delivered to mobile devices with better video and audio quality.

“That is going to open a better VR experience to millions of people.”

So/VR
Saturday, June 25, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Fairmont Pacific Rim
Info: sovr.io

fmarchand@postmedia.com
twitter.com/FMarchandVS

I’m barrelling down one of the world’s tallest roller-coasters at soul-crushing speed.

The wind whooshes against my ears and my eyes are tearing up.

I hear the roar of the coaster on the track, and the cries and laughter of the people sitting next to me as they hang on for dear life.

But they’re not really there, and my deadly fear of heights is only in my head.

Because I’m sitting at my desk at the office.

Back at the coaster’s launch pad, I virtually get out of my seat by removing the little cardboard contraption that holds my smartphone in front of my eyes and by popping the headphones out of my ears, the source of these illusive thrills.

I blink, and the real world comes into focus. The rush of adrenalin, blue skies and high-speed, high-definition video landscape is gone, replaced by the cubicles of real life.

It’s a surreal experience. I immediately begin mining the apps on my phone, looking for another fix, something new to immerse myself into — back into the virtual world.

Virtual insanity

Virtual reality technology is no longer the sole concern of sci-fi writers, dystopian filmmakers and future tech speculators. It’s here, and it’s here to stay.

The VR boom is palpable in Vancouver, where developers and game designers have all entered the fray, imagining and creating bigger and brighter experiences to come.

“We’re certainly on the path (to mass market appeal). I think most people have heard of VR now but not a lot of people have tried it,” says Eric Hine, executive producer at Vancouver’s Archiact Interactive, which designs VR games and applications. “The ratio really skyrockets with young people.”

Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headsets in action at Westfield mall in London, England.

Over the course of the past two years, high-end devices like the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive have begun a revolution in the home gaming world, targeting mostly a younger audience.

What began with heavy duty computers is now going mobile, thanks to virtual reality appendages like the ultra cheap Google Cardboard unit and the more robust and hands-free Samsung Gear VR, which transform your smartphone into a personal VR theatre of the mind.

From video games to mobile apps to YouTube and Netflix and even journalism, nothing will be left unscathed. It’s all happening, and it’s happening fast.

“Exchange students from Mexico just came through (our office) — a lot of computer sciences guys and artists and sound engineers,” Hine says. “We asked, ‘Do you guys know VR?’ and every hand went up. ‘Cardboard?’ Every hand went up. There wasn’t an invention they didn’t know about already.”

Priced at $20, Cardboard is the fastest gateway into VR. It’s likely that at some point this year, you’ll buy one for yourself, your kid or a family member. (It will make for a great stocking stuffer, if you’re the kind of person that shops for Christmas presents early.)

Google’s little box, which works on many smartphones including iPhone and Android devices, is already spreading like wildfire and is estimated to be present in six million homes in North America, Hine says. It’s creating a path for people to upgrade to bigger, more expensive and more immersive devices rapidly.

Gear VR costs a little more than $100, but Samsung has been pushing the VR experience hard, offering a free device with many new smartphone purchases, hoping to corner the mobile market.

A model demonstrates the HTC Vive visual reality (VR) headset in Taipei on May 31, 2016.

But the fundamentals are the same: Images are split into stereoscopic mode and projected into the goggles’ lenses, creating a realistic 3D panorama in your brain. Most games and applications are motion sensitive and can be experienced in 360-degree vision as well.

A Google Cardboard virtual reality headset.

First impressions of Cardboard and Gear VR immediately recall the thrill of experiencing the View-Master as a kid, with its spinning wheels of 3D images that would take you to far-flung places — back in time to the Jurassic period, or visiting Niagara Falls and Disneyland, one picture swipe at a time. (Fittingly, there is also a View-Master version of the Cardboard design available in all its retro glory.)

The difference, of course, is that you can now go to all these places in high definition video and sound simply by locking your phone into a Cardboard box or a Gear VR headset and hooking up a set of earbuds. 

California-based production company Within offers a wealth of VR content through its app, ranging from music videos by U2 to short films and experiential journalism projects by VICE and The New York Times Magazine.

Archiact was one of the very first companies to produce a VR video game for Cardboard, a “runner” style game called Lamper VR: First Flight, back in 2014. The sequel to Lamper VR, Firefly Rescue, has become the No. 1 downloaded Cardboard game and the No. 3 downloaded Cardboard app globally.

“We’re probably the largest VR content creation company in the world,” Hine says, adding that Archiact employs 16 people in Vancouver and 20 in China. The company is producing a number of games on various VR platforms, with titles including Deep Space Battle and Dino Park.

Archiact is also working on developing VR components for Telus World of Science, and expanding into larger institutional and business applications and health and education software and technology.

(The governments of B.C. and Canada are investing heavily in companies like Archiact, something we’ll explore further in the second instalment of our VR series focusing on the business of virtual reality in Vancouver.)

“The Pacific Northwest is the hub of VR development right now,” Hine says. “San Francisco has always been big on volume. But per capita, Seattle and Vancouver are the sister cities of VR.”

Hine mentions a number of other B.C. companies such as Cloudhead Games — the Qualicum Beach-based developer of a stunning-looking game called The Gallery — comprising former BioWare game designers.

Meanwhile, south of the Peace Arch, Seattle is home to Valve (creators of blockbuster hits Portal and Half-Life) and Pluto VR, run by John Vechey, the co-founder of PopCap Games (now property of Electronic Arts).

Among some of the smaller — and growing — companies in Vancouver is Charm Games, which employs a crew of seven. Its main project is a game entitled FORM, which was first demoed at last year’s Vancouver International Film Festival.

Alan Jernigan, Charm’s co-founder and managing director, describes the puzzle game as “Myst meets 2001: A Space Odyssey.” The game is slated for a release (no official date yet) on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Sony’s forthcoming PlayStation VR platform, which was showcased at the popular E3 Expo in Los Angeles earlier this month.

“My favourite thing is to see someone who tries VR for the first time and you have them put the headset on and run through the experience,” Jernigan says. “They take it off and they have the kind of smile on their faces that you only get a few times in your life. 

“That first experience for people is life-changing. Your eyes open up to something you didn’t think was possible.”

Keys to the VR kingdom

While the potential is endless in creating VR environments, games and application for mobile and higher end devices, there are a few factors that will make or break the experience for new users.

“It’s surprising how much frame rate really matters,” Hine says. “If on mobile your frame rate dips below 60 (frames per second) and 90 on the high-end systems, you get nausea. Performance really matters. You may not be able to tell yourself, but you’ll get motion sickness if that frame rate dips.”

“The top experiences are the ones where you get to play out something — it’s me, I’m doing something. Experiences seem to be really popular right now. Job simulation is a great example: I’m just running a corner store but it’s hilarious to do so.”

But while real-life applications are quickly being developed for VR — ranging from education to job training to health and safety applications — gaming remains the first point of entry into VR. However, Hine says the old genres of games don’t necessarily work, even the ones you think would be great in a VR environment.

“First-person shooters don’t work because I can’t move around in VR. If you give me a controller I’m going to get sick and I can only walk so far if I have a walkable space. You have to find other ways to move around.”

For many developers, social interaction will be a big factor in the months to come. The point of no return has certainly been reached, and Hine expects VR will become a mass market commodity within the next two years.

Multiplayer gaming will make the experience less solitary, and collaboration in creative environments will attract more to the various platforms. Think of the potential for massive multiplayer online role-playing games once VR platforms can be linked together seamlessly, for example.

That’s not to say everyone agrees VR is meant to become your second social life. Sharing a solo VR experience with non-VR players can be just as rewarding.

“I’m excited at the idea of multiplayer VR for sure, but I don’t really subscribe to the idea that we’re going to turn into a Ready Player One kind of world,” Jernigan says, referring to author Ernest Cline’s sci-fi book where individuals inhabit a social media-based virtual world they can build to their liking. The book is being made into a movie directed by Steven Spielberg with music by John Williams.

“A lot of experiences I’ve seen so far have done a good job of creating a kind of old school multiplayer vibe,” Jernigan adds. “Another Vancouver developer, Northway Games, did (puzzle game) Fantastic Contraption, one of the launch titles on the Vive. They’ve put all these features into the game that make it an awesome local multiplayer experience because other people who aren’t in the headset can see what’s happening in the game.”

Next week in Part 2 of our VR in Vancouver series: The business of VR — How virtual tech is making Vancouver companies real money.

fmarchand@postmedia.com
twitter.com/FMarchandVS

Five pieces of gear to get your mobile VR experience started

Google Cardboard (or similar viewer)

You can buy a Google Cardboard viewer (or a similar stereoscopic viewer) via Google’s online store for about $20. You can get one made to feel like an old 3D View-Master from the olden days. The P2 model made by Dodocase conveniently folds for travel purposes and can be assembled in just a few seconds. If you want a sturdier headset experience (with a wraparound strap that frees up your hands), look for units like the Samsung Gear VR.

VR apps

Virtual reality software is starting to pop up all over mobile app stores for iPhone and Android devices. While many are still really just demo versions of potentially bigger software to come (games are often just one or two levels of VR experience), there are keepers. Check out Within, which features The New York Times Magazine and VICE journalism projects, fantastic videos like the animated short Invasion! and horror short Catatonic, as well as mind-blowing music videos by U2 and Squarepusher. 

YouTube

360-degree videos are all the rage on YouTube, videos in which you can move the camera and get an all-around, up-and-down experience that’s never the same twice. Artists like Bjork, Muse and Run The Jewels as well as networks like Discovery are all pushing experimenting, to great results. Many of those videos are VR-compatible, meaning you can enable a stereoscopic output that will generate a 3D effect when used with a viewer like Cardboard or the Samsung Gear VR.

Headphones

Sound plays an integral part in fully experiencing the scope of virtual reality technology. Most VR apps are designed with 360-degree sound that shifts and pans depending on where the viewer is looking, directed by the phone’s internal gyroscope. Earbuds or big muffs, it’s up to you.

A chair

You will get motion sickness. Trust me, you will. Start your VR experience sitting down and venture to a standing position once you’ve gained your bearings. Watch out for house pets and potted plants. 

Francois Marchand, Postmedia News

Related

• Journalism explores new horizons in virtual reality

Tom Felton, best known as the villainous Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise, has signed as a series regular on The Flash.

Felton, as reported by TVline.com, will play Julian Dorn, a Central City police investigator “who suspects there is something more to Barry Allen (aka The Flash) than just his good guy reputation”

Production on Season 3 of The CW show is scheduled to get underway July 7 in Vancouver.

Miranda streams Oct. 14

Haters Back Off, the Vancouver-filmed Netflix series starring YouTube celeb Colleen Ballinger-Evans, will debut on the streaming service Oct. 14.

Haters Back Off delves into the oddball family life of Miranda Sings (Ballinger-Evans), an incredibly confident, totally untalented star on the rise who continues to fail upward by the power of her belief that she was born famous,

She’s an acquired taste.

Actor William Hurt will film Live Like Line in Vancouver.

Hurt joins Hunt in sports tearjerker

Academy Award winner William Hurt has signed on to star opposite fellow Oscar winner Helen Hunt in Live Like Line, the upcoming feature from director Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer) that starts shooting Aug. 2 in Vancouver.

The biopic, written by David Aaron Cohen (Friday Night Lights), is based on the tragic death of Iowa high school volleyball player Caroline “Line” Found, played by Danika Yarosh (Heroes Reborn). Hurt will portray her father.

Hunt will play Kathy Bresnahan, coach of the Iowa City West volleyball team.

Now filming … 

Production on Death Note, the live action movie based on the Japanese manga comic of the same, got underway Thursday in Vancouver.

Nat Wolff (Paper Towns, The Intern, The Fault In Our Stars) plays Light Turner, a student who discovers a supernatural notebook that allows him to kill anyone.

sbrown@vancouversun.com

Twitter.com/Browniescott

YOU BET: Hastings Racecourse regulars are accustomed to the Deighton Cup party (July 16 this year) bringing snappy chappies and snugly dressed young women out for a sunny afternoon with the gee-gees. That it’s attracted others was evident recently when the Resource Works Society held a look-alike, if smaller, event called Racing For Resources. With former Sun deputy managing editor Stewart Muir as executive director and two-term Surrey councillor Barinder Rasode as social-responsibility director, the society advocates for the development of resource-based industries and the jobs they offer.

Broadcaster-actress-writer Meena Mann, who emceed, wore a wide-brimmed felt hat rather than one of the “fascinators” that still rule at such events. Fellow broadcaster Arran Henn sported just such a skimmer.

Veteran political strategist Mark Marissen, who recently wed Maryam Atigh, will have 50th-birthday guests represent Good or Evil.

Emergency preparedness minister Naomi Yamamoto feted Asako Okai, Japan’s first female consul general following 43 men since 1889.

His hand injured in a home-renovation mishap, Trevor Guthrie sang at the opening of Christian Chia’s Open Road Audi dealership.

Olympian soccer midfielder Kaylyn Kyle and swimmer Ryan Cochrane were featured at the Omega timepiece firm’s pre-Rio reception.

Ache Brasil troupe member Jina Anika gave samba context to an event that marked Omega’s timing duties at the upcoming Rio Olympics.

Jill Killeen looked as pleased as husband Mike at the CTC News show he anchors being rated first in North American large-market TV.

HOLD ’EM: When independent moviemakers enjoyed their monthly screenings at the ANZA Club recently, a washroom plumbing mishap resulted in bar service being sensibly curtailed. The situation echoed one at a Burnaby plant some years ago when, with overflowing toilets deepening a pool on the floor, a poker devotee dryly cracked: “A full house always takes a flush.”

Arts Club Theatre’s 44-year artistic managing director Bill Millerd saw the production of Onegin win 10 of 11 large-theatre Jessie awards.

After emerging unscathed from combat in Vietnam, Terry Salman was hurt while cycling, then withdrew from the investment firm he founded.

DOWN PARRYSCOPE: An article about Sexual Sugar perfume in The Sun June 28 didn’t hint at how some wearers get to take their lumps.

malcolmparry@shaw.ca, 604-929-8456

You don’t have to be a fan of shows like The Bachelor or Real Housewives to understand reality TV isn’t exactly reality. In fact, it’s often just the opposite. 

And that’s exactly what UnREAL looks to point out — and poke a little fun at. 

The B.C.-shot TV show, which airs on the Lifetime Network, documents the real and fabricated drama surrounding the filming of a dating show, dubbed Everlasting. 

The onscreen drama is sensational, the behind-the-scenes fights are fierce and the fashion is, well, it’s worthy of reality TV.  

And we have Cynthia Summers to thank for the popular faux-reality production’s good style. 

Shiri Appleby stars in of Lifetime’s hit drama UnREAL.

“The overall fashion on UnREAL spans two shows … a movie within a movie,” Summers explains. “Our constant goal is to show the beauty and the beast, as it were.”

Summers, who is originally from Vancouver but now splits her time between here and Los Angeles for work, says some of the actors’ on-camera styling is all glitz and glamour, similar to what viewers are used to seeing during the rose ceremonies on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.

“All bright colours, sequins and sexy silhouettes,” she explains. In comparison, the “real”, behind-the-scenes wardrobe is much more gritty. 

“(It’s) the dark reality of working in the hard and fast, unforgiving world of 14-hour-day TV,” Summers explains of the less-than-glamorous getups worn by the show’s production stars such as Shiri Appleby. “Nothing sparkles here and this is totally reflected in the palette of our ‘Everlasting’ crew.”

She says while the reality TV “stars” wear sequins and jewel tones, the hard-working crew are all clothed in “murky” earth tones, black and white.

“Utilitarian, on-your-feet-all-day silhouettes,” she reveals. 

Summers and her team (she works with a team of more than 10 costumers on UnREAL on an average production day) work to create a cast wardrobe that fits the show’s dramatic mood — while also appearing realistic. 

“Even if the project is contemporary in look, so much goes into making the characters feel like they ‘look’ in the right place and time, and harmonize with all the other characters on set with them,” she explains. “Wardrobe, hair and makeup set the tone for a character’s mood, physical situation and motivation.”

As the head costumer for the production, Summers was given loose directives as to what the directors and writers had in mind for the styling of the stars. And the rest was up to her. Not that it was much of a gamble for the production team to take. Summers has spent her more than two decade-spanning career outfitting casts for various films and television shows, including a stint as the lead costume designer on the popular show The L Word from 2003 to 2008 for which she won the 2005 Hollywood Style Award.

“I have a lot of freedom to form the looks of the characters,” she says. “I think this comes from experience — having a track record, if you will — which helps me to inspire directors, producers and cast to trust that I will bring my best to accomplish the looks we are all working for. While at the same time challenging the status quo, to add uniqueness to our collective vision.”

So, where does Summers get all the clothes for the show’s cast, which includes the main characters, contestants and background performers? In short: everywhere. 

“Fortunately for costume designers, with the advent of the Internet, shopping for shows has become a lot more widespread,” she says. “On UnREAL, I did a lot of my shopping in Los Angeles at the top of the show, then did even more online and locally within Vancouver.”

Cynthia Summers is the wardrobe stylist on the B.C.-shot television show UnREAL.

Summers says she continually shops throughout the production process. They also rent specialty pieces such as police uniforms from local costume companies.

And if she can’t find an item? Well, then she puts her years of experience as a costume designer and builder in dance and musical theatre to work — and she makes it. 

“If we can’t find it we make it,” Summers says. “And if we need multiples for stunts or photo doubles, and we can’t either afford to purchase a second outfit or the look is sold out, we will knock it off.” 

Budget is the main difference Summers cites when asked about the challenges of working on a TV set rather than a film. Money — and time. 

“It takes the exact same process to create a feature, as it does a TV show or series,” she says of the differences in wardrobing a film versus a television show. “In film, you have two to six or more months to prep. In TV you take exactly the same meetings, script breakdown, shopping, building, fittings and collaborations with producers, production designers, actors … but cram it all into seven or eight days.”

Summers and her team then repeat the process — for each and every episode of the show, which can often mean re-wardrobing the cast 10 to 22 times.

“Essentially you’re making a movie every seven days,” she says. “It always blows me away when I say that out loud.”  

Not that she’s complaining. And Summers won’t be slowing down her styling sessions anytime soon. 

As soon as the B.C.-based production wraps on UnREAL, which has just been picked up for a third season, Summers jets back to L.A. in order to prep for her next project — season three of the Bravo TV show Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce. 

“Lucky me,” she says.

Aharris@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/Aleesha_H

Maria Bamford admits open-air music festivals aren’t the standard setting for standup. So, the star of the Netflix series Lady Dynamite approaches her July 14 opening-night set at the 2016 Pemberton Music Festival with varied emotions.

“It could be a terrible mistake, but if that is the case, how exciting,” said Bamford. “When I’ve done these before, I often find that many people in the audience are really enjoying themselves perhaps over different things than my show, but some listen, too. And I always give it a full 20 per cent, if not five.”

Comedy is a fixture at modern North American music fests in the same way that performance-art installations are at major European events like Tomorrowland or Colours of Ostrava. Look back just to the ’80s and it wasn’t uncommon for charting touring acts to take along a comedian for an opener. 

Maria Bamford stars in the Netflix series “Lady Dynamite” when she’s not on stage.

With Magic selling multi-platinum, the lines between music and comedy are indistinguishable.

Bamford’s surreal tales of dysfunctional family life, low self-esteem and assorted mental states are certainly weird enough to entertain an audience in a festival mindset. She has a few tricks up her sleeve besides the myriad vocal impressions that pepper both her act and her lengthy voice-over resumé (Stuart Little, Hell and Back, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, etc.).

But she won’t be tailoring her set for Pemby — much.

“I think I’ll enunciate more clearly, be louder, go with perhaps more physical movement and do a few of my songs,” she said. “Otherwise, we’ll see if it works or if I have my very own Neil Hamburger moment.”

The more work for comics the better. Used to the contained standup opportunities that come with scripted TV and film sets or soft-seater theatres, she believes anyone in her profession tackling the giant, open-air monster crowd crush is a win-win no matter what.

Related

• Five classic acts to catch at Pemberton
• A guide to 2016's summer festivals

“If we veer into catastrophe, then I really don’t think we’ve lost anything at all,” said Bamford. “That closed low-ceiling spotlit performance moment gives you a certain focus, which is completely dismantled in front of a giant festival crowd. That’s funny.”

This comic has a pretty positive outlook on everything. Credit some of that to living with bipolar II disorder. One of the qualities of the condition is called hypomania, which is characterized by major disinhibition and crankiness. Sounds somewhat perfect for comic creativity.

“I’m sure that can be true, but when it gets to the point where it combines with the depression and you suddenly find yourself having a lot of really marvellously creative ideas of how to remove yourself from this world, it’s not so good,” said Bamford. “Things are great with the cocktail I’m on, which takes away the highs — kind of a bummer — but also the lows, which really suck. I wasn’t on-board at first, but I sure am now.”

This straight-up honesty about something so challenging almost certainly shaped the free-associative nature of her act. Weaned on SNL, Steve Martin and zany/brainy humour, she is always working on “new stuff and working on a good life.”

Bamford hopes to shoot Season 2 of Lady Dynamite soon, and heads to Just For Laughs in Montreal July 28 and 29.

derdeyn@postmedia.com

twitter.com/stuartderdeyn

Maria Bamford @ The 2016 Pemberton Music Festival

Pemberton Valley, Pemberton | Thursday, July 14-Saturday, July 17 | tickets/info: pembertonmusicfestival.com

Conversations That Matter features Robert Lewis-Manning, the president of the Chamber of Shipping in B.C., on the state of the industry in the coastal waters of British Columbia.

Lewis-Manning comes to the job after a distinguished career in shipping that includes 24 years in the Canadian navy.

He says when it comes to shipping safety on the West Coast and in Canada, the numbers speak for themselves.

“We have a safety record that is among the best in the world and on the West Coast we have the best record in Canada,” Lewis-Manning says. “The reasons why are many. They include, but are not limited to, a culture of safety, a pilotage system that is world-class, guide ships, tugs, traffic control systems and traffic management strategies that focus on environmental protection.

Lewis-Manning says the Port of Vancouver, the Coast Guard, the Pacific Pilotage Authority, the Chamber of Shipping and the shipping companies that generate more than $500 million a day of economic activity all have safety as the No. 1 priority.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Are you a fan of Hope for Wildlife on Knowledge Network? Then the Vancouver-based Omnifilm Entertainment  (Ice Pilots, Jade Fever) documentary series Wild Bear Rescue is for you. 

Coming to Animal Planet in 2017, the program focuses on the dedicated founders and volunteer crew of  the Northern Lights Wildlife Society in Smithers. The registered charity specializes in rehabilitation of injured or abandoned bears and ungulates such as deer and moose. It was founded in 1990 by immigrant German zookeepers Angelika and Peter Langen when they became aware of the lack of any facility to deal with animals that were injured, abandoned or orphaned by hunting or accident.

“We didn’t want to make a highlight reality TV show but rather to show what rehab is really all about and what options and limitations  and heartbreaks are involved in it,” says Angelika Langen. “Bringing across the positive as well as the worries and concerns was essential, and it’s been a tricky thing because human contact has to be very limited as these are animals that we are reintroducing into their natural home.”

The Langens and their staff have nursed 369 bears back to health to date. Of those, only 2.4 per cent came into human conflict post-release. This spectacular track record has meant the couple travel the world making presentations at meetings such as the International Bear Rehab Conference in Russia, the International Moose Conference in Canada and even a trip last year to Vietnam.

“We went there last fall to talk to the government there about how to rehabilitate the bears saved from the closing down of the bear-bile business,” she said. “Everywhere we go, we see different ideas and practices about how to do it and it’s a constant learning process. The end goal is always the same wherever you are.”

Omnifilm Entertainment’s Gabriela Schonbach is an executive producer of Wild Bear Rescue. Making a show where you want to focus on the animals but have to stay away from them posed some unique challenges.

“There are two characters in the series, the animals and the humans,” said Schonbach. “So we worked very closely with the Langens and worked off of their cues about how much of the rehab process we could show as well as tying in the rescues, the not very good news that happens and, of course, the releases. We filmed a few of those last week and it’s really touching.”

Animal Planet approached Omnifilm Entertainment for a show like Wild Bear Rescue and the broadcaster wanted the program to be as realistic as possible. Schonbach says that Omnifilm Entertaiment’s roots in nature programs such as Champions of the Wild and all the way back to its 1977 debut documentary Greenpeace: Voyages to Save the Whales meant the company was uniquely positioned to work with the Langens on creating something that is both entertaining and authentic.

“Last night we took in a deer that had been hit by a car and it was dying but today it’s standing up looking at me; I like that kind of story,” said Langen. “That isn’t always how it goes, which is hard. This year is really challenging because mild weather meant a higher birthrate and we have 26 cubs already where we would normally have three at this time.”

The traditionally busy autumn season is yet to come. Northern Lights Wildlife Society is facing possibly having to turn away residents as demand outstrips capacity. Angelika Langen says that the dream is to build a new grizzly facility and expand the black bear space\. As the only facility of its kind in the bear heavy North of the province (there are others in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island), their work is cut out for them.”

Wild Bear Rescue will hopefully focus some much needed attention on their efforts. The shelter is licensed by the B.C. government but receives no funding.

sderdeyn@postmedia.com

twitter.com/stuartderdeyn

Two of the biggest stories to come out of last weekend’s Comic-Con involve Vancouver productions.

Lionsgate Films successfully completed some masterful misdirection by screening a sneak preview of a top-secret sequel to The Blair Witch Project to an unsuspecting San Diego audience, who were expecting to watch a new horror movie called The Woods.

The sequel, simply titled Blair Witch, was stealthily filmed in Vancouver last year under The Woods production title.

Lionsgate had even been promoting the movie as The Woods until they finally pulled the curtain back for the surprise reveal in that San Diego theatre.

The original movie, a “found footage” horror story about three doomed documentary filmmakers investigating the legend of the Blair Witch, was made for $60,000 and went on to gross more than $250 million.

The new sequel was directed by Adam Wingard (Death Note, V/H/S ), and stars James Allen McCune (Shameless, The Walking Dead), as a college student who leads a group into the Black Hills Forest in Maryland to uncover the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of his sister who many believe is connected to the legend of the Blair Witch.

Blair Witch, the third film in the franchise, will be released in theatres on Sept. 16.

A previous sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, was released in 2000 to mixed reviews and lukewarm box office results.

Singer Rihanna will play Marion Crane on Season 5 of Bates Motel.

RIHANNA JOINS BATES MOTEL

Rihanna will be checking into the Bates Motel next season, but she probably won’t be checking out.

The pop superstar surprised Comic-Con attendees with a video announcement stating she will play Marion Crane, the iconic role played by Janet Leigh in the original Psycho, in the fifth and final season of A&E’s hit drama series that is filmed in Metro Vancouver.

A replica of the original Bates Motel set from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho was built in Aldergrove on 272nd Street.

A&E recreated the famous Bates home and motel at the former Jackman Landfill site in south Aldergrove on 272nd Street. 

“Let me tell you what a bad bitch is about to do,” Rihanna said in the video. “I’m about to check into the Bates Motel very soon.”

Bates Motel executive producers Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse were on hand at the pop-culture convention with cast members Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot and Nestor Carbonell on Friday to discuss the show’s upcoming fifth and final season.

Cuse said he and Ehrin heard Rihanna was a fan of the psychological series and called her casting the “perfect collision of creativity and fate.” In the film, the character famously meets her bloody demise in the shower of Room 1.

With Associated Press files

Sbrown@vancouversun.com

Twitter.com/Browniescott

Roxanne Nesbitt is a recent architecture grad and has studied orchestral music. Like hundreds of other trained B.C. technicians and artists, she’s trading a stable nine-to-fiver for what was once considered a gamble in this province’s feast or famine film industry.

But there hasn’t been a famine for a couple of years, and she believes now is the time to take that leap of faith. British Columbia’s film industry is booming, this month boasting the highest number of TV and movie productions ever shot here at one time. 

Blockbusters such as Star Trek Beyond have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the economy, while a number of big-budget television series made by Netflix and Amazon has Vancouver’s production studios booked solid. The skyrocketing demand, however, has left unions and companies scrambling for staff and studio space.

Roxanne Nesbitt has a new career helping design sets in the busy film industry in Vancouver.

After graduating from University of B.C.’s architecture school last year, Nesbitt, 29, began looking for work at firms in Vancouver but found the idea of sitting in an office all day daunting.

“I was afraid of working nine-to-five for the rest of my life because I have all these other creative pursuits,” said Nesbitt, who also recently released an album with her band Graftician.

She started her first feature film in January and said while the long 10- to 12-hour work days can be exhausting, the thrill of working on a movie set and using her architectural skills as a creative set designer are worth it. She’s working at the moment on the Netflix original feature film Okja.

“It’s exciting not knowing what is around the corner or what job I’ll do next.”

Given the state of the industry, it’s likely she’ll be signed up for the next gig before this one ends.

A total of 53 film and TV productions are either already shooting or in pre-production in B.C., according to the Union of B.C. Performers (UBCP). This time last year, there were 43. The City of Vancouver reports a 45-per-cent increase in movie and TV production so far in 2016 compared with 2015.

In June, the city handed out 565 permits to shoot at various locations, compared with 283 in June 2015 (also a banner year).

A new record

Jason Cameron, a spokesman for UBCP, said B.C. was up to 55 productions earlier this month, which he said is the highest number of productions the province has ever had at one time.

“It’s the busiest it’s ever been,” said Peter Mitchell, president of Vancouver Film Studios, which worked with Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Bad Robot on Star Trek Beyond.

Data released by the Motion Picture Association of Canada last week show that over 78 days of filming, the production spent $69 million in B.C. Of that, more than $40 million went to wages for 3,900 local cast, crew and extras. 

Mitchell said they are turning away work, and have been for the last couple of years. Typically he will refer a movie company to another studio, but said this week that “if someone calls today I don’t know where to send them.”

While the weaker Canadian dollar and tax credits have been a draw for production companies, Mitchell credits the booming industry mostly to companies like Netflix and Amazon producing new shows.

“The quality of television is better than it has ever been. A lot of that has to do with the growth of the middle class worldwide. People want to be entertained,” he said.

“There’s a ton of temporary studios right now, where people are renting out warehouses. Traditionally, real estate agents don’t want to rent out short term but because the demand is so high, they are filling the gap. That’s really a new thing in the last year.”

The major challenge now is that Metro Vancouver is short on studio space despite having four purpose-built studios and unions are struggling to provide enough staff, despite a mass influx of new members.

Demand for workers

In one year, IATSE Local 891, which represents technicians and artists, has signed up 1,000 new members, said spokesman Phil Klapwyk. In the last few months, the union has signed up an average of 150 workers per month and now has a total of 6,500, the highest number yet.

A lot of the new recruits are those with transferable skills such as carpentry. Many are coming from Alberta’s ailing oilpatch industry, said Klapwyk, noting that a pipe fitter could work in special effects, for example.

I thought we might be hitting the ceiling but now with all these pop-ups, the ceiling has been raised

He admits that despite the influx, they are still short to meet demand, in particular with some of the harder to fill positions, such as electricians, hair and makeup, and workers with firearms licenses.

“It’s not just B.C. that’s hurting for crew. L.A. is booming. We receive calls from elsewhere in Canada saying ‘send us staff’ and we say ‘we don’t have enough here,’ ” he said. “And it all has to do with Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, and the demand for content.”

To encourage more members, the union has temporarily waved the $100 application fee and is sending less experienced workers out with professionals so they can meet their permit requirements.

Nesbitt joined the IATSE union in June, after she had completed the required number of hours for her permit. She questions whether the film industry will be good long-term because she could see the long hours being a challenge if she had kids, but for now she loves the uncertainty and isn’t worried about being unemployed should the industry cool off again. 

Sandi Swanigan, senior manager of film and special events for the City of Vancouver, said they are swamped and may even bring on a new staff member to help with the volume and complexity of the hundreds of applications they deal with each month. 

She’s not sure if a 45-per-cent rise in the number of productions is sustainable, and it has proven challenging for her six-member team to ensure that street use requests, many of which include shoots for car commercials, don’t conflict with construction, cruise ship paths and summer festivals. The location checks then must go to the VPD for approval. Yet she says the city tries not to turn down applications because of the huge economic spinoff for Vancouver.

“Vancouver gets a lot of recognition and it promotes local industry,” she said. Last year, when the Georgia Street Viaduct was shut down during the filming of the smash hit Deadpool, instead of dozens of complaints from grumpy commuters there was a positive response, she noted, especially when star Ryan Reynolds thanked Vancouverites on Twitter for sharing the road.

Much of the challenge falls on the production companies to find space and compete for sound stages, she said. But with the recent advent of pop-up studios, including the old Post Office on Georgia Street, it seems companies are finding makeshift solutions to the space crunch.

“I thought we might be hitting the ceiling but now with all these pop-ups, the ceiling has been raised,” she said, adding they could see a dip in production once the reduced tax credit comes into effect.

In May, B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong said the new rate for production services tax credit will be set at 28 per cent, a five-point drop from the previous rate of 33 per cent. The rate for digital animation or visual effects will also fall from 17.5 per cent to 16 per cent. The changes will be phased in for productions shooting before Oct. 1.

ticrawford@postmedia.com

Zachary Quinto, left, and Karl Urban in a scene from Star Trek Beyond, which was filmed in Vancouver.

Big numbers

How five big-budget films and television shows have contributed to the local economy. 

1. ABC’s Once Upon a Time: an estimated $276 million over five seasons. The production has generated more than 5,500 jobs, earning $34 million.
2. Disney’s Tomorrowland: $91.9 million in direct production spending between Aug. 2013 and Jan. 2014. Created 1,800 jobs in 67 communities in B.C. 
3. Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Bad Robot’s Star Trek Beyond: $69 million spent in B.C. Of that, more than $40 million was spent on local cast, crew and extras.
4. 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool: $40 million during 58 days of filming in B.C. The production hired more than 2,000 local cast, crew and extras who earned more than $19 million in wages.
5. Warner Bros. Television’s Supernatural: $509 million spent in B.C. over 11 seasons. 9,500 jobs created since 2005.

Vancouver once again ranks third in North America when it comes to TV pilots production.

A new report from Film L.A. found that 25 pilots had been scheduled for production in 2015-16 for Vancouver, up from 16 for 2014-15.

Los Angeles had 82 pilots in production (down from 91 in 2014-15) and New York City had 28 (up from 25). Toronto ranked fifth with 12 (up from nine).

Of all the pilot production markets, Vancouver has seen the biggest jump, up 67 per cent compared to last year.

“In addition to the generous subsidies, growth in Canada was also driven by the exchange rate, which offers American producers an additional 20- to 25-per-cent savings based on the value of the Canadian dollar, which plummeted over the past year,” the report stated.

TV pilots are used by networks to test-run a potential new series. The cost of a television pilot can vary, depending on the type of show: drama or comedy.

Comedies typically cost approximately $2 million US per pilot. Dramas are vastly more expensive. For example, the pilot for criminal drama Sea Of Fire, shot in Vancouver, had a budget of $6 million US, with more than $800,000 US coming in the form of incentives such as tax credits from local governments.

Vancouver far and away dominated the dramatic field for pilots in 2015-16. Other titles in production in Vancouver included the pilot for NBC’s sci-fi series Timeless (from the creators of The Shield, The Blacklist and Supernatural), paranormal drama Frequency, and Archie-inspired series Riverdale.

“Vancouver … saw the number of drama pilots surge to 21, an increase of 75 per cent compared to the 12 drama pilots produced there in the prior cycle,” the Film L.A. report stated. “In 2015-16, Vancouver surpassed New York in the total number of drama pilots for the third time in the last seven years.”

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Calista Flockhart will be returning for Season 2 of Supergirl in Vancouver, but not as a series regular.

The actress, who portrays magazine owner Cat Grant — Supergirl’s boss — on the series, didn’t want to move away from California, and hubby Harrison Ford.

The CW moved production of Supergirl to Vancouver this summer to take advantage of the low Canadian dollar and B.C. film tax credits.

Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg confirmed this week that Flockhart will be returning to the show in a reduced role.

“Supergirl wouldn’t be Supergirl without the amazing Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant. We are so excited Calista has agreed to continue on the show when she can,” Kreisberg said in a statement. “We and the audience love to see her on screen.”

The CW show has been filming in Coal Harbour this week with both Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) in full costume.

You can find some great photos and coverage of the Supergirl shoot in George Wainborn Park at YVRshoots.com.

Meanwhile, The Flash, another DC Comics show from The CW, will be shooting Friday in the The Vancouver Sun’s lobby at 200 Granville Street

Menzel is Bette-approved

We told you last week, that Idina Menzel would be in Vancouver later this month filming a Lifetime TV remake of the Bette Midler tear-jerker, Beaches. But now the Divine Miss M has thrown her support behind the project.

Apparently thrilled with Menzel taking over the role of aspiring singer CC, Midler tweeted that she couldn’t wait to see the new version.

Production on Beaches gets underway Aug. 15.

Dafoe voicing villain

Willem Dafoe has joined the cast of Death Note, the Netflix feature film adaptation of the popular Japanese manga comic book that is currently shooting in Vancouver. Dafoe will be the voice behind the movie’s main villain, Ryuk the Shinigami.

Ryuk and Dafoe … who’s who?

While he’s only doing voice work, Dafoe does bear more than a passing resemblance to Ryuk.

Billy Bob Thornton and Brett Kelly in Bad Santa 2.

Thurman Merman is back

Vancouver actor Brett Kelly, who portrayed the pudgy and lovable Thurman Merman in the 2003 raunchy Christmas classic Bad Santa, is co-starring with Billy Bob Thornton in the upcoming sequel and, based on the production stills released this week, he hasn’t changed a bit.

Scene-stealer Tony Cox is also back as Marcus, Thornton’s partner in crime, while Kathy Bates and Christina Hendricks have also joined the cast.

Bad Santa 2 will be released Nov. 23.

 sbrown@postmedia.com

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