Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Vancouver filming the comedy Why We’re Killing Gunther with first-time director Taran Killam, is proving he is a man of the people by working out at a very-public downtown gym.

The action film legend and former governor of California, escorted by a king-sized bodyguard, was pumping iron alongside regular Joes like Vancouver journalist Derrick O’Keefe on Wednesday.

We’re not going to tell you which gym, but we will give you a hint — it starts with a Y.

In Why We’re Killing Gunther, Schwarzenegger plays the world’s greatest hitman whose arrogant ways have made him many enemies within the assassin community. Vancouver’s own Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother, The Avengers), Killam and Bobby Moynihan (SNL) also star.

Killam was in Vancouver when he found out he’d been effectively fired from the cast of Saturday Night Live, despite having a year left on his seven-year contract.

Killam told Uproxx that the news took him by surprise.

“I … had it in my head I would make this upcoming year my last year, but then heard they weren’t going to pick up my contract. I was never given a reason why, really,” he said.  “But I do know I’m directing this movie and I’ll have two months of post-production that would have bled into the SNL production schedule, so we kind of communicated that.”

STAR SEARCH:  Arnold is just one of a host of A-list actors currently filming in Vancouver.

Among those being spotted by star watchers this week include Academy Award winners Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) and Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets), along with Owen Wilson, Jake Gyllenhaal and Mandy Patinkin.

Roberts, who is filming Wonder with Wilson, Patinkin and Vancouver child star Jacob Tremblay, has been spotted shopping along Water Street in Gastown, while Patinkin has posed for photos with uniformed fans in Stanley Park.

Gyllenhaal is busing shooting the action/fantasy movie Okja with Swinton and Korean director Joon-ho Bong (Snowpiercer).

The movie, which tells the story of a young girl who risks everything to save her friend – a massive animal named Okja, will be shooting scenes this weekend along Seymour Street between Georgia and Dunsmuir (near the St. Regis Hotel).

A REBOOT IS OUT THERE:  David Duchovny looks like he’s ready to once again step into the role of Fox Mulder. With news that Fox Entertainment is considering green-lighting another series reboot of the Vancouver-shot X-Files, Duchovny took to Twitter to tell co-star Gillian Anderson (Dana Scully) to get ready.

SUPER CROSSOVER: The CW has been teasing DC Comics fans this week with tiny Instagram previews of its upcoming crossover shows featuring heroes from Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, which are all filmed in Vancouver.

Stephen Amell, who plays the Green Arrow, posted a photo with Superman himself, Tyler Hoechlin, on the set of Supergirl.

He also posted this leggy pic, featuring a host of DC heroes on set, with the caption “coming soon.”

BIG BREAK FOR SHORT FILM: Vancouver filmmaker Vince Hemingson’s 60-second film, Paradise Lost, has been chosen as one of the thirty finalists for the Toronto International Film Festival’s short film competition sponsored by Instagram.  The TIFFxInstagram contest received over 1000 entries from all over the world.

Hemingson’s film features a nude model, some forest animals and a few tractors— and we’re going to be conservative and label the Instagram short NSFW, so watch it on your phone.

sbrown@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/Browniescott

He’s no Michael Phelps but he fills out a Speedo pretty darn well and he’s just as meme-worthy.

Vancouver’s Daniel Maguire is representing Canada this summer in a different kind of competition, as a cast member on the third season of ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise.

“I have not been watching the Olympics, really. I find a lot of it quite boring. I’d much rather be participating in a sport,” said Maguire. “I’d rather watch myself on TV.”

At least he’s honest about it.

“I am very honest, as you can tell.”

The American spin-off reality series, now in its third season, takes failed suitors from previous seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette and sends them to Mexico for a second chance at love.

What could go wrong when you maroon a dozen good-looking hard bodies on a beach with nothing but an open bar and free time?

“No brainer, right? I mean — who wouldn’t want that opportunity?” said Maguire of the invitation that followed his departure from The Bachelorette. “I didn’t have to think about it.”

The 31-year-old Penticton native has been a baffling but loveable fan favourite on both Jojo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette and on Bachelor in Paradise for his bromance with the show’s villain Chad Johnson, as well as for being the lone surviving Canadian this season.

Maguire is also hard to forget, thanks to his sarcastic and unfiltered take on the show’s developments and his fellow cast mates.

Erica Caufin from Toronto poses for a selfie with Vancouver resident Daniel Maguire, a contestant on the third season of Bachelor in Paradise.

Maguire said he’d never seen either The Bachelor or The Bachelorette prior to appearing on the show himself.

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” he said. “Generally didn’t expect much. I’m very realistic about, y’know, what I will find — if I will find love or not — and just have fun with it, don’t take it too serious and have a good time.”

Sporting nothing but a Canada flag Speedo, which was gifted to him during filming of the Bachelorette, Maguire douses himself with maple syrup in a cheeky opening credits sequence for Paradise. He claims credit for the idea and says it’s always been in his nature to push things to the limit, embrace the weird, and get a reaction out of people.

“I know what the people want,” he said, acknowledging with a laugh that it is, after all, reality television.

Vancouver resident Daniel Maguire is a contestant on the third season of Bachelor in Paradise.

Since 2009, he has been modelling in various locales such as Milan, Munich, and Istanbul, and working as a certified personal trainer. His lifestyle allows him to travel and spend time in Penticton with his father, who was left a quadriplegic after a 2008 accident, a revelation that never made it on air.

And while he didn’t get to bring Fletcher back to B.C. for one of the coveted hometown dates — he was sent home in week four of The Bachelorette — Maguire has some ideas of where he would take a girl in Vancouver.

“I’d take her to a couple of the beaches, maybe Granville Island, the suspension bridge, Grouse Mountain. Maybe do some hikes like the Chief,” he said. “We’d walk the seawall for sure.”

While on the Bachelorette, Maguire did find love of another sort. He initially struck up a friendship with Chad Johnson, who would become the season’s most controversial figure. The pair both enjoyed working out and felt like many of the other men jumped the gun when it came to professing their love for Fletcher.

“But as time went on, he did start getting a little negative, a little too much, a little too angry,” said Maguire. “Part of it was because guys were ganging up on him, but also because he doesn’t do well in social situations. He doesn’t know how to handle things.”

Johnson also returned to appear on Paradise but his stint was cut short after he began drinking and became verbally and physically aggressive with other cast members on the first night.

“I’ve never seen this in my life ever. Ever,” said Maguire. “It’s one thing to act like that when you are 19, around your buddies who you’ve known for many years — but when you’re 28 and around girls you’ve never met, there’s no excuse for that. It doesn’t matter how drunk you are.”

When it comes to the show and what we can expect on the rest of the season — even who he is rooting for — Maguire is tight-lipped.

“I’m rooting for myself to have a good time, maybe meet someone,” he said with a laugh.

Bachelor in Paradise is currently airing on Mondays and Tuesdays at 5 p.m. PT on CityTV.

sip@postmedia.com

twitter.com/stephanie_ip

SOUNDTRACK

Stranger Things, Vol. 1 (A Netflix Original Series Soundtrack)

Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein

(Lakeshore Records)

By now if you haven’t checked out Netflix series Stranger Things (which is such a phenomenon that in Vancouver there’s even a string of SkyTrain cars adorned with the series artwork), just put down this review, tune out from the world, and go watch the eight episodes back to back.

Because one of the best ways to enjoy the superb soundtrack for the heavily ’80s film-referencing series (with big, obvious nods to Steven Spielberg and Stephen King) is to have the vivid images from the various scenes firmly planted in your brain.

The soundtrack created by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein (of Texas synth quartet SURVIVE) is a fantastic homage to the works of late ’70s and early ’80s trailblazers like John Carpenter (for the horror-friendly moments), Vangelis (for the sci-fi angles) and Tangerine Dream (for the overall atmosphere). 

There are 36 tracks on this album, released digitally via iTunes last week and slated for a physical CD release on Sept. 16, with the key moments from the series covered: the eerie, pulsating Christmas lights scene (One Blink For Yes), the horrifying nightmare of the Upside Down and Photos In The Woods (poor Barb…), the tender atmosphere of Friendship (introducing the connection between Mike, played by Vancouver’s Finn Wolfhard, and Eleven), and of course the spine-tingling theme song, which totally deserves an extended remix version.

A second soundtrack volume is being released digitally this week (Aug. 19), with a physical release for Vol. 2 scheduled for Sept. 23. SURVIVE’s new album RR7349 will be released on Relapse Records on Sept. 30. 

Austin, Texas experimental synth quartet S U R V I V E have released two full-lengths and numerous EPs/singles since their inception, including recent contributions to the soundtrack for the acclaimed indie horror film The Guest. Additionally, two of the group’s members recently scored the soundtrack for the new hit sci-fi / horror show Stranger Things starring Winona Ryder on Netflix.

fmarchand@postmedia.com

twitter.com/FMarchandVS

The Tragically Hip wrap their epic trans-Canadian Man Machine Poem Tour in Kingston on Aug. 20. The concert is being broadcast nationally on various CBC platforms, including on television at 5:30 p.m. Pacific (8:30 p.m. Eastern).

A number of Vancouver venues are hosting screenings of the event, dubbed The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration. Here is a list of where to watch the love-in for Gord Downie and his band around Metro Vancouver.

Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville St., doors 4:30 p.m., register for entry at ticketmaster.ca

Woodwards Atrium, 333 Abbott St., 5-9 p.m.

Imperial, 319 Main St., doors 4:30 p.m., admission by donation through the Sunnybrook Foundation or ticketweb.ca

Rio Theatre, 1660 E. Broadway, doors 4 p.m., riotheatre.ca (note: sold out)

Vancouver Playhouse, tickets are on a first-come, first-served basis at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre box office on Aug. 19 from noon-2 p.m. Doors open at 3:30 p.m., Olympic broadcasting 4:30 p.m., concert 5:30 p.m.

River Rock Casino Resort, Richmond, festivities kick off with local Tragically Hip tribute band from noon-4:30 p.m., screening at 5:30 p.m., riverrock.com

Civic Square, 6100 Willingdon Ave., Burnaby, festivities begin at 4:30 p.m., burnaby.ca

The ACT, 11944 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, screening starts at 5:30 p.m., theactmapleridge.org

Columbia StrEAT Food Truck Fest, New West, festival open 4-10 p.m., concert starts at 5:30 p.m.

fmarchand@postmedia.com

twitter.com/FMarchandVS

The Hollywood North rumour mill has the long-running BBC hit Doctor Who likely coming to Vancouver soon for location shooting.

British film and TV blog CultBox reports that star Peter Capaldi told several fans on a U.K. set this week that a second block of filming for the show’s 10th season will take place in Vancouver in October.

The crew is currently working on the third and fourth episodes of Season 10 at locations in Cardiff, Wales.

“If true, this won’t be the first time Doctor Who has shot (in Vancouver),” said CultBox. “Paul McGann made his debut as the Eighth Doctor 20 years ago in ‘The TV Movie,’ which was filmed entirely in Vancouver in 1996.” (CultBox also notes that movie will be available on Blu-ray for the first time next month.)

The city, of course, has become a sci-fi mainstay, with shows such as Supernatural, Arrow and The X-Files having been shot in Vancouver over the years.

There’s a longtime Doctor Who connection with Vancouver, too: Rachel Talalay, who has directed several episodes of the show, is a film professor at the University of B.C. 

Talalay has also worked on Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow in Vancouver, reports CultBox, and has been linked to the upcoming Captain Marvel movie. Could she also have a hand in the October shoot?

Season 10 is scheduled to air on BBC One next spring.

Cyndi Ankenman greeted Myriam Glotman at a reception for the Cypress Challenge that has raised $2 million to help fight pancreatic cancer. 

“Women have wonderful elbows,” said born-blind Paralympic multi-medalist Donovan Tildseley, here with wine-biz friend Katie Trydal.

BLIND LUCKY: Although born totally blind, Donovan Tildesley, 32, saw his way clear to ride in the recent Cypress Challenge and raise $11,000. That was on a tandem with pal Ryan Dale-Johnson at the handlebars. Their 72-minute climb commemorated Dr. Hugh Tildesley, who succumbed to pancreatic cancer in March after coaching son Donovan to several Paralympics swimming medals and 800- and 1500-metre world freestyle records. A board member of St. George’s school’s Old Boys’ Association, Donovan said its annual golf tournament includes a “beat the blind guy” hole. As for his own polished humour, “The toughest part of being blind is driving and dating,” he deadpanned. His sales job with the Buntain Insurance firm echoes the Frank Crumit song: “For there’s no one with endurance like the man who sells insurance.” That sure fits Donovan Tildesley.

ODD INDEED: Seven police officers with Downtown Eastside beats founded the Odd Squad Production Society in 1997 to make videos that would enhance drug education. They and recent members teamed with the John Volken Academy recently to report on preventing harm and promoting positive decision-making by present-day youth. Speakers included former police officer of the year and gang crime unit member Doug Spencer (now with the Transit police) who addresses 20,000 students annually. He said B.C. provides virtually no funded services for youngsters leaving gangs compared to many offered in Alberta: “But some of these kids have witnessed murders and shootings. You don’t just walk away from that. Some are so broken, they don’t see a way out. I’m certain that, given the chance, they would.”

Audi and Honda owners Randy Wee and Sofia Leposavic played at Open Road Volkswagen’s beach-volleyball tournament and barbecue picnic. 

The old Trans Canada Highway’s Alexandra bridge’s steel-mesh deck lets Fraser Canyon visitors see the river rush directly beneath their feet. 

CTV News anchor Mike Killeen spent a languid birthday afternoon with wife Jill beside an ocean-fronting pool near their home. 

Seen at her birthday celebration, screen actress Zara Durrani earlier impressed hair-restoration conferees with her luxuriant tresses. 

JOHNNY GO LATELY: Global News veteran John Daly will hang up his cleats at a Mahony-Stamps Landing wingding Aug. 31.

The first European to row into Burrard Inlet, Captain George Vancouver

malcolmparry@shaw.ca
604-929-8456

Prison Break actor Robert Knepper had complimentary words for the B.C. film industry this week, labelling local crews as some of the best in the world.

The acting veteran, perhaps best known as Theodore (T-Bag) Bagwell on FOX’s Prison Break, was in Vancouver this week filming a recurring role on iZombie when he took a moment to praise the city’s film community.

“They are so overworked right now and I think a lot of understaffing is going on because there are so many film projects up here right now,” he said. “I understand that the film board said to Hollywood: ‘No more! We can’t handle anymore television shows!'”

Earlier this year, Knepper was in town shooting the fifth season of the revived Prison Break series. He’s also previously filmed in Vancouver for his role as Angus DeBeers on iZombie. Knepper’s wife, Nadine Kary, is also a Vancouver native. The couple met in B.C. four years ago.

“It’s great. I mean, people work their butts off up here and they are on par with the greatest crews anywhere — L.A., the States, in the world — and my hat’s off to them,” he said.

“Everyone’s giving it 120 per cent so it’s great to be a part of that family and that dinner party that gets together and says, ‘Hey, we’re making some film up in Vancouver.’ It’s terrific.”

Earlier this month, the Union of B.C. Performers reported a total of 53 film and television productions were either already shooting or in pre-production in B.C. At the same time last year, there were 43. The City of Vancouver has also reported a 45-per-cent increase in movie and television production so far in 2016, compared to 2015.

Just last month, the city issued 565 permits for various location shoots, compared with 283 in June 2015.

Star Trek Beyond, which filmed over 78 days in B.C. last year, spent about $69 million in the province, with more than $40 million going to wages for 3,900 local cast, crew and extras.

IATSE Local 891, which represents technicians and artists, has been signing an average of 150 new workers per month, and has even temporarily waived the $100 application fee in hopes of bringing in more members.

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.

sip@postmedia.com
twitter.com/stephanie_ip

Motive series finale

Aug. 30, 10 p.m. | CTV

We may never find out who or what killed CTV hit crime drama Motive.

It certainly wasn’t poor ratings (the show had an average viewership of 1.2 million per week). And it certainly wasn’t because it lacked in quality, as the slick Vancouver-based “whydunnit” garnered rave reviews and multiple Leo and Canadian Screen Awards over the course of its four splendid seasons.

Executive producer and show runner Dennis Heaton can’t even explain it.

“You know, for me, once the decision was made, I was less concerned about the ‘why,’ which is ironic considering the nature of the show,” Heaton said with a hearty laugh. “It was kinda like, when your girlfriend breaks up with you: ‘I’m moving my stuff out tonight.'”

What’s for certain is that Canadian fans (and Americans fan watching on the USA Network) will miss the trials and tribulations of Angie Flynn (Kristin Lehman), Oscar Vega (Louis Ferreira), Dr. Betty Rogers (Lauren Holly) and Brian Lucas (Brendan Penny).

As the series comes to a close tonight (Aug. 30), we talked to Heaton about the end of Motive and what the future holds.

Q: How did you feel when you heard the news Motive was cancelled?

A: Of course I wonder why and we had the conversations. The executives tell us what they can, and you either accept it or go, “I think there’s more to it and you’re not telling me.” Either way, the bottom line is that once the decision’s been made, the decision’s been made. The thing I will always appreciate was the fact that CTV made the decision at the beginning of Season Four so that I was able to write to that ending.

I’ve been re-watching the episodes as they air and I live tweet with the feed. It’s like, “Oh! That’s what I was doing.” It’s an opportunity to let the characters say goodbye to each other, let the show say goodbye to the audience and to do it in a way that’s not like we were writing a season with a cliffhanger that was going to lead into Season Five and then all of a sudden we get a phone call saying we’re cancelled and having to turn a cliffhanger into a series finale.

That became a talking point right at the beginning of the season: “What are the things that, as a series, we’ve always wanted to try and do?”

Q: Like having an unsolved case that becomes a two-parter that will conclude the series tonight. It takes place a few years later, if I remember the teaser from last week. So you feel completion in this series then, like it stands as a complete body of work?

A: Oh, totally. And it’s because of the fact I was able to write Season Four to have a period at the end of it, instead of an ellipsis. Ooh, grammar talk! (Laughs.)

The cast of Motive: Lauren Holly (Dr. Betty Rogers), Louis Ferreira (Staff Sgt. Oscar Vega), Kristin Lehman (Det. Angie Flynn), and Brendan Penny (Det. Brian Lucas).

Q: How much are you going to miss those characters, writing them and bringing them to life?

A: I would’ve started (writing Season Five) back at the beginning of June. And it was a couple of days in that I realized I wasn’t doing anything with Angie and Vega. I was really sad for a few days.

Before I got the (cancellation) news I was thinking about Season Four, and Season Five, and Season Six. I had a story arc for Angie for Season Five that I was originally going to write Season Four to. And then I got the news, and what ended up happening is that I took those ideas for those later seasons and incorporated aspects of them into the arc for Season Four. In a way, Season Four is actually Seasons Four, Five and Six.

It’s one of the ingredients why this season feels the way it does. I wanted to see Angie in a romantic relationship, I wanted to see Angie and Vega have to “break up.” 

Q: There’s a lot of growth for all these characters in a shortened arc, but it works. Is there a plan that Motive could get a release as a BluRay or DVD box?

A: I know a couple of the previous seasons are already out on DVD. I haven’t heard anything specifically about a full series package. Part of the reason for that is USA Network is currently four episodes behind the Canadian broadcast line. We still have to complete our first run in the States and there’s the question of international markets.

But I would love to see it. Any opportunity to sit in a room with a bottle of whiskey and do producer commentary will be totally accepted.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I’m in development with Lark Productions on a new project, and I wrote a feature film, an idea I’ve had for years that I’ve always wanted to write. My long term dream would be that it would be a directing debut for myself.

(This interview has been edited and condensed.)

fmarchand@postmedia.com

twitter.com/FMarchandVS

T.J. Miller’s Meticulously Ridiculous Tour

Sept. 7, 7 p.m. | Vogue Theatre

Tickets and info: $32.50, ticketfly.com

After a hit TV series and a string of successful movies, T.J. Miller finds himself in the Hollywood sweet spot of being able to do the things that make him happy.

And what makes him happy right now is returning to his stand-up comedy roots with his Meticulously Ridiculous Tour, which stops in Vancouver on Sept. 7.

“You can’t do that at the beginning of your career in Hollywood. You have to sort of take what you can get to try and grow leverage and capital,” Miller said recently about taking time for stand-up. “Now I am pretty lucky in regards to that.”

Among the work that has bumped him up the Hollywood food chain and allowed him to take time for live comedy is his co-starring and award-winning (although he is on the record saying awards are for children) role of Erlich Bachman in HBO’s hit comedy Silicon Valley. He voices Tuffnut in not one but three How to Train Your Dragon movies. He was a major player (Jack Hammer/Weasel) in the hugely successful, Vancouver-shot Deadpool and he has a major film in the works with Steven Spielberg.

Miller, 35, started his showbiz journey back when he was a junior in college. By 2003 he was getting regular comedy gigs. A few years later he was a frequent roundtable guest on Chelsea Lately and landing small parts in TV sitcoms and voicing commercials (he is the voice of a ball of mucus in the Mucinex ad). He has a Comedy Central special and film credits that include Cloverfield and Get Him to the Greek.

“There’s part of me that wants to believe that people who come to see my stand-up were engaged in my stand-up before TV and film stuff, but that’s probably wishful thinking,” said Miller. “I think for the most part I have rarely got anyone go ‘hey do you do any acting?’ ”

No, for the most part he gets fans of his acting who are curious about his comedy.

” ‘I thought you might suck but I thought it would be interesting to come see you. You’re actually really funny’ — that has been my experience,” said Miller.

T.J. Miller, as Weasel, gets a lift from the mutant character Angel Dust, played by Gina Carano, in this year’s hit movie Deadpool, filmed in Vancouver.

Miller’s show, which opens with his wife Kate Miller doing a sort of vaudeville act, is more about basic human existence. He avoids big-ticket issues and, despite believing a Donald Trump presidency “is the scariest, most terrible thing in the world,” steers clear of politics.

“All I want to do is give people a funny, hopefully absurdist performance where everyone is like ‘OK, yeah, I guess I will look at meaning in my own life differently and yes, I guess we should talk about death a little more.’ I’m trying to talk about universal concepts,” said the Denver native. “I’m not trying to be divisive. When it comes to joking around about how ridiculous everything is and how scary and alone all of us feel, then I think I am speaking to everyone.”

While the stand-up tour brings Miller back to what he loves, he is very much still in the Hollywood mix. We talked to him while he was in London in August shooting the sci-fi thriller Red Player One with Spielberg.

One of the topics that came up was Deadpool 2, specifically when will it happen? According to a slightly cagey Miller, it should begin shooting in early 2017.

And yes, for the record Miller was as surprised as the next guy that the R-rated super hero movie was such a huge hit.

“We thought if it made $60 million the first weekend it would be amazing,” said Miller about the US $40 million movie.

It made $135 million its first weekend and now has $363 million (all U.S. figures) in box office receipts.

“They love him when his face is covered up,” Miller said of the film’s star and Vancouverite Ryan Reynolds. “It’s fantastic. He is distractingly handsome; that is one of the obstacles he has had to overcome, for real.

“He is a comedy guy and nobody who does comedy looks like that. I mean look at me: the lower half of my face looks like a horse. I love it.”

Miller said he hopes that the sequel will come back to Vancouver to shoot so that he can revisit some favourite haunts like Rodney’s Oysters and the VAG, plus sample some more of B.C.’s greenest product.

“It’s very relaxed and progressive there,” Miller said of Vancouver. “There’s oysters and marijuana. What more could you ask for?”

dgee@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/dana_gee

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Oh My Gad

Sept. 6, 8:30 p.m. |  Vogue Theatre

Tickets and info: $35, voguetheatre.com

It’s a good bet that the only thing more stressful for a standup comic than following Jerry Seinfeld on stage would be opening for him.

It’s a highly unenviable task: patrons tend to be impatient with openers, largely because they have shelled out big money for the headliner.

But such was the position Gad Elmaleh found himself in earlier this year in Montreal.

“I was so nervous that night,” Elmaleh said.

“Now I know exactly how the guys who have opened for me (in French) must feel. At least some people in the Montreal audience knew me. I’d have been much more nervous doing this with Jerry in New York in front of super-Anglo audiences.”

Good thing Elmaleh has a thick skin. Like all great self-deprecating comics, the 45-year-old uses it to his advantage when American club patrons mistake him for a waiter and ask him for a Perrier.

Elmaleh — who, coincidentally, has been hailed as the Seinfeld of French comedy — has spent the last year honing his English act. He first appeared in Vancouver at the Rio Theatre last November, performing a small show that served as an introduction to English-speaking audiences.

He is returning with a larger scale performance, Oh My Gad, on Sept. 6 at the Vogue Theatre. 

In his brief set at the Seinfeld show in Montreal, Elmaleh’s Anglo shtick went over well. Unlike many French comics, who tend to do longer anecdotal bits, his act is much more setup- and punchline-driven — more American in style. Like Seinfeld, he is also highly engaging and amiable, and tends to focus on life’s minutiae.

Seinfeld has been a buddy and mentor to Elmaleh, and featured him in a hilarious episode of Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee series. The two tooled around New York in a vintage Citroën Deux Chevaux, which was forever stalling but did allow them to get coffee, as well as frites and baguettes.

Seinfeld has also opened for Elmaleh at Joe’s Pub in New York.

“He was so nervous, too,” Elmaleh cracks. “When the host announced that Jerry would be opening, the crowd didn’t really react. Maybe they thought it was a joke. But when he came out, the crowd went — as they say in New York — bananas.

“Then I had to follow him. … Then the real comedy happened,” he deadpans. “But we’re friends, and I feel that people are aware of that connection. I had been such a fan of his before we became friends.”

The two first met a decade back in Cannes. “He walked into the room. There were 10 people in it, and he points at me and says: ‘You must be the funny guy.’ I asked how he knew — if he saw my picture or if he Googled me. He said he hadn’t. He just said in every room there is one funny guy, and that I was the guy.”

Elmaleh comes across about as grounded and unassuming as anyone, but make no mistake: he is a superstar in the Franco comedy world. He was voted the funniest person in France. He was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France’s Minister of Culture. He plays to crowds of up to 15,000 in Europe, and has enjoyed sold-out runs lasting months at a time.

Having pretty much gone as far as he could in French comedy, Elmaleh — who is also a major film star in France — set his sights on conquering the English world of chuckles a few years back. He landed roles in Woody Allen’s 2011 hit Midnight in Paris and Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (also 2011).

On the subject of English comedy, talk turns to Jerry Lewis, who, for reasons unknown, appears to remain as popular as brie in France.

“Do you know what’s more popular than Jerry Lewis in France?” Pause. “The idea of Jerry Lewis being the most popular comic in France.

“Everywhere I go in America, when they learn I’m from France, the first thing they ask is if I’m a huge Jerry Lewis fan. I’ve never been able to figure that out. Maybe it’s because of his body movements. It’s just so weird. Maybe it’s because of the theatrical comedy tradition in France. But it just makes no sense to me.”

Born in Casablanca, Morocco, Elmaleh studied political science at the Université de Montréal for four years before moving to Paris in the mid-1990s to pursue drama courses.

After he quickly established himself as a comedic force in France, it didn’t take long for programmers from the French component of the Montreal comedy fest, Juste pour rire, to book him for performances.

Elmaleh is also well versed in the North American humour scene. He is able to differentiate, for example, between L.A.- and New York-style standup, and has a decided preference for the latter.

“I’m living in New York now, and every night when I’m there, I go to the (famed Comedy) Cellar and perform. That’s the only way to learn how to be more efficient with my routine. The funny thing is that I’ve also picked up a lot for my French act as well.”

He recalls running into 30 Rock star Judah Friedlander, a Ping-Pong champ. “He told me that after breaking his right hand, he learned how to play with his left hand, which he compared to me doing English comedy. He also said that when he returned to playing Ping-Pong with his right hand, he was much better, because he had learned so much more. That’s exactly what I feel now, after going through the struggle of trying to do English comedy and starting all over again.”

Like Seinfeld, Elmaleh eschews political comedy, largely because it gets dated quickly and because much of it is derivative.

“I remember someone asked Jerry why he never does political material. He said that was funny, because no one ever asks those guys who do political stuff why they never do neurotic observational material. That’s a good point.”

Elmaleh segues into a bit about French doors. “That’s only in America. We don’t have French doors in France. And, oh yeah, I just discovered that French toast was invented in America.

“And what’s with this idea of ‘friends with benefits’ in America? In France, we just call them ‘friends.’ And what’s with ‘date night’ in America? In France, we just call that ‘marriage.’ In America, going on a date is really more like ‘interview night.’ You have to give your resumé.”

As a result, the now-single Elmaleh is focused on just being a full-time “comedy geek.” Among other projects, there are plans for a Netflix special.

Elmaleh is honest enough to concede that his ego has taken the occasional beating on this side of the pond. He can’t walk the streets of Paris without being swarmed by fans. In New York, few know him.

“The funniest thing that happened to me recently was opening for Jerry at the Beacon Theatre in New York. When I showed up at the stage door, they wouldn’t let me in. The guy said he had someone called ‘opener’ on his sheet to let in. I said I was the opener, but he didn’t believe me. He called the manager, and after 15 minutes of explaining, they finally let me in.

“The funny thing is that I performed at the Beacon, as a headliner in French, three years ago and we sold out the place,” he says. “But it’s OK. It’s humbling, and it builds character. It’s nice to be without a chauffeur and bodyguards, to walk around the streets anonymously and go to work. There’s no madness, no screaming. It’s wonderful. This is another challenge.

“Then there’s the money thing. Working in America almost costs me more. But as they say in America: ‘No pain, no gain.’ Still, I’m no masochist, either. If I were bombing with my jokes in English, I would go back to France. Maybe do that mime thing.”

Canadian screenwriters would really like to do a thorough re-write of a recent Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decision that changes how Canadian a television show needs to be in order to be called “Canadian” and receive public funding.

Acclaimed Vancouver screenwriter and television producer Dennis Heaton, who helmed award-winning Vancouver-made crime drama Motive for four seasons, first sounded the alarm on social media earlier this week.

In a post on Facebook, Heaton decried the change in CRTC regulations reducing the number of points needed for a production to be deemed Canadian. Announced on Aug. 25, the new policy framework for Certified Independent Production Funds (which includes funds run by Shaw, Telus and Cogeco) dropped the requirement from eight to six points out of 10.

The 10 points, as defined by the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office and required to get access to the larger Canadian Media Fund, are awarded based on if the television show has a Canadian director (two points); screenwriter (two points); highest paid and/or second highest paid lead performers (one point each); director of photography (one point); art director (one point); music composer (one point); and picture editor (one point). The only non-negotiable pre-requisite — excluded from the points system — is that the producer be Canadian.

“A reduction in the minimum Canadian certification points requirement will allow more productions to be eligible for CIPF funding,” the CRTC’s decision stated. “Canadian production companies will be able to benefit from expertise from abroad.”

In other words, critics say, the CRTC is arguing Canadian TV needs international help in order to succeed.

Re-framing Canadian content

The change in the framework comes at a time when the film and television industry in Vancouver has never been busier, thanks to American productions like Legends of Tomorrow and NBC’s forthcoming sci-fi series Timeless coming to shoot here because of Vancouver’s talented technical labour pool, comprehensive studio infrastructure, and a low Canadian dollar.

The danger, Heaton said, is that the new six-point threshold could potentially enable more American- and international-oriented productions to be deemed “Canadian” by devaluing the role of Canadian screenwriters, who are much less secure in a “service” industry like Vancouver’s.

Dennis Heaton at the 18th annual Leo Awards in downtown Vancouver on June 5, 2016. The Leos celebrate excellence in British Columbia film and television.

In his post on Facebook, Heaton asked that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sign a letter of recommendation for his application for an O-1 visa, which allows “for the individual who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry” to work in the U.S.

“If the CRTC policy is going to allow for an influx — potentially a large influx — of non-Canadian talent to come up to Canada to work on our productions,” Heaton said in a phone interview, “then I felt the government should give us a quid pro quo on our ability to leave.”

Some Canadian screenwriters have already left.

One example is University of British Columbia alum and former teacher Hart Hanson who famously created forensic series Bones, based on the work of popular author Kathy Reichs, for American television.

“Canadian screenwriters are very successful abroad,” said Maureen Parker, executive director for the Writers Guild of Canada. “It’s funny how they’re so great in other countries but they stink at home. It’s such a part of the Canadian mentality. But of course we have talented people here who want to stay and tell their stories.”

According to Parker, the recent change to the CRTC’s points requirements is part of a wider strategy initiated under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“It’s important to remember that it’s a CRTC decision,” Parker said. “The CRTC is an arms length organization of the government. The current chair (Jean-Pierre Blais) was appointed by Prime Minister Harper, and he has had a very definitive, clear direction coming out in all of his policies.”

The bigger picture

Two years ago, the CRTC held the Let’s Talk TV hearings in which the idea of giving production companies more flexibility to hire from abroad was championed.

In a letter sent to the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) on Aug. 31 and forwarded to The Vancouver Sun, Blais responded by saying the Aug. 25 change in the funding policy framework was not a sudden, unexpected move.

“The CRTC clearly indicated, as a part of the Let’s Talk TV decision, following this extensive process, that it would examine its policies for independent Canadian production funds,” Blais wrote. “The Canadian cultural sector needs to be forward looking to offer compelling high-quality content to Canadians and to global audiences, in ever more digitally connected, borderless world.

“The CRTC must also look beyond our national borders to the world market,” Blais added. “There are important audiences that Canadian creators have and must continue to reach. It is essential to the continued financing of Canadian made productions. We, as well as other federal and provincial funding partners, have always recognized the importance of international partnerships and collaboration to help ensure that productions made by Canadians with Canadian resources and the support of over $4 billion in contributions by tax payers, and subscribers, reaches not only a national, but also an international audience.”

That idea has been supported by international media group Entertainment One (eOne), who owns Vancouver’s Force Four Entertainment (Emergency, Tricked, Border Security) and Paperny Entertainment (Timber Kings, Chopped Canada). Globally, the company invested $400 million in television drama in 2015.

eOne Entertainment would not comment on this story, but in an Aug. 15 letter to the CRTC addressing the license renewal of the Corus Entertainment group, eOne included this recommendation: “Recognizing that audiences are discovering content on a multitude of new platforms, (the CRTC should) establish mechanisms that encourage contribution to Canadian content creation on the part of enterprises that benefit from our content ecosystem and enjoy access to Canadian viewers.”

Simply put: eOne seemed to argue along the same line as the CRTC that if Canadian shows are to be seen abroad in the age of digital distribution and Netflix streaming, Canadian content creators should be ready to accept production help from abroad.

“What that means is (big production and distribution companies) want Americans or Europeans to put money into the production budgets,” Parker said. “And the only way overseas entities will do that is if they have some sort of creative control.”

Can-do CanCon

For Graeme Manson, the Vancouver-bred co-creator of Toronto-shot series Orphan Black, the CRTC’s change to the points system is troubling.

Orphan Black is a 10-point series, entirely created and shot by Canadians, starring Canadian actors. The series has been exported to more than 150 countries and territories. 

Overall, the export value of Canadian TV reached an all-time high of $539 million in 2014-15, according to stats provided by the Writers Guild of Canada.

“Our show, and the success of our show, is the reason tax dollars go to (the television industry),” Manson said. “I immediately think about all the younger writers who are trying to get their own projects off the ground. It’s going to impact creators and actors in the points system.

“I can’t help but think that if Orphan Black was a six out of 10, would we have (Emmy-nominated rising star) Tatiana Maslany? Any network would have jumped to cast an American. This allows producers to bring in an American or a non-Canadian creative team and stick it with a Canadian crew.”

(L-R) Co-creator John Fawcett, actors Kristian Bruun, Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Gavaris and co-creator Graeme Manson attend An Evening With The Cast & Co-Creator Of “Orphan Black” at 92nd Street Y on March 31, 2016 in New York City.

For Manson, who is in preparation stages for the fifth season of the award-winning show (which holds a 92 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes), Canadian creators are no longer content with mere flag-waving and are “shooting universally.”

“We’re telling universal stories, and part of that is the result of the existing system. We can measure up on the world stage,” he said. “There is always that southern exodus. There’s nothing wrong with that. These are independent creators, and they have the right to take it anywhere they want.

“But there are a lot, including myself, who chose to stay here because we could see getting our own projects, our own series off the ground here in Canada with our own actors, in our own backyard, doing something that we believe in, which is Canadian culture.”

With the CRTC’s latest decision, Manson can see a battle brewing between the directors, actors and writers guilds, and the CRTC.

“The online film community is being very vocal and we’re starting to figure it out. It’s only been a week. I’m not sure what the Writers Guild or ACTRA have up their sleeves but I believe there’s a fight coming.

“This is the track that Harper laid, and I think that there have been Canadian success stories since this track was laid that are incredibly good arguments against this business affairs-driven decision.”

Notable 10-point Canadian TV series exports

Drama and Comedy
Call Me Fitz: 192 countries and territories
Degrassi: 140+
Heartland: 119
Murdoch Mysteries: 110
Orphan Black: 150+
The Listener: 180
The Next Step: 100+

Children’s television
Caillou: 100+
Johnny Test: 200+
Wild Kratts: 180+

Source: Writers Guild of Canada

(Note: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated Entertainment One owned Corus Entertainment. They are separate entities.)

fmarchand@postmedia.com

twitter.com/FMarchandVS

HIGH FLYERS: Dueck auto dealer Moray Keith held a showroom party recently to launch Cadillac’s XT5 and CT6 models. Symbolizing manufacturer General Motors’ revival from government bailouts and decades of indifferent models, a large trampoline had gymnasts soar five metres over partygoers’ heads. “We’re trying to get our sales guys to bounce even higher,” Keith said. Watching the rebounders, Vancouver Canucks captain-turned-president of hockey operations Trevor Linden likely shared that view.

Dueck auto dealer Moray Keith threw a party and fashion show to launch two Cadillac models, one of which looked about to crash into him.

Vaunted new models notwithstanding, Keith has collected a dozen classic Cadillacs. The latest is a very-low-mileage 1957 Coupe de Ville. That era’s prominent front-bumper styling inspired the “bullet bra,” a garment not evident when Vancouver Fashion Week designers staged a show on the Dueck sales floor. Among them, Grandy Chu accompanied Andrew Saxton Jr., the former Conservative MP and possible leadership seeker who doubtless hopes the electoral trampoline will bounce him and his party back up again.

Seen on his and henna-decorated Shalina Kajani’s wedding day in 2013, John Daly has retired from a fourth-decade TV news-reporting career.

Global BC sports anchor Squire Barnes and news director-station manager Jill Krop attended John Daly’s wall-to-wall retirement party.

ANCHORS AWEIGH: Television folk celebrated Global reporter John Daly and promotions professional Shalina Kajani’s 2013 wedding in the couple’s penthouse. That lively event was overpowered by a recent wall-to-waller at Mahony & Sons Stamps Landing where, with a poster for the Titanic’s first and last sailing on the wall, colleagues and pals marked Daly’s retirement. On-air tributes included Global New anchors Chris Gailus and Sophie Lui giving the fourth-decade reporter a three-minute sendoff. Promising festivities “from 6 p.m. till dawn,” the party invitation pictured Daly receiving the sole award — reporter of the year — at 1987’s inaugural Jack Webster Awards banquet. A career highlight was his on-the-spot coverage of police raiding then-premier Glen Clark’s home. Now a media heavy himself as president of the Jim Pattison Group and its The News Group North America component, Clark missed a tit-for-tat showing at Daly’s party.

SET-STRAIGHT: Sophie Lui’s surname appeared as Liu in this column Sept. 3. Punsters call that ebacuating one’s vowels.

Movie director Uwe Boll staged a party at his Bauhaus restaurant for his frequent producer, Brightlight Pictures head Shawn Williamson.

PlaceSpeak firm founder Colleen Hardwick and actor Gary Chalk celebrated their third anniversary at Brightlight Pictures’ Bauhaus party.

Global News anchor Chris Gailus and Postmedia crime reporter Kim Bolan attended Global reporter John Daly’s retirement party. 

Chris Haddock and Julia Kwan received the inaugural Daryl Duke prizes for Canadian screenwriting from Lt.-Gov. Iona Campagnolo in 2007.

Gloria Hsu accompanied husband and Taipei Economic and Cultural Office director-general Tom Lee to TAIWANfest celebrations.

MOTHERING WHISTLER: Ganja smoke clouded the screen in 2002 when then-political science student Shauna Hardy Mishaw co-founded the Whistler Film Festival. Although the air has cleared, the purview widened and budgets, attendance and sponsorship increased greatly, she remains as sole executive director.

“We are fundraising for initiatives that will propel us into one of the most important film festivals in the world,” Hardy Mishaw predicted in 2010. During a suitably yeasty fundraiser at Big Rock Brewery recently, she said: “Our festival has presented the work of over 1,000 filmmakers.” One was Coast Salish Talent actor-producer Mary Galloway, whose Unintentional Mother screened in 2015 and who has received the inaugural Kevin Spacey Foundation award for Canadian filmmakers. At the Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 running, “Ten talent programs will serve up to 64 Canadian artists,” Hardy Mishaw said.

ARTSPEAK: “Thoroughly but never didactically, (the artist) scrutinizes dimensions of our telluric existence in terms of the physical, perceptual, and technological interiority that defines us.”

FIRST BITE: The Fishing For Kids tournament has raised close to $8 million for the Canucks Autism Foundation since 2009. For the previous three years, it benefitted B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation. The Mining Suppliers Association’s Al Cloke and Dave Sharples joined Westcoast Fishing Club’s Brian Legge and Brian and Rick Grange to stage that original angling competition. Their annual event resurfaced in Tofino in 2011 as the Hooked on Miracles tournament that, with related Mining for Miracles programs, has reportedly raised over $25 million for the foundation.

DOWN PARRYSCOPE: Guess which restaurateur is nicknamed Mr. Grumpy Pants.

malcolmparry@shaw.ca
604-929-8456

The Bachelorette Canada

Sept. 13,9 p.m. | W Network

Canada, meet Jasmine Lorimer.

The Ontario-born and now B.C.-based beauty may be the new star of the reality television show Bachelorette Canada, but she’s more than a woman on the hunt for love. 

Lorimer isn’t one to shy away from situations that make her uncomfortable. In fact, she prefers to embrace them.

“I tried to throw myself out of my comfort zone, which I’m usually quite good at,” Lorimer says of her decision to appear on the show. “This was obviously with a different goal in mind — to meet somebody — but at the same time, I got to experience this crazy ride.”

During a recent stop in Vancouver for her cross-Canada promotional tour for the new series, which airs Sept. 13 on W Network, Lorimer talked hairstyling (she’s a professional stylist based in Pemberton and Whistler), on-camera drama (there is going to be a lot this season) and searching for love on television (unfortunately, she wouldn’t give any hints as to the outcome). 

BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM

Q. You’re currently on a press tour for the show. Does coming back to Vancouver feel like a homecoming?

A. I’m originally from Ontario, but I lived in Vancouver for a little over four years, so Vancouver does feel a little bit like home to me. 

Q. We see a lot of photos of Pemberton on your Instagram feed. What’s the connection? 

A. I moved up there because I wanted to get out of the city. It reminds me of the feeling I have when I’m back home in Kenora (ON), because it’s also a small town and it’s very community-oriented. But I wasn’t quite ready to leave B.C., and I wasn’t ready to live too far away from Vancouver. So, it’s kind of the perfect option. 

Q. As a single woman I don’t think I would have the guts to go on television to try to find love. How did you prepare to be Canada’s first Bachelorette? 

A. I just had to go in blind and with an open mind because I knew it could be scary if I thought about it. I just opened myself up to the whole experience and tried to be myself.

END OPTIONAL TRIM 

Q. In the teaser trailer for the show it looks like there is going to be a lot of tears and drama on display this season. Is it real? 

A. It becomes really emotional. It seems hard to believe, I know for a lot of people and even watching as a fan before, to imagine you could actually feel that strongly for someone after such a short period of time. That’s always the biggest question in people’s minds: Is this real? And I can tell you, it is. 

Q. Did it feel like a marathon in a way, approaching relationships in this way? 

A. I liked it. It feels empowering to be able to do that without being stereotyped as a crazy girl. Being able to really take control of the conversation and feel OK about asking those tough questions you might not have otherwise asked that soon. 

Q. Any gossip you can reveal about the guys? Who should we watch out for? 

A. I won’t say specifics, but I will say there is such a variety of men. And when you get those different men going after one woman, drama is bound to come about. So keep an eye out for all that drama. 

Q. Canada will soon know you as the Bachelorette, but what can you tell us about who you are away from the show? 

A. Coming from a small town, I’ve always wanted to go and experience life. From that, I’ve become very adventurous. I will do anything — if it’s going to push me and be something that is going to help me grow as a person, I’m all for it. I’ve always been interested in art. I wanted to be an artist, that was my thing growing up, until I didn’t know if I was going to have a job doing that. So, I decided to get into hairstyling because I knew that was going to be a really great creative outlet for me and I love working with people. It has never felt like a job and I’ve been doing it for almost 10 years. I love it. 

BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM

Q. The teaser trailer shows you in basically bathing suits and ball gowns — but what’s your everyday style like? 

A. It’s kind of bohemian and laid-back. I don’t typically wear ball gowns (laughs) and I don’t even own any fancy dresses. I’m more casual, but I really love doing makeup and my hair and getting eyelash extensions. They’re my favourite thing in the whole world, and the one thing I treat myself to every month. 

END OPTIONAL TRIM

Q. You’re the first Bachelorette Canada, but you’re actually following the footsteps of some very famous B.C. bachelorettes. Did either Jillian Harris or Kaitlyn Bristowe reach out with any advice before the show? 

A. They just might have — there just might be something. But I don’t know. 

Q. Sounds like another secret. 

A. Yes. 

Q. Speaking of secrets, can you offer a glimpse of what we’re going to see during the season? 

A. I wish I could tell you more, but there are going to be some really great destinations and some really fun activities.

Q. And hopefully you found love?

A. You’ll have to tune in and see. I learned so much about myself and had the most incredible experience. I’m so happy that I did it, I’m so happy that I met everyone. But you’re just going to have to wait and see. I can’t spoil it for you. 

The cast and crew of the Supergirl television series were chased out of the downtown central branch of the Vancouver Public Library when the building’s sprinkler system was accidentally triggered during filming early this morning.

The fire sprinklers went off just as the crew for The CW show was beginning to wrap up their shoot.

The library’s main atrium was flooded, but no books were damaged.

“We opened as scheduled at 10 a.m. … so that’s good news,” said Stephen Barrington, VPL manager of marketing and communications. “We don’t know the cause but I can confirm the fire sprinklers were accidentally triggered.”

Affected areas were the atrium, three lower level meeting rooms and adjacent exhibit space

Barrington says the flooding had virtually no impact on public service and all regular VPL events are proceeding as scheduled, although the Friends of the Vancouver Public Library book sale has been postponed.

Season 2 of Supergirl has been shooting in and around Vancouver since July.

Warner Bros TV moved production of the superhero series from Los Angeles to Vancouver to take advantage of the lower Canadian dollar and B.C. film tax credits.

The series, which stars Melissa Benoist as the girl of steel, will air on The CW, which also produces three other DC Comics series —The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow — in Vancouver. 

Aftermath

Starts Sept. 27 | Space (Canada) and Syfy (U.S.)

Van Helsing

Starts Sept. 23 | Syfy (U.S.)

Wayne Brady is better known as the quick-witted funny man who lights up TV game shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway and Let’s Make A Deal.

You’d be hard-pressed to think of him as a gun-toting tough guy decked in camo gear ready to take on the end of the world.

Yet that’s exactly what Brady will be doing in forthcoming television series Aftermath, shot in Vancouver this summer.

The show, which premieres on Space in Canada on Sept. 27, stars Anne Heche and real-life husband James Tupper as they fight for survival, along with their three children, in a civilization on the brink of collapse.

“Doing things like this is the actor’s dream,” Brady said in a phone interview. “I’m a big sci-fi and comic nerd. I’ve read comic books my entire life. When it comes to zombie flicks and video games, I’m pretty much a 44-year-old man with a 13-year-old boy trapped inside of him, like a lot of us are.”

Brady will appear as Lamar “Booner” Boone, a former acquaintance of main character Karen Copeland (Heche) who helps the family escape attacks from a yet unrevealed army of creatures (hint: not zombies). In one scene shot on the BCIT campus this summer, Brady was gleefully playing up shooting at and blowing up imaginary baddies, which would later be added to the scene thanks to the magic of CGI.

“To run around with your fake gun, spouting military dialogue and ducking and dodging — that’s just what I used to do in the front yard as a kid,” Brady said.

Brady added his dream gig would be to reprise the role of Dr. Scott Beckett in a Quantum Leap reboot, should there ever be one. (The role catapulted Scott Bakula to fame and earned him a Golden Globe.)

“I’ve lobbied for it,” Brady said. “Quantum Leap is, for my money, the perfect time travel story, yet it’s grounded in science. Those stories were awesome. I’d love to be the next doctor in Quantum Leap or be the next doctor in Doctor Who, that’s the holy grail.”

In a scene from Van Helsing, (left-right) Avery Konrad as Cynthia, Jennifer Spece as Karen, Alison Wandzura as Nicole, Christopher Heyerdahl as Sam, David Cubitt as John. Photo by: Dan Power/Helsing S1 Productions/Syfy

“(Sci-fi is) the ultimate pretend,” said Vancouver actress Alison Wandzura, who plays pipe-wielding vampire buster Nicole in the forthcoming Van Helsing series. 

“If you’re in a Hallmark movie you have to pretend you’re happier than normal people are. But if you’re in a sci-fi show, you get to pretend you’re doing things that are not real. It appeals to actors because we all have that imagination and we want to be someone we’re not.”

Creator and executive producer Neil LaBute’s show, shot in Vancouver and co-produced by Calgary’s Nomadic Pictures (Hell On Wheels, Fargo), will air in the States on SyFy starting Sept. 23. (The show does not have a distributor for Canada yet. In Quebec, the show will air in French on Super Ecran.)

Van Helsing stars Kelly Overton (True Blood) as Vanessa Helsing, a distant relative of the legendary Dracula character Van Helsing, as the leader of a ensemble cast of vampire hunters that also includes Christopher Heyerdahl (Hell On Wheels, True Blood).

Wandzura compared the gritty show, set in a world overrun with vampires, to zombie favourite The Walking Dead. Large chunks of Van Helsing were shot on top of the Canada Post building in downtown Vancouver, where the cast was subjected to hail and other elements.

“If you’re looking for a romantic, glitzy, Twilight-type thing, this is not the show,” she said. “Some of the imagery in the show is really shocking. My mom watched the pilot episode that was previewed in July. She called me and said, ‘I can’t watch the show, but send me the clips that you’re in.'”

Both Aftermath and Van Helsing are part of a continued wave of Vancouver-shot sci-fi shows that have been the city’s staple since The X-Files first landed on the West Coast. This year’s crop, however, really drives home the apocalypse theme.

“Vancouver is apocalypse central, isn’t it?” Wandzura said. “Maybe we like to watch these shows and then when the credits roll, we think, ‘Well, maybe my life isn’t that bad. OK, the housing prices are bad, but at least it’s not that bad.'”

Five other Vancouver-shot sci-fi and fantasy shows to check out this fall

Lucifer

The devil-centric series returns for a second season on CTV on Sept. 19.

Once Upon A Time

The fantastic series starring Ginnifer Goodwin returns to Storybrooke for a sixth season on CTV on Sept. 25.

Timeless

This highly anticipated time travel drama comes to the small screen via NBC on Oct. 3.

No Tomorrow

Romantic fantasy comedy-drama based on Brazilian series How To Enjoy the End of the World begins airing on The CW on Oct. 4.

Frequency

Created by Jeremy Carver (Supernatural, Being Human), this CW series premiering on Oct. 5 tells the story of a NYPD detective communicating with her deceased father by radio.

fmarchand@postmedia.com

twitter.com/FMarchandVS

Skydance Studios officially opened its new Surrey facility at 12091 88th Ave. on Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner, Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services Amrik Virk, and Skydance Media CEO David Ellison and other key players in B.C.’s burgeoning film and television industry.

The lead show for the facility is the 10-episode Netflix series Altered Carbon. Based upon Richard K. Morgan’s 2002 debut novel of the same title, the series stars Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad, House of Cards, The Killing) as an ancient interstellar warrior named Takeshi Kovacs. Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Shutter Island, Terminator Genisys) is executive producer, writer and showrunner. The show starts shooting the week of Sept. 28 and will be released for the Fall 2017 season. FYI: Kinnaman refers to Vancouver as “the Cou.”

Fresh off his recent Emmy Award win for the Battle of the Bastards episode of Game of Thrones, director Miguel Sapochnik directs Episode 1. Kinnaman is on record saying that Altered Carbon has a bigger budget than the first three seasons of Game of Thrones. Nobody would confirm this at the news conference.

Skydance Studio’s arrival is part of a concerted effort to develop a long-term creative industries sector in the city and region. Here are five things to know about Skydance Studios:

1.) Skydance Media: The parent company founded by David Ellison in 2010 to create entertainment for global audiences with a focus on immersive worlds and multiple platforms boasts some impressive properties. To date, its features include Star Trek Beyond and Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, Jack Reacher, True Grit and the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Grace and Frankie.

2.) Skydance Studios: The facility boasts one of the world’s longest and tallest stages. The 460-foot long and 50-feet high mega stage is being transformed into a San Francisco streetscape circa 2516. There will even be technical capabilities to make it rain on demand in the stage. There are five sound stages in total all being used on Altered Carbon.

3.) 400 jobs: And counting. This is the initial figure that is expected from the media company opening its doors. Mayor Hepner says the operation and spinoffs represent a $100-million injection into the economy. The deal with the Netflix series is slated to run over the next eight years.

4.) 150 and counting: The number of permits issued by the City of Surrey for film and TV productions in 2016 to date. That’s up from last year’s total which was a record-breaking 100-plus permits.

5.) Next Star Trek?: When questioned, Ellison candidly said he would let people know the details of the next Star Trek film when he knew if there was one. He did not deny that Skydance Studios could be used for other productions besides Altered Carbon.

sderdeyn@postmedia.com

twitter.com/stuartderdeyn

“What happens if you become pregnant are we going to be stuck with Tim Kaine for nine months?”

“As Secretary (of State) how many words per minute could you type?”

Zach Galifianakis asked all the tough questions during his one-on-one discussion with Hillary Clinton in a new episode of the funnyman’s Between Two Ferns mock interview show.

Galifianakis, whose previous guests have included President Barack Obama as well as a host of Hollywood celebrities like Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lawrence, asked the U.S. Democratic presidential nominee if she intended to shift her campaign strategy by emulating her Republican opponent.

“When you see how well it works for Donald Trump do you ever think to yourself ‘Oh maybe I should be more racist’?” Galifianakis asked Clinton, who responded with a grin and a head shake.

Hillary Clinton appears on Between Two Ferns.

The five-and-a-half minute interview was posted on the Funny Or Die comedy website Thursday morning.

FULL HOUSE: One of the more striking contemporary-art collections hereabouts has nothing to do with Michael Audain, Bob Rennie and suchlike. Its close to 1,000 pieces that have so filled Iran-born Nader and Mana Mobargha’s 7,000-square-foot home that they’ve commissioned one three times larger to avoid tripping over each other and Persian cat Shangool. That size shouldn’t daunt architect Hossein Amanat who, at age 24, designed the massive white-marble tower in Tehran’s Azadi Square.

Mobargha-owned artworks include Heech (Farsi for “nothing”), a 600-kg bronze sculpture by Parviz Tanavoli. He’s the West Vancouver resident who was detained briefly in Tehran recently. His equally monumental The Wall (Oh Persepolis) fetched US$2.84 million at Christie’s Dubai art sale. The Mobarghas own four Tanavoli sculptures, two paintings and jewelry. Their several calligraphic paintings by the similarly famed Mohammad Ehsai include one commissioned in Mana’s name. Christie’s raised US$1.161 million for a similar Ehsai work titled He Is The Merciful.

Vastly valuable contemporary Persian artworks compete for position on the walls of Nader and Mana Mobargha’s North Shore home.

The collection’s centrepiece shouldn’t be there — or anywhere — at all. Larger than artist Bahman Mohasses’ other works at 4.5-by-two metres, the sexually suggestive painting was condemned for destruction by Khomeini-revolution zealots. Folded into a suitcase, it was spirited to Vancouver. After disbelieving rumours he’d heard, then negotiating for a year, Nader acquired what looked to be beyond renovation. But an Italian who had restored Michelangelo works did the trick. The untitled painting now hangs in the Mobargha home beside “Picasso of Iran” Mohasses’ smaller works. Other top Persian artists represented are Sohrab Sepehri, Mohsen Vaziri Moqhaddam and Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, for whose Tchaar Bagh (four-part garden) painting Christie’s raised US$1.6 million in Dubai.

Wearing a pendant and ring crafted by Parviz Tanavoli, Mana Mobargha is backed by a Mohammad Ehshai painting named for her.

Persian cat Shangool seemed determined to keep viewers from a Mohsen Vaziri Moqaddam painting in Nader and Mana Mobargha’s bedroom.

You can’t just ring the Mobarghas’ bell to see their collection, but here’s a tip. In mid-October, they’ll occupy Yaletown’s former Italinteriors store and launch Moissonnier. Managed by Mana, it will feature that 130-year-old Parisian firm’s handmade furniture and other pieces from Venice-based Arte Veneziana. With luck, works from the art collection will be on view. With even greater luck, some visitor-clients may get to see the remainder.

Yoshiko Karasawa and husband Michael Audain saw work on the Polygon Gallery their foundation sparkplugged with a $4-million donation.

FUTURE PRESENT: As for established art galleries,

Turnbull Construction’s Alan Nicholson and Presentation House director Reid Shier viewed the Polygon Gallery for springtime completion.

it’s four blocks from North Vancouver’s Presentation House to the foot of Lonsdale Street. Director Reid Shier and staff will walk there in April to occupy an $18-million facility architects John and Patricia Patkau designed. The facility’s new name, Polygon Gallery, reflects a $4-million donation by Polygon Homes chair Michael Audain, whose Patkau-designed art museum in Whistler cost $43.5 million. After guests toured the incomplete Polygon Gallery recently, Christian Chan and Stephanie Wesik chaired a gala-auction in the neighbouring Pipe Shop at the Shipyards. Although washrooms are immediately adjacent, they’ve yet to be installed inside that renovated industrial structure. With Poplar Grove winery and Red Truck brewery as the photography-specializing gallery’s generous sponsors, some gala-goers may have felt … uh, over-exposed.

Victoria potter Cathy Terepocki won a Sholto Scruton-designed trophy at Western Living magazine’s Designers of The Year awards event.

INS AND OUTS: Western Living magazine reserved the Pipe Shop at the Shipyards for its recent, ninth annual Designers of The Year prize-giving. Winnipeg architect Clayton Salkeld and Calgary interior designer Douglas Cridland took the top two of eight awards. Victoria ceramicist Cathy Terepocki received the inaugural — and welcome — Maker citation. As for musical-chairs awards, attendees met new-that-day Western Living and Vancouver magazine publisher Dee Dhaliwal, who held six such local titles in four years before succeeding Tom Gierasimczuk. He got the heave-ho recently along with even-shorter-term Vanmag editor Max Fawcett who had barely got his swivel-chair adjusted. WL editor Anicka Quin now oversees both glossies.

Founder Jamal Abdourahman saw shoes lined up for models in the 80-designer, 16th-annual Vancouver Fashion Week’s opening runway show.

ABDOURAHMAN’S SECRET: Vancouver Fashion Week’s most spectacular changes occur in a hot, crowded backstage room where hitherto-serene runway models hurl themselves out of one ensemble and into another. The fashions themselves also change dramatically at each annual event. Not so Djibouti-born Jamal Abdourahman, who opened this year’s 80-designer VFW looking exactly as he did when launching the series in 2001. Methinks many attendees might pay a bundle to learn how he does it.

TEN YEARS AGO: Producer-director Karyn Robyn planned The Spicy Life TV series to feature Spice Lucks. She’s the realtor who buzzed along Point Grey Road on a pink Vespa motor-scooter, getting $2 million or so for 33-foot knock-downs and twice that for 50-footers. Those barely exceed Strathcona prices today, and series like Ultra Rich Asian Girls were produced rather than Spicy Life. Meanwhile, city council closed Point Grey Road to through traffic and found $6.4 million to build three-metre-wide sidewalks. Then, given the eyes-wide-open style the Vision name implies, it urged residents there and elsewhere to spy on their neighbours and snitch on those who risk up to $15,000 penalties for not occupying their paid-for homes full-time. Lucky us.

DOWN PARRYSCOPE: Bruges’ Belgian burghers didn’t bellyache when a pipeline replaced tanker trucks criss-crossing their ancient city. Not to carry the usual lubricant, though. It links Browerij De Halve Maan’s 452-year-old beer-brewing locale to a suburban bottling plant.

malcolmparry@shaw.ca
604-929-8456

Tengger Cavalry

The Rickshaw, 254 E. Hastings | Saturday, 10 p.m. | Tickets/Info: $14.50 at rickshawtheatre.com

Tengger Cavalry can lay claim to being the world’s best known nomadic death folk metal band. As heavy metal subsets go, it isn’t the most populated of genres. But if you like mouth harp, horse-head fiddle and overtone throat singing mixed with pummelling pagan riffage, this quintet is it.

Founded in New York City six years ago by Beijing-born and raised Chinese singer/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Nature Ganganbaigal, the group features Russian-born bassist Alex Abayev, Inner Mongolian fiddler Uljmuren and American drummer Josh Schifris and second fiddler Robert McLaughlin. Vice, The Guardian, even the Wall Street Journal has sung the band’s praises. It sold out a Christmas Eve show at Carnegie Hall.

The ride up the Steppes to Heaven is doubtless a long one. Nature is pursuing a passion that began with studying Mongolian folk traditions as a kid to learn about his family heritage, pursuing it further into the country to learn to fully express it and then carried it right through to the present in New York. Here are five things about the group:

1 – Nomadic Folk Metal: “Tengri/Tengger is the sky god of Mongolian and Turkic shamanism,” said Nature. “I wanted to make music that balanced my love of the traditional music from Mongolia with its horse-trot rhythms but with the intensity of heavy metal and discovered the two pair exceptionally well.”

2 – The Membership: “This started as a solo project but then I met Robert, who was already an accomplished traditional player, at the annual Naadam Festival in Mongolia. We added Uljmuren from Inner Mongolia and the others came along. We are all over the place but come together when we need to.”

3 – The Following: “We have over 4,000 Facebook followers in Mongolia proper and dream to play there soon, but for the moment we are concentrating on Europe and North America and finding that the results are good. Metal fans are really willing to check out something different all the time.”

4 – Krutaya Gora:  “That is the Russian translation of the title song from our latest Mountain Side EP sung by our bassist Alex. I had this idea that he should record the Russian lyrics when he was really, really drunk on vodka. He did and we really liked it.”

5 – Club Remixes: “We’ve done a few club mixes of our songs and — honestly — I have no idea what kind of clubs would play them, but I really like club and DJ music, so why not. And it would be a really good club if they played our stuff.”

(Nature has also recorded a Mongolian ambient folk album, acoustic albums and contributed to soundtracks).

sderdeyn@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/stuartderdeyn

The 35th Vancouver International Film Festival

Sept. 29 – Oct. 14 | Various venues & times | Tickets/info: $10 – $900 viff.org

Autumn, which brings cooler, shorter, typically rainier days, invites us to cozy up somewhere warmer — and definitely drier — inside. Starting Thursday, the 35th Vancouver International Film Festival will roll out that welcomed option. Sixteen days of film watching, from dawn to dusk.

VIFF executive director Jacqueline Dupuis is clearly excited at that prospect. Heading into her fifth year at VIFF’s helm, she’s also pleased about the new eight specific film streams replacing past multi-category sections. Embracing a “film-plus” model of audience experience and interaction, each of the VIFF streams — Panorama, Ignite, True North, Impact, Next, Gateway, M/A/D and Alt (more on these later) — integrates into year-round programming. 

“We looked at our three separate, distinct business interests — the Vancouver International Film Centre, the film festival and the industry conference — and at how could we insure that we create a consistent experience for both the audience and industry over all of them,” said Dupuis. “The idea is to have a year-round, cross-silo model that all falls under VIFF.”

This year is the first in a four-year-long plan to fully develop the streaming model into year-round programming. Ultimately, the film festival will be more of a macro showcase of what takes place under the yearly VIFF calendar. A gala premiere of an Asian film in the Gateway stream could occur in March, complete with director Q&A, canapes, wine and whatnot. 

“True North and Impact already have a lot of initiatives within them from screenings, talks and events by virtue of the amount of local and Canadian cinema and public interest in topical films (Impact),” said Dupuis. “By Year 3, we expect an equally robust offering in all the other streams, too.”

Vancouver International Film Festival executive director Jacqueline Dupuis is excited about the new approach this year. ‘We looked at our three separate, distinct business interests — the Vancouver International Film Centre, the film festival and the industry conference — and at how could we insure that we create a consistent experience for both the audience and industry over all of them,’ she says. ‘The idea is to have a year-round, cross-silo model that all falls under VIFF.’

The truth is, Vancouver (and Canada) just love festival branding, both for the buzz it generates and for funding. This proliferation of film events (DOXA, Latin American Film Festival, Queer Film Festival) means VIFF needs to define itself clearly in the market. How we consume content in a digital world has also affected the bottom line for all arts organizations.

“Not to take anything away from any of the other festivals, but many spun out VIFF to provide the opportunity to go deeper into various genres or regions which aren’t our year-round programming,” said Dupuis. “VIFF has always been more about creators than celebrities. From TV, film and digital media, we featured key figures such as Breaking Bad’s Vince Gilligan for both the public and industry to take in.”

With a $2-billion (and growing) local film, TV and visual effects business (not to mention gaming), there are a lot of directions in which VIFF can paddle. Dupuis doesn’t mince words in assessing what the public wants: “It’s time to double-down on creators and special events because that is where the interest is in a fan-based culture and we can.” 

Yes, you can always stream the film at home. But nothing really beats watching movies on a big screen in the company of friends and strangers.

sderdeyn@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/stuartderdeyn

VIFF Streams: An Overview

Panorama: Anticipated new work from name international creators and other exciting breaking names

Film pick: Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience: Friday, Oct. 14, 6:30 p.m., at Science World.

Director Terrence Mallick goes big. Like Big Bang big. A cinematic journey across time and space.

Director Terrence Mallick goes REALLY big in Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience. It plays Oct. 14 at Science World as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Ignite: B.C. works of note, from local and other creators

Film pick: Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming): Friday, Sept. 30, 6:15 p.m., at Vancouver Playhouse and Monday, Oct. 3, 3:45 p.m., at International Village 9.

Director Anne Marie Fleming’s (Window Horses) NFB-animated feature about a young girl’s journey into poetic self-discovery.

Vancouver director Anne Marie Fleming’s Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming) is about a young girl’s journey into poetic self-discovery.

True North: Coast-to-coast-to-coast Canadian creations

Film pick: Maliglutit (Searchers): Tuesday, Oct. 4, 6 p.m., at Centre for the Arts and Thursday, Oct. 8, 3:15 p.m., at Vancouver Playhouse.

Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner) nods towards John Ford’s classic The Searchers in this Far North odyssey of a man trying to find his kidnapped daughter and wife.

Canadian Inuk producer/director Zacharias Kunuk’s Maliglutit (Searchers).

Impact: Films that aim to change the way we see the globe and generate discussion, action, change

Film pick: RiverBlue: Saturday, Oct. 1, 6:30 p.m., at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts and Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2 p.m., at International Village 10.

Ever wonder what the environmental damage caused by your favourite pair of blue jeans is? 

Next: Next-level experiences from such digital realms as Virtual Reality, gaming, music and more

Pick: Late Night @ VIFF HUB: Friday, Sept. 30 – Saturday, Oct. 8, 10 p.m. – 1 a.m., Vancouver International Film Centre, 1181 Seymour St.

Live music, interactive digital biz showcases, fest goers getting festive. 

Scene from Suffering of Ninko.

Gateway: East Asian art both new and noteworthy

Film pick: Suffering of Ninko: Saturday, Oct. 1, 6:30 p.m., at Cinematheque and Sunday, Oct. 2, 12:45 p.m., at International Village 8.

A monk sworn to celibacy is irresistible to women and many men. Based on a Japanese folk tale, this comedy maybe isn’t one.

M/A/D: Music, art and design are the front and centre focus here

Director Jim Jarmusch’s Gimme Danger turns his lens on ‘the greatest rock and roll band ever’ in The Stooges.

Film pick: Gimme Danger: Thursday, Sept. 29, 9:15 p.m., at Rio Theatre; Saturday, Oct. 8, 4:30 p.m., at International Village 10 and Wednesday, Oct. 12, 6:30 p.m. at Rio Theatre.

Cult fave director Jim Jarmusch makes a movie about “the greatest rock and roll band ever,” The Stooges. 

Alt: Weird, wacky, wonderful genre-jumping works in long and short form

Elaine (Samantha Robinson) is looking for love and not afraid to cast some spells in The Love Witch.

Film pick: The Love Witch: Friday, Oct. 7, 8:45 p.m., at Rio Theatre and Sunday, Oct. 9, 1:30 p.m., at International Village 10.

For fans of those ridiculous Italian horror flicks of the 1960s, Russ Miller and Swinging Seventies sexploitation romps. Elaine (Samantha Robinson) is looking for love and not afraid to cast some spells from the dark side to get it. Can anyone say Satan?