In the fourth episode of our ongoing #IndustryBFFs series, screenwriters Meredith Hambrock (Corner Gas Animated) and Jennifer Siddle (Some Assembly Required) talk the inner workings of a comedy writer’s room, Vancouver humour, guff-giving, and what a friendship between two comedy writers can look like IRL. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Actor Adrian Petriw appeared on the YVR Screen Scene Podcast in 2019 and 2020 to talk about his voice acting career and eat babka with host (and fellow Ukrainian) Sabrina Rani Furminger. But those previous appearances were before February 24, 2022, when Russia fully invaded Ukraine, displacing and traumatizing millions of Ukrainians, killing thousands, and mobilizing Ukrainians in the diaspora to do whatever they could to help. In the first month of the war, Adrian and Sabrina co-produced YVR Screen Scene For Ukraine, a gala fundraiser and online auction that raised more than $37,000 for Ukrainian humanitarian relief. Eight months later, Ukrainians continue to fight for their right to exist – and Ukrainians in the diaspora have seen public interest in Ukraine ebb and flow, come and go. Says Sabrina: “There is a special pain that comes with watching the world lose interest in the genocide of your people, a special rage that takes over when people you thought were your friends tweet that Ukraine should negotiate with the terrorists intent on erasing it from the map, and a special gratitude that surfaces when the world – and the media, and your friends – bears witness.” In this emotional and freewheeling episode, Sabrina and her Ukrainian-brother-from-another-mother Adrian talk about the war, what it’s been like to navigate the entertainment industry as Ukrainians in the diaspora while Ukrainians in Ukraine fight for their lives, and how allies can help. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

On October 4, Women in Film and Television Vancouver – AKA WIFTV – announced that it would be making some significant changes to its name, its long-running Vancouver International Women in Film Festival, and its logo. In a letter to the WIFTV membership, they wrote, “We believe that everybody who has faced historical exclusion and marginalization due to patriarchy and sexism is deserving of our organization’s support. However, we have received ongoing feedback from our community members that WIFTV’s current name does not welcome or include them, which goes against our values and mission as an organization… It’s vital that WIFTV’s language evolves with the times so that we can continue our mission of advancing and celebrating gender equity in screen-based media.” In this poignant episode, WIFTV’s Executive Director Eli Morris joins Sabrina Rani Furminger to discuss WIFTV’s journey to this historic moment, the barriers faced by trans and genderqueer people in the film and television industry, and the role that anger can play in social equity work. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

Patrick Keating is the creative force behind Inside/Out: A Prison Memoir, a theatrical performance film in which Patrick shares his real-life story of years spent in and out of Canada’s penitentiary system. Patrick is an actor and storyteller who has performed in more than 40 stage productions and close to 60 television and film productions, including Virgin River, The Flash, Resident Alien, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Inside/Out: A Prison Memoir was created for a Virtual Screening Tour of prisons and correctional facilities across Canada in 2021. It also screened at the Edinburgh Fringe and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, and was awarded Best Inspirational Film by the Washington Film Awards in 2022. And this month, it will screen in Vancouver at the Heart of the City Festival. As Patrick says in his remarkable film, “Not a day goes by when that shit doesn’t bounce back at me: the sights, the sounds, the smells, the faces. Ghosts: it’s all there, all wired in.” Patrick speaks with Sabrina Rani Furminger about those ghosts, how his time on the inside impacts his life on the outside, and why it’s important for Canadians to talk about the prison system. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Roughly 6.2 million Canadians – or 25% of the population – live with some form of disability, but that high number hasn’t led to an accessible society. In the film and television industry, countless barriers exist for people with disabilities that simply don’t exist for people without them. In the first of our new series of episodes about disability and accessibility in #BCFilm, actor and advocate Amy Amantea joins Sabrina Rani Furminger to discuss the challenges faced by film workers with disabilities, the damage done by tropes and thoughtless language, attitudinal barriers, and what can be done to make the industry accessible for all. Episode sponsor: UBCP / ACTRA

Over the last several years, Kai Bradbury has made a name for himself playing characters who dabble in deception. On Motherland: Fort Salem, he played the bird-wielding male witch Gerit who shows up in Fort Salem to participate in Beltane and lies to Tally about his relationship status. As rogue scientist Nate on The Imperfects, he lured monsters Abbi, Tilda, and Juan into a potentially devastating trap. He can currently be seen on Virgin River as Denny, Doc’s long-lost grandson who comes to town with a number of secrets and possible nefarious motives. Kai’s other credits include The Terror, Warigami, Altered Carbon, The Man in the High Castle, and the music video for Amanda Sum’s Undecided Minds. In this compelling and entertaining episode, Kai talks the art of deception, the art of make believe, Hot Pockets, his mixed heritage, working with Sarah Dugdale, and much more. Episode sponsor: UBCP / ACTRA

For three seasons, Catherine Lough Haggquist portrayed General Petra Bellweather on Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem. The dramatic series imagined a world where the witches of Salem entered into a pact with non-magical humans that made them a celebrated and powerful military force – and General Bellweather rose through the ranks (and the series) to become the highest ranking witch in the military. This gave Cat the opportunity to kick ass both literally and figuratively, which she discussed during her first appearance on the YVR Screen Scene Podcast after Motherland’s first season. This most recent season of Motherland: Fort Salem – which was its triumphant third and final season – saw Petra trying to protect witchkind while under the constant surveillance of an antagonistic non-magical civilian state. In this compelling conversation with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Cat reflects on Petra’s journey (including that iconic pen scene), her final days on Motherland: Fort Salem, working with Sheryl Lee Ralph, Demetria McKinney, and Bob Frazer, and how her experience in Petra’s world changed her own. Episode sponsor: UBCP / ACTRA

Morgan Holmstrom plays a nurse who takes no guff and gives everything she has to the people she loves on CBC and Paramount Plus’ action-packed dramatic series SkyMed. In the APTN limited series Shadow of the Rougarou, she lights up the screen as a Metis-Cree fur trapper who must face the curse that ripped her life apart as a child – a role for which she was nominated for a 2022 Leo Award. And in Day of the Dead, she played former Special Forces working on a fracking crew whose discovery of a mysterious body plunges her into the middle of a zombie invasion. These are powerful women; women with agency; women who kick ass, who know who they are, and who can be at once vulnerable and volatile. They’re all thrilling characters of substance, which is also an apt description for Morgan herself. In this fascinating episode of the YVR Screen Scene Podcast, Morgan talks about her journey to SkyMed, the surprising way she prepped for her Day of the Dead role, how COVID changed her approach to The Work, and elephants. Episode sponsor: UBCP / ACTRA

You would be hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of the Vancouver Grizzlies than Kat Jayme. Not only did Kat grow up a fan of the ill-fated NBA franchise, but she’s parlayed that childhood passion into a number of films, including We The West, 2018’s festival hit Finding Big Country (in which she successfully tracked down NBA enigma Bryant “Big Country Reeves), and The Grizzlie Truth, in which she seeks to investigate a sprawling sports mystery: who is responsible for robbing Vancouver of the Grizzlies? To die-hard fans of the Vancouver Grizzlies, the team’s abrupt move to Memphis in 2001 is much more than a sore spot, it’s an unsolved mystery and possibly a criminal conspiracy. And there is no one on this planet better suited to tackle this mystery than Kat Jayme, and her findings – in the form of wildly entertaining, wholly gripping, and surprisingly heartwarming The Grizzlie Truth – has its world premiere at the 2022 Vancouver International Film Festival. In this fascinating episode of the YVR Screen Scene Podcast, Kat reflects on her spectacular journey into the heart of a baffling sports mystery. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

back home premieres this month at the 2022 Vancouver International Film Festival. The film follows filmmaker Nisha Platzer’s journey to get to know her older brother Josh 20 years after he took his own life. Over the span of five years, Nisha connects with the friends who knew Josh best as a teenager; it isn’t long before his chosen family becomes hers, too. back home is a haunting and nuanced film, shifting between past and present, employing 16mm and Super 8 footage, sometimes dream-like and out of focus – and even though tragedy and trauma are present, so are connection, growth, and love. We watch as Nisha tries to make sense of something that doesn’t always make sense, and learn how to make space for grief in her life. In this riveting episode, Nisha Platzer and producer Joella Cabalu discuss their remarkable journey to bring back home to the screen. 

Content warning: This episode contains frank talk about suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide or are worried about a friend or a loved one, the Canada Suicide Prevention Service is available 24/7/365 at 1.833.456.4566. You can also find links to international suicide prevention and mental health support services below. You matter. You’re not alone.

Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment