Elizabeth “Liz” Bowen shines on SyFy’s Resident Alien. The hilarious and ominous sci-fi series tells the story of an alien – played by Alan Tudyk – who crashes to Earth and takes over the body and life of a doctor named Harry Vanderspeigle in a small Colorado town. The show is at once full of heart and darkly comic, and as Deputy Liv, Liz is brilliantly deadpan, astoundingly nuanced, and bloody funny. This is no surprise to anyone who is familiar with Liz’s work on stage or in Michelle’s, Hospital Show, Paranormal Solutions Inc., Upload, Convos With My Two Year Old, and numerous other projects. In this illuminating and hilarious episode of the YVR Screen Scene Podcast, Liz talks being funny, where she ends and Deputy Liv begins, what she *really* thinks about her canine colleague Deputy Cletus, and how she keeps a straight face while filming Resident Alien’s funniest scenes. Episode sponsor: Jules Sherred’s DisabilityAndFood.Art exhibit

You don’t come across actor-showrunners too often – especially when the projects they’re acting in are not ones they’re showrunning. But Jonathan Lloyd Walker is doing just that. Jonathan’s acting credits include RED, where he played the special agent in charge of protecting the Vice-President from assassins – as well as The Thing, Smallville, The X-Files, The West Wing, Stargate, Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Outer Limits, The Killing, and most recently TNT’S Snowpiercer, where he played a Tailie named Big John. But over the last decade especially, Jon has also been flexing his producer muscle on some of our industry’s most critically acclaimed series: Continuum, Private Eyes, The Murders, Wu Assassins, and finally, Van Helsing, which filmed parts of its fifth and final season in Slovakia immediately before the pandemic shut everything down. In this fascinating episode of the YVR Screen Scene Podcast, Jonathan talks acting and showrunning, and previews Van Helsing’s highly anticipated final season. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

On Monday, February 22, 2021, a film worker showed up for work to the Vancouver set of a production called Gone Mom wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt. Two days later, they returned to work, where they were told by a producer not to wear anything Black Lives Matter again because that statement was too political. This worker resigned from the production the following day. Another BIPOC crew member removed his Black Lives Matter hoodie and gave it to a white colleague, who wore it and shared a photo on social media with a caption that read in part: “Racism is ALIVE AND WELL in BC film and it's disgusting.”

News about the incidents spread on social media and was met with universal outrage. On Friday, the production company responded by removing the producer in question from the production, and issued apologies to the affected crew members. But what does what happened on the set of Gone Mom tell us about racism, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and life for BIPOC cast and crew in the industry?

In this special episode of the YVR Screen Scene Podcast, Sabrina speaks with the film worker who was told that their Black Lives Matter shirt was too political for a film set, as well as Gone Mom’s executive producer Shawn Williamson and BIPOC actress and activist Angela Moore, about what happened this week. Episode sponsor: Jules Sherred’s DisabilityAndFood.Art exhibit

If you know anything about endometriosis, it’s probably because you are among the one in 10 women and AFAB people who live with its pain and stigma – or you love someone who does. In the simplest of terms, endometriosis happens when tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus grows outside of it, forming lesions and gluing organs together. But there’s nothing simple about the pain of endometriosis, and the medical misogyny that prevents diagnosis, investment in research, and effective treatment. So where do we even begin to make life better for people with endometriosis? We begin by talking about it – by dragging it out into the light and putting faces and words and emotions to it. The short film Endomic does just that.

Endomic was co-directed by Camille Hollett-French, who also directed the award-winning film Freya starring friend-of-the-podcast Rhona Rees, and Columbia scientist and endometriosis researcher Ipek Ensari. With heart and scathing facts and biting wit, Endomic lays bare the pain and trauma of endometriosis, and the ways in which endometriosis patients are under-served by the medical community. In this riveting interview, Camille and Ipek explain why people should care about endometriosis, how the experienced director and the Columbia researcher found each other, and the power of rage. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

Beverley Elliott played Granny on ABC’s beloved fantasy series, Once Upon A Time– and while she’s still closely associated with Granny years after the series took its final bow, Beverley is so much more than that one role. Over the course of her three decades in showbiz, Beverley has appeared in more than 100 film and television productions, from 21 Jump Street, Danger Bay, and The Beachcombers, to Harper’s Island, The X-Files, and Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood even name-checked her in his acceptance speech when he won an Academy Award for Unforgiven in 1993). Beverley is also a firecracker of a storyteller – as evidenced by her multiple appearances in New York City’s The Moth – as well as an in-demand singer. In this funny and fascinating interview, Beverley talks about growing up extremely shy in a rural Ontario town, the ongoing appeal of Once Upon A Time, and what it takes to make it as a character actress in the Vancouver film and television industry. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Content warning: This episode contains discussion about sexual violence and rape. Listener discretion is advised. If you are a victim of sexual assault or know someone who needs help, please check the episode notes for resources. You are not alone.

April Telek is an accomplished actress whose filmography includes comedy, science fiction, fantasy, and drama. She shone as Constance Fogg on CBC’s women-driven Western series, Strange Empire, as Nell in Hell on Wheels, as Donna in Rogue, and in Amazon Falls, playing a character based on Lana Clarkson. She played the authoritarian artistic director of Sashay Dance Academy in Gary Hawes’ hilarious Leap 4 Your Life, and she inspired empathy and heartache playing Roxy, a survival sex worker, in Rachel Talalay’s brilliant On The Farm, which was inspired by the dozens of women who died at the hands of a serial killer on Vancouver’s East Side.

In 2020, April came forward as a victim of accused rapist Peter Nygard. Her survivor story is currently being told in Evil by Design, a CBC Podcast about the more than 80 women from around the world who have accused the disgraced fashion designer of rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking, as well as in the Discovery+ Series, Unseamly: The Investigation of Peter Nygard.

In this revealing and emotional conversation, April reflects on her decision to go public with her story, and how she intends to use her voice to help keep others safe. Also: working with Cole Hauser, dancing the tango with John Emmet Tracy, making “bougie Bugles,” and how her idea of success has changed over the course of her career. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Last month, Vancouver's Rio Theatre updated its marquee with a bold declaration: “Screw the Arts: We’re a sports bar now.” The Rio had been closed since November 2020, when the Provincial Health Officer banned all events (while still allowing bars, malls, and restaurants to operate) – but on January 23, 2021, the Rio opened its doors for sports fans to watch hockey and whatever qualifies as sports on its big screen: socially distanced, and not operating at full capacity, but open nonetheless. In this revealing episode, Sabrina gets a download from the Rio Theatre’s – sorry: Rio Sports Bar’s – CEO Corinne Lea and Senior Programmer Rachel Fox about what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and what we all stand to lose when the rules aren’t enforced fairly. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

What impact is the pandemic having on Vancouver’s indie film scene, and specifically on the ability for our fearless filmmakers to share their stories? What have we lost, and what, if anything, have we gained? What does the future hold for the indie scene? In this special episode of the YVR Screen Scene Podcast, Sabrina brings these big questions to indie filmmaker Kashif Pasta. Kashif is an award-winning writer, director, and producer with a focus on empowering people of colour to tell stories with purpose and joy. He co-created and directed the hit digital series Welcome to Surrey for TELUS and Dunya Media, co-created the Untitled BTR Project with Sameer Gardezi for Paul Feig’s Powderkeg, and was a 2018 ABC Television Comedy Lab fellow for his half-hour pilot Long Distance. Kashif and Sabrina discuss the health of the Vancouver indie scene (and whether the massive strides made by Toronto’s music scene in the last decade could happen for Vancouver film), as well as how 2020 changed the game for BIPOC creators. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

Why is Vancouver actor John Emmet Tracy regularly called upon to portray duplicitous, sinister, and evil characters? His lengthy filmography includes poisonous characters like August Cartwright on Batwoman and Enzo Lambert on iZombie, and cunning characters like lawyer Ellis Steele on Yellowstone and Pallas on Olympus. Perhaps he’s so often cast as the villain because he inevitably infuses these despicable characters with some measure of humanity, so that you as a viewer feel even more scared and more betrayed when he inevitably leans into his dark side.

In this thoughtful and fascinating conversation, John and Sabrina discuss the mechanics of evil, and the joys and challenges of portraying duplicitous and sinister characters. John – who was recently nominated for a UBCP/ACTRA Best Actor Award for his work in the critically acclaimed feature film, Open For Submissions – discusses his journey from kid magician in Chicago to Shakespeare stages around the world to the Vancouver screen scene, why his mother isn’t a big fan of his filmography, and what he’s learned observing Kevin Costner on the set of Yellowstone. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Vancouver actress Teryl Rothery brings deep-seated humanity to every role she takes on, whether she’s playing a kind and capable military doctor (Stargate SG-1) or the sexy actress in a Northern California town who sets her sights on the town doctor (Virgin River). Teryl’s lengthy filmography includes memorable roles in dramas (including Chesapeake Shores and The Good Doctor), Christmas movies, cartoons, superhero shows (like Arrow), and sci-fi and fantasy (including Travelers and The Haunting of Bly Manor and – of course – Stargate SG-1). In this revealing conversation, Teryl pulls the curtain back on where she comes from and what propels her forward, and reflects on the life and death of Dr. Janet Fraiser on Stargate SG-­1, how she ended up in a Babylon 5 wedding, and Virgin River’s Muriel. Also: COVID-19 coping strategies, a rousing round of Favourite Things, and a burning question from another Stargate doctor: Paul McGillion (Stargate Atlantis’ Dr. Carson Beckett). Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA