The YVR Screen Scene Podcast

Re:Uniting is the story of a group of college friends who graduated from university together in the late 1990s and reunite for the first time in nearly a decade on Bowen Island. They arrive on the island bearing scars from the traumas of the intervening years, as well as many secrets. Re:Uniting is Drama with a capital D – but is also rich with moments of humour, catharsis, and so much love. Re:Uniting is the feature film directorial debut from actress-filmmaker Laura Adkin and is populated by an ensemble of powerhouses: old friends of the podcast Roger Cross, Michelle Harrison, David Lewis, and Carmen Moore, and new friends Jesse L. Martin and Bronwen Smith.

Re:Uniting will screen in theatres across Canada beginning on March 15, including a special screening at Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas in Vancouver on March 16 featuring a Q&A with Laura and select cast that will be hosted by YVR Screen Scene’s Sabrina Rani Furminger. In Episode 305, Laura Adkin, Carmen Moore, and Bronwen Smith join Sabrina to talk about their adventures in island filmmaking, building chemistry in the ensemble, self-care for actors, why our 20s are hard, and what happens when you’re trying to film something with Bronwen and she suddenly sees a seal. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Filmmaker Kevin Eastwood returns to the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to discuss his latest documentary. The Society Page – which premieres on Knowledge Network on March 17 – is an in-depth look at the life, craft, and impact of Malcolm Parry, Vancouver’s iconic society columnist. For 40 years, Malcolm was a stealthy presence at events, photographing arguably more Vancouverites and VIPs during that time period than anyone else for his influential society column in the Vancouver Sun. The Society Page delves into Malcolm’s role in cataloguing and shaping the city’s cultural landscape, as well as his work as a journalist and editor who launched the career of numerous other icons, including Douglas Coupland (without whom this film wouldn’t have been made). In this fascinating episode, Kevin discusses Malcolm Parry, the role of a society columnist in any given city, and what we can learn about that city through their lens. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

Zarqa Nawaz is a writer, film and television producer, published author, public speaker, journalist, creator of Little Mosque on the Prairie, former broadcaster, and star of Zarqa, the CBC Gem comedy series in which she plays a woman named Zarqa, who sells gullible white people brown people things. In season one, a recently divorced Zarqa worked on her business while being pursued by a gaggle of men, ending in a fantastic brawl in the mosque between her ex, her imam, and her white brain surgeon boyfriend. Season two – which hit CBC Gem last fall – began with Zarqa choosing to focus on herself and her business instead of any of the men. Zarqa’s pinning all of her hopes on her new product, Love Masala, an intoxicating new scent and love potion from her company, Zarqish Delights. And what better way to reach the masses than with an endorsement from global brand ambassador Pious Pinky Pervez, a Muslim social media influencer with millions of followers played with pious pink perfection by friend of the podcast Aliza Vellani? Aliza portrayed Layla on Little Mosque on the Prairie, and so Zarqa is something of a reunion between Zarqa and Aliza, except this time, they’re on the same side of the camera. In this compelling conversation with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Zarqa and Aliza reflect on Little Mosque on the Prairie, their experience shooting Zarqa more than a decade later, what diversity and representation looks like in the comedy sphere, and Zarqa’s adventures in stand-up comedy. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Canadian improv comedy icon Colin Mochrie has spent a heckuva lot of time in Vancouver, where he's a beloved alumnus of Vancouver TheatreSports and The Improv Centre. From March 6-8, Colin will return to The Improv Centre for five sold-out performances of An Evening with Colin Mochrie (which are evenings of improv comedy and not anything else; get your minds out of the gutter). Colin’s extensive career includes Whose Line is it Anyway? on both sides of the Atlantic, two years in This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and improv tours criss-crossing the continent. In addition, Colin has used his place as a Canadian improv comedy icon to advocate for his daughter Kinley (who is Transgender) and for all Trans people. In this thoughtful – and, yes, occasionally funny – episode, Colin lays out his origin story and discusses the addictive nature of improv, Vancouver humour, comedy in our woke age, and how to be an effective ally to Trans people. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Andrea Menard is one of the stars of Sullivan’s Crossing, the hit CTV show based on the bestselling books by Robyn Carr. The dramatic series follows young neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan as she flees the challenges of her life in the big city and returns to the idyllic Nova Scotia campground owned and operated by her estranged father Sully. In October 2023, when Sullivan’s Crossing was about to hit The CW after making waves north of the border, Cosmopolitan Magazine described Sullivan’s Crossing as the “ultimate fall comfort watch.” If Sullivan’s Crossing is the ultimate comfort watch, then Edna Cranebear, as played by Andrea Menard, is the show’s ultimate source of comfort. Edna and her husband Frank – played by the legendary Tom Jackson (North of 60) –  are Sully’s oldest friends and the best example of a loving, honest, and mutually supportive relationship in Sullivan’s Crossing.

Andrea’s filmography includes numerous fan favourite roles, like that of the fierce and feisty Debbie Fraser on Blackstone. Andrea is also a 15-time music award winner for her five albums, and she’s toured her Metis cabaret, Rubaboo, across this land. She’s a TEDx speaker, wellness trainer, founder of the Sacred Feminine Learning Lodge, has used her voice to encourage others to end violence against Indigenous women and girls, and, in 2021, was named ACTRA National’s Woman of the Year. In short, Andrea contains multitudes. In this fascinating conversation, Andrea delves into these multitudes, and discusses how Sullivan’s Crossing producers ensured they got Indigenous representation right, acting opposite Tom Jackson, how APTN changed the game for Indigenous artists, and the inherent joy in playing bad “B” Debbie Fraser on Blackstone. 

Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Actress Crystal Balint (Midnight Mass) returns to the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to talk about her work in The Fall of the House of Usher, how the actors, crew, and TPTB dealt with the highly publicized cast upheaval, what it means to her to be part of Mike Flanagan’s “Flanaverse,” and her delicious role on CBC’s new crime procedural Allegiance. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Earlier this month, four of the stars of Allegiance – Supinder Wraich, David Cubitt, Stephen Lobo, and Brian Markinson – joined Sabrina in the YVR Screen Scene studio to discuss the new character-driven crime procedural, which premiered on CBC and CBC Gem on February 7. Supinder stars as Sabrina Sohal (Sort Of), a star rookie police officer who must grapple with the limits of the justice system as she fights to exonerate her politician father Ajeet Sohal, played by Stephen. Sabrina serves her diverse hometown of Surrey alongside veteran training officer Vince Brambilla (Enrico Colantoni). Brian appears as Ajeet’s exasperated lawyer Max Portman, and David is Superintendent Bolton, Sabrina’s commanding officer. Allegiance (a CBC Original Drama from Lark Productions) is the story of a young woman caught between her allegiance to her flag, to her badge, and to her family. In this fascinating and at times boisterous conversation, the actors talk Surrey, Sabrina (the character, not the host), inclusion, and the singular joy of exquisite writing. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Ukrainian filmmaker Khrystyna Syvolap returns to the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to discuss her journey to find work in the Vancouver film and television industry after arriving in Canada with her young daughter in spring 2022, her February 10 screening of Viddana at North Vancouver’s Centennial Theatre (a fundraiser for the Adam Tactical Group), and why people outside of Ukraine should care about the war. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

Actress Jennifer Robertson is beloved ’round the world for her astounding work as Jocelyn Schitt for all six seasons of CBC’s iconic comedy series Schitt’s Creek, and, more recently, for playing Ellen Baker, Georgia’s regularly frazzled neighbour, on Netflix’s Ginny and Georgia. Canadians will soon see the Vancouver actress in a new role: as host of The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down. The eight-episode competition series – which premieres on CBC Television on February 8 – follows the trials and tribulations of 10 passionate potters, drawn from every background and every corner of the country. The series was filmed last summer on Granville Island in the space formerly occupied by Emily Carr School of Art and Design. Besides Jennifer, viewers will also get to see Seth Rogen, who is both the executive producer of The Great Canadian Pottery Thrown Down and as passionate about pottery as he is about pot. In our season opener, Jennifer discusses Schitt’s Creek’s Jocelyn and Ginny and Georgia’s Ellen, her misadventures doing stand-up and also trying to decipher her pre-teen’s texts, what she learned hosting The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down, and Seth Rogen’s commitment to living that #potterylife. Episode sponsor: UBCP / ACTRA

Welcome to the first-ever #YVRScreenScenePodcast Christmas Special! Strap in as Sabrina and the star and voice director of Hope Street Pod’s A Classical Christmas Chord – Nhi “The Christmas Cracker” Do and Rhona “The Mistletoe” Rees – don their ugly Christmas sweaters, swig Baileys and bad eggnog, and talk Christmas rom-coms, traditions, tropes, Whamageddon, festive innuendo, and the best (and worst) Christmas gifts they've ever received. It’s riotous, it’s festive, it’s fun, it goes off the rails on numerous occasions: in other words, it’s a perfect way to kick off the Christmas season! Episode sponsor: UBCP / ACTRA