The YVR Screen Scene Podcast

Kat Montagu has spent much of her career telling and shaping stories for screens large and small, and helping others do the same. A distinguished writer, producer, script analyst, story editor, and teacher, Kat’s impressive background includes writing for the television series Alienated and collaborating on a time travel novel-to-TV series adaptation with Sara B. Cooper. She holds a BFA and an MFA in Creative Writing as well as multiple awards and development funding grants. Currently serving as Head of the Writing Department at Vancouver Film School and the senior story editor for Crazy8s, Kat is unabashedly and unreservedly passionate about helping writers discover and hone their unique voices. In this absorbing and informative conversation with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Kat talks storytelling, screenwriting, gaming, Oxford commas, finding your voice, breaking into the industry, Dennis Heaton, and why A.I. is no replacement for human writers. Episode sponsors: Biz Books + The Drama Class

Filmmaker Dylan Maranda and actor Brendan Meyer swing by the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to discuss Master of the House, a fast-paced genre short that seeks its inspiration from the thrilling world of fine dining. Master of the House, which was shot at the Michelin Star restaurant Kissa Tanto in Vancouver, follows Vincent, a young sommelier, played by Brendan (who starred in all eighty episodes of the Vancouver-shot Mr. Young, and turned in a stellar performance in The OA). Vincent struggles to balance friendship and ambition the night an acclaimed critic (played with searing, sneering fire by Matthew McCaull) dines at his workplace “Reclamation”— a restaurant hyped on reinventing Indigenous cuisine. The performances are on point; the score – which is pulsating jazz – enhances the anxiety of the situation; the themes of white supremacy, reconciliation, and personal truth are timely. In this fascinating conversation, the filmmaker and the actor pull back the curtain on the inspiration for and making of this visceral, fast-paced, and blistering film. Episode sponsors: Biz Books and The Drama Class 

Even if you don’t recognize the Cowichan sweater by its name, you will absolutely recognize it on sight: the thick yarn; the distinctive patterns; the warmth of the raw sheep’s wool. But a Cowichan sweater is more than just a sweater, especially for the Coast Salish people from the Cowichan Tribes who make them. It’s a provider of life, literally, as a way to put food on the table; it’s a way to build community and share stories and connect to ancestors. To quote Ron Rice of the Victoria Native Friendship Centre as featured in filmmaker Mary Galloway’s documentary The Cowichan Sweater: Our Knitted Legacy, “Cowichan sweaters are iconic. Cowichan sweaters are our path forward in so many different ways. Cowichan sweaters are a look back and a look forward all at the same time.” Writer, director, filmmaker, and actor Mary Galloway hails from Coast Salish Territory, and her beautiful film brings viewers into the past, present, and future of the Cowichan sweater while taking us along on a deeply personal quest: to recreate a sweater that was worn by her late grandfather, Chief Dennis Alphonse, who was chief for 40 years. The Cowichan Sweater: Our Knitted Legacy is now available on CBC Gem and will have its first national television broadcast on December 23. In this fascinating and revealing conversation with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Mary reflects on her journey into this important part of her own legacy. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Filmmaker Bruce Sweeney and actors Gabrielle Rose, Camille Sullivan, and Jeff Gladstone swing by the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to talk about She Talks To Strangers, their smart and crowd-pleasing black comedy currently screening up at the 2023 Whistler Film Festival. Camille is Leslie, a single woman who happily shares her life with her favourite being on the planet, an Australian Shepherd named John. Leslie has a strained relationship with her mother, Staci (that’s Gabrielle, playing Camille’s mom for the third time), with whom she has to bargain in order to take care of John. One day, after hearing some mysterious sounds coming from the basement suite, Leslie discovers that her deadbeat ex-husband, Keith – that’s Jeff – has moved in “to lie low for a while,” and – well, we’re a #nospoiler zone here on the YVR Screen Scene Podcast, so we’ll just say that hilarity ensues (which is no surprise given that this is the team that brought us the equally brilliant Kingsway). In this special Saturday drop, Bruce, Gabrielle, Camille, and Jeff talk behind-the-scenes shenanigans (which include cream of mushroom soup and freezers), true crime podcasts, and being ride-or-die for Vancouver stories. 

Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Beatrice King is an experienced actress who has appeared in an array of critically acclaimed and fan favourite projects (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Mortal Kombat Legacy, The 100, and Loudermilk) and a well-respected acting coach, working primarily with young people on projects for Universal, Disney, and Netflix. Beatrice recently added a new title to her already impressive filmography: director. Beatrice makes her directorial debut with You Are The Blue, an atmospheric and beautifully composed coming-of-age film she wrote about invisible illnesses and the mental health toll of keeping them secret.

You Are The Blue follows teenage dancer Kay, played with nuance and steely vulnerability by Eden Summer Gilmore (Family Law). Kay, like 313 million people on the planet, lives with an autoimmune disease – and she’s struggling: not just with the diagnosis, but also with grief and losing a sense of control over her life during a time that’s already hard for young people.

You Are The Blue premiered at the Edmonton International Film Festival, screened last month at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival, and screens this weekend at the 2023 Whistler Film Festival (where Eden was named one of the festival’s Stars to Watch). In this fascinating and emotional interview with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Beatrice talks about the real-life inspiration for her directorial debut, and the toll that keeping invisible illnesses a secret can have on a person’s mental health and sense of self.

Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

Sort Of is sort of a big deal to a lot of people, but especially to Trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people who have long yearned for honest and entertaining representation on Canadian screens. Sort Of stars Bilal Baig as Sabi Mehboob, a gender expansive millennial in Toronto who also happens to be the first-ever non-binary lead character on Canadian television. Since it’s widely heralded premiere in November 2021, the CBC and Max original series has won numerous awards, including a Peabody, TEN (!!!) Canadian Screen Awards, a screenwriting award from the Writers Guild of Canada, and, in 2022 and 2023, nominations from GLAAD for Outstanding New TV Series. The series is beloved by fans and critically acclaimed by reviewers, but all good things must come to an end. Recently, Bilal and co-creator, co-EP, and co-showrunner Fab Filippo announced that Sort Of’s third season – which premiered on November 17 and wraps up on December 8 – would be its last. As they stated in an Instagram post, “We set out to tell a story about a kind of transition in Sabi’s life, and how those around them also change — and we feel in this coming season that story came to an end in a way that felt right for us.” On the eve of Sort Of’s final season, Bilal joined Sabrina Rani Furminger in the YVR Screen Studio to look back on their journey with Sort Of and Sabi, and why it’s time to say goodbye. Episode sponsors: Biz Books / The Drama Class

Marÿke Hendrikse has the kind of filmography that shows the range of roles available to versatile voice actors who are willing to put in the work, and the kind of personality that has fun while they’re doing it. Marÿke’s lengthy and diverse list of credits includes Slugterra, Johnny Test, Beat Bugs, LEGO: Nexo Knights, Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks, Polly Pocket, multiple Barbie movies, Black Lagoon, and Sausage Party. It’s an especially impressive filmography when you consider that Marÿke’s original career plan was to be a ballet dancer – until a fateful karaoke party in high school when none other than voice legend Tara Strong suggested she consider giving voice acting a try. In this fun and riveting conversation with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Marÿke talks about being an elementary school troublemaker (when she wasn’t in the ballet studio, working at being a “bunhead”), AI, the Tara Strong karaoke party that changed the game, and why Black Lagoon’s nihilistic killer Revy is a personal favourite. Episode sponsor: UBCP / ACTRA

Filmmaker Tyler Funk delves into the dizzying world of content creation for his wildly entertaining and borderline-terrifying documentary, Anything For Fame. As the Internet upends traditional notions of celebrity, Anything For Fame journeys into the virtual Wild West to profile an ambitious and reckless breed of content creator. There’s Ava, who rose to worldwide fame for a video where she licked an airplane toilet seat; amateur stuntman Peter, who routinely defies death and Homeland Security to leap between urban rooftops and climb iconic landmarks; and self- described “dumb-as-shit” prankster Jake, who stages hair-raising hijinks inspired by the Jackass franchise. While stars rise with meteoric and disorienting speed, they can plummet just as fast—with heartbreaking results. Anything For Fame shares those stories, too, and also offers some context for why these young people want to be influencers in the first place. 

Anything For Fame is currently streaming on Paramount+ in Canada, Germany, France, New Zealand, and Australia, and, as of November 8, will be streaming free across Canada on the National Film Board of Canada site. Tyler Funk visits the YVR Screen Scene studio to talk about what he learned after spending time in the world of social media influencers, and what might be driving their appetite for fame. Episode sponsors: Biz Books and The Drama Class

Asia Mattu is a dynamic voice actor with an eclectic mix of credits to her name, including Rocky in Super Monsters, Rugo in Gigantosaurus, Aurora in My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever, and Par-Nani in Deepa & Anoop, for which she was nominated for a Leo Award AND a UBCP/ACTRA Award. It’s a stunning filmography for a kid from Ladner who grew up loving Robin Williams’ performance in Disney’s Aladdin and now gets to voice prehistoric animals, monsters, sea creatures, dinosaurs, grannies, and a veritable parade of fun characters. In this light-hearted and fascinating interview, Asia talks about her award-nominated role in Deepa & Anoop, the threat of AI, and what a lot of A-listers don’t understand about voice acting. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA

In July of 2013, Canadian law enforcement authorities announced that they’d thwarted a terrorist plot to blow up the British Columbia Legislature. A couple from Surrey – John Omar Nuttall and Amanda Ana Korody, who were recent converts to Islam – had been arrested for planting pressure cooker bombs at the Legislature in Victoria on Canada Day. It was a chilling story – but Canadians would soon learn that the story was chilling for entirely different reasons other than “terrorists in our midst.” 

That story is laid out in Manufacturing The Threat, filmmaker Amy Miller’s critically acclaimed documentary that dives into the unsettling world of agent provocateurs and entrapment within Canada's national security apparatus. Manufacturing The Threat is a thrilling and emotional film, which examines that deeply disturbing episode in Canadian history when an impoverished couple was coerced by undercover law enforcement agents into carrying out a terrorist bombing. Shining a light into the murky world of police infiltration, incitement, and agent provocateurs, the film shows how Canada’s policing and national security agencies, granted additional powers after 9/11, routinely break laws with little to no accountability or oversight. And there’s nothing to suggest it’s not still happening today. 

Manufacturing The Threat had its world premiere at the 2023 DOXA Documentary Film Festival, and is screening at VIFF Centre in Vancouver until October 20. Amy Miller dropped by the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to talk about the threat posed by agent provocateurs to marginalized communities in Canada, and why she had a challenging time bringing this story to the screen. Episode sponsors: Biz Books and The Drama Class