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Hi, Alex, thanks for taking the time to speak with us!

I’m a recent transplant to Vancouver, and I’ve been playing with the idea of getting back into the entertainment industry full-time. There’s only one problem: I’m a writer first and foremost, and I’ve heard the rumor – which may or may not have been accurate – that most local productions of any real note are actually written in Hollywood.

The strange thing is that I’ve also heard that a sizable chunk of what gets broadcast in Canada needs to have been produced here… which brings me to my questions:

1. Where – in your experience – have the productions on which you’ve worked been written?
2. What differentiates Canadian productions from ones slated for more-widespread distribution?
3. Do you have any advice for folks who might want to contribute (particularly on the screenplay side) to projects?

I've heard one secret for how big shows and movies keep their secrets is that the crew mostly does not care: doesn't care who's cast, who's in what costume, what plot points are revealed that day, etc. Has that been your experience?

Hey Ramses,

Welcome to Vancouver!

1. Most of the productions I've worked on tend to be written by Americans, and then shot in Canada. Canada offers a major tax credit to companies that utilize our crew but there are strict guidelines required to be eligible for this.
   It is called the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC). You can google it for a longer list that explains it in detail,
2. A big difference between American and Canadian productions is the behavior of the assistant directors. We can always tell when a Director or AD happens to be from the DGA and not the DGC (Directors Guild of America/Canada). The other is the significant number of Canadians required by the production to be either above the line positions (Director, Producer, etc) and then almost entirely Canadian Crew.
   In terms of productions made solely for Canadian distribution I have not worked on any of those, and all my shows have been global releases, some received better than others. (See: The Stand vs Yellow Jackets or Lost in Space S3).
3. A good source that I've had several people tell me about is Stage 32 - online network for writers and script supervisors.

I hope any of this helps! Networking is huge, and sadly a major part of the industry, but going to film screenings and Stage 32 may be a start. Cheers !

My son is starting his college career as a film major at Cal State Long Beach. Any advice for him as a college freshman interested in film? Or should he get out now?

This is mostly true.

The big thing is the NDA or Non-Disclosure Agreement. The productions have people who watch social media like hawks to stop photos and leaks the moment they happen, but sometimes things slip through. Everyone signs it at the start, and since we all enjoy working and earning a living - no one goes around spoiling big secrets typically.

People do get a bit star struck at times, but it passes quickly as the majority are professionals. Additionally, when you're standing outside in the pouring rain on a night shoot for 15-hours while the talent has to do 20 takes due to forgetting their lines and you are dead inside, the grandiosity of it all tends to diminish.

Plot points are the bigger leak that studios have to worry about, and while scripts are sent out (I get these for example), it is typically on a very need to read basis.

Hi Fasttrack!

I would never suggest anyone shy away from taking courses in Film. However, I went to university to become a marine biologist, and after realizing that it paid horribly for the time and effort I put into my schooling, I took a job randomly as a Production Assistant (PA - entry level) on a tv series called Sacred Lies.

I had no prior skill or experience in the industry. Within a month through working hard and being helpful the Assistant Directors noticed me and had me start as their trainee-assistant director (This is called 4th AD in the states I believe). Since then, I've worked as an assistant director and recently focused on coordinating the background actors on set.

I had no schooling in the subject. So, I do not believe that it would be necessary for your son, and it may also incur unnecessary expenses.

However, if his goal is something specific such as producing, writing, camera, special effects - school can be incredibly beneficial as they'll teach you very niche skills for that department. I'd advise he also look for any indie projects to get practical experience which he can use to get a leg up on new people just starting in on a big-time show.

Honestly the way to get in is find a film production in your city, walk up and ask to speak to the ALM (Assistant Locations Manager). Say you'd love to work in the industry and ask if they need a PA Helper, and you might get hired on the spot. That's how I got in.

I hope this helps, any follow ups I'd be happy to answer. Good luck to your son! The industry is very alive in Canada, so I would believe it would be quite busy down south as well!

Thanks for the detailed response! I'll be sure to send your advice along to him. Sorry to hear the marine biology thing didn't work out though.

It worked out in the end, I make enough money now that I can enjoy my time scuba diving and donate that extra money I make to people and causes that can do a better job than I might be able to do in their shoes! Silver lining and all that.

Cheers :)

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Who was is the nicest actress/actor you have worked with? Least nice?

Hey there!

Hmm, nicest actor is difficult for me. The /entire/ cast of Lost in Space plus Anna Sawai.

On Lost in Space the whole main ensemble (and supporting cast) were just so thrilled to be there, it was like being with a real family. I only joined the series for the final Season but the love they showered everyone with was unbelievable.
Taylor, Mina, Parker, Max, Ignacio, Toby, Molly, Ajay, and Brian (Robot) made every day a pleasure to be on the show. They took the time to be kind to every one of us from the production assistants to the security to the carpenters.

Anna Sawai I have worked with now on three shows, Pachinko, Shogun, and our currently unreleased Apple+ series. She is always kind and pleasant, and very talented. I'm biased though because she always compliments my Japanese when I practice (Shogun took 10 months and most of our cast/background were Japanese, and the people training them didn't speak English. Figured I'd learn to bridge gaps).

My least pleasant experience in film was dealing with Ezra Miller on The Stand. For obvious reasons I won't get into details here - but needless to say that the behavior you see in the news is par for the course and none of the crew that I've spoken to since has been surprised by the revelations. Sadly, Hollywood loves to protect idiots it seems.

What was the path you followed to become an assistant director? And what is exactly a background coordinator? What does it do? Was it hard to get into the industry?

Fellow aspirant PA here✋🏻

Hey spilt!

1. For me the path was simply approaching a show and asking if they needed any help. I got the job as a PA on sacred lies and about 18 days later I was asked to guide an entertainment news crew coming to interview our cast (Juliette Lewis). Turns out the lady interviewing was good friends with Jason Mamoa and was an actress on See with him, and she told the 1st/2nd I was good at my job. They asked me to trainee assistant direct at the end of the day for a week going forward.

Since that moment I stuck with the same 1st assistant director and went through several shows before stepping back to spend time with my daughter - and now I coordinate the background!

2. A background coordinator is considered an additional assistant director. We’re there to assist the 1st/2nd/3rd ADs with managing and placing the background in a scene. My biggest one to date was Shogun (post production unreleased yet). I had about 50-200 Japanese people every day for 10 months that I had gotten to know personally like family. We’d show up, do their voucher paperwork, do 2-3 hours of hair makeup and wardrobe, then prop their weapons, and head to set. Once there I work with the other assistant directors and the director him/herself to achieve the placement, life, and ambiance of the scene. Military camp - Japanese fishing village - prison - Osaka Castle.. it was always fun and challenging but very rewarding!

3. As for if it was hard to get in? I didn’t have any trouble with it but I know for others it can take a long time. The one thing I tell people is don’t be afraid to ask - approach a show and ask to work for them. The worst they’ll do is say no.

Good luck mate and hope to see you in the industry!

Hi there! I know in my lil corner of the world (NZ) there are specific niche places to look for crew jobs which are seperate from the usual job websites, what's the situation with that in Canada? I'm in post here already but have been toying with the idea of a working holiday visa in Canada because the place seems so lovely and I'd love to experience more and further my skills, but I have no idea where to start looking in terms of finding film and tv jobs there.

Thank you so much for your reply! I appreciate it so much!! May I ask you one last thing? Is it common to see foreign people work in the industry? Like, I don’t know, a german working in a US production? Is it an international environment?

What's the big difference between Canadian and American ADs?

Feel free to ask as many questions as pop into your head - that’s what I’m here for :)

Yes absolutely international. I’ve worked with people from Brazil, Columbia, Japan, China, Korea, Germany, Russia, Italy, France, Australia, New Zealand and the UK as well as Nigeria and Iran. Off the top of my head that is… I may have missed a few countries.

These are all people who’ve either got work visas or permanent residency - but it’s absolutely common for our Canadian film industry to have people from overseas.

The language barrier can be a problem but I myself manage. I learned Korean for Pachinko, Japanese for Shogun, and most recently had a day crash course in Arabic and Farsi (I suck) since we had 150 first time background older Persian and Arab world people for an Algerian airport scene. It makes life tough but exciting and you get to meet so many different cultures and make friends outside your usual bubble.

Hope that helps!

Ah a glorious Kiwi, we love having you folks join our industry. There’s a ton of you here thanks to the ski / snowboarding in whistler - for some reason you lovely folks love snow and cold haha.

As to your question; here we have several areas that you use to find work. For beginners I absolutely can’t suggest enough the Facebook (or.. meta 🙃) group called BC PAX. Production Assistants regularly get work here often daycall but sometimes show call and it turns into long term work with a locations crew. I’ve made many friends doing that and even between my assistant directing and bg coordinating gigs I’ll do some PA work to refresh my skills in the area and make quick money (average is $306/15 hour day, so a fresh out of high school kid can bring in about $1200 after taxes on a 5 days a week show).

The other options are once you’re in the industry someone can invite you to the various other Facebook groups such as ADs of BC, Camera Crew, IATSE, and so on.

Lastly we also use the directors guild production list online to see what shows are in production and find the contact of said production company. Send an email and cross your fingers but I honestly had zero replies when I began and just walked up to a show. Direct approach worked best!

Cheers :)

For us - and maybe in Canada we’re just super soft and squishy as a people … but the way they treat crew typically. There’s also film jargon they’ll use that throws us through a loop (circus - Canada / base camp - America).

This isn’t a blanket truth though as I’ve worked with many absolute garbage humans as assistant directors who are Canadian and shouldn’t be in the industry.

But while working with James Gunn on Peacemaker we had Lars Winther (marvel 1st AD). Two big Hollywood Americans, and their style of things while I won’t say bad was definitely different than what I’d experienced previously. Gruff, blunt, and enjoyed strong language lol. Generally it’s a different vibe they give off - but as I said I’ve met some Canadian ADs who you just want to toss out an airlock.

Do the actors and crew of a film get a free private screening of the finished movie when it’s done?

You’d think hey maybe that might be nice - but 99% of the time not for crew. Actors yes.

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You are unfortunately someone with a lot of pent up hatred and anger. I hope you find help. Good luck to you!

Side note - he spat in our camera operators face. Did drugs on set, yelled at other actors, and had many other complaints from good people. Go wave your flag elsewhere.

Do you like working with extras? How do you dress them for a scene?

Oh I absolutely love working with extras. They get treated poorly by a lot of crew which is infuriating to me as they’re essential to the shot and world building. I’ve made many for life friends thanks to working with them.

So let’s take a scene I set for Pachinko (Korean historical series). It was a fish market where the Japanese police beat a Korean resistance member and drag him away.

We had: • 5 officers + 2 cast officers. • 50 vendors / fishmongers • 10 children • 30 shoppers • 20 fishermen

We had stalls set up with real fish and eels and squid (it stunk after a few days in the summer shooting..) and we’d place the merchants at their stalls. I’d map and photograph them, note the name and we’d remember the position. Then we placed the shoppers and gave them paths to take and merchants to stop and talk at. Then we have everyone react to the scene as the officers drag the man out and throw him to the ground and get their emotions playing. The kids we have to have either running around or helping the parents. The fishermen are pulling nets up over the dock and unloading deliveries.

You have to constantly refer to the monitors to see the frame, ask the 1st AC (camera operators) how they move in the shot, and then time out when people should cross camera (wipe) or counter the actors movements.

The worst is when they do a pick up of a scene part way through and you have to explain in noob Korean because you just learned it where in a scene we are and then match the positions.

Hope that explains it a bit? But it’s super fun and continuity dependant. We also have between 5-10 minutes to set up 100 people before the director says it’s time to shoot.

That’s brilliant, many thanks!! That’s actually what I hoped to hear❤️

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Do snuff movies exist? What are the rumours about snuff movies in ur line of work?

I wish I could give you a good answer on this, but in my own experience I’ve never had the conversation come up or seen evidence of them.

My understanding is that while they did exist at one point as a fringe part of movie making, they are almost non existent now. Only one I heard of was an Italian film but it’s name escapes me.

If they did exist they 100% still do. Especially with better technology like the Internet and live streams will make it easier IMO. How did you hear about the movie that you heard about? What is the talk within the movie industry about snuff movies?

Thank youbfor you're reply