ALIENATED
Monday, January 20, 2003
from: The
NewVI.com
Abduction meets dysfunction when the Blundell family has to deal with
the bizarre effects of alien experimentation. An off-beat, half-hour,
sci-fi comedy series produced by Brightlight Pictures, Alienated is funded
in part by CHUM Television stations The New VI and SPACE: The Imagination
Station. Alienated will air on The New VI, Cable 12, SPACE: The Imagination
Station, and other CHUM Television stations across Canada. Shooting will
begin in early February in Victoria.
Alienated is one more step in The New VI’s $12 million / 7 year
commitment to the Island’s independent film community. With support
ranging from development to pre-licensing to broadcast, The New VI is
committed to nurturing independent production.
Film Industry Revenues Grow in Greater Victoria
January 14, 2003
Greater Victoria continues to be a film destination of choice with just
under $15 million in revenues generated in Greater Victoria in 2002. This
marks a growth of $3 million in film industry revenues over 2001, despite
an overall slowdown caused by a variety of events, including September
11. The outlook for 2003 is also promising, with a number of productions
committed to or considering Victoria as a film location.
“To be experiencing growth at this time is an incredible accomplishment
for this region as a film destination,” says Tom Crowe, Greater
Victoria Film Commissioner. “While Victoria receives the majority
of the film business, the city also acts as a springboard for Vancouver
Island. We directed over 52 project inquiries to upisland communities
in 2002 and as Victoria grows as a film destination, all Vancouver Island
communities will receive more exposure and revenues will grow.”
The Film Commission hosts over 80% of all film production. In 2002, 30
productions shot in Greater Victoria including six features, nine series
and pilots, four commercials and a variety of documentaries and videos.
One of the best-known productions to utilize Victoria in 2002 was X-Men
2.
While a favourable exchange rate is part of the reason for Victoria’s
attractiveness, popularity can also be attributed to Victoria’s
increasing film-friendliness. The Film Commission has developed a number
of initiatives to enhance Victoria as a film destination and continues
to liaise between municipalities, parks, police and specific locations
and productions shooting in Greater Victoria.
The Greater Victoria Film Commission markets the skills, locations and
creativity inherent in Victoria and Vancouver Island to a global film
industry.
 X2's
looking for a few big men
BY MICHAEL D. REID Times Colonist staff
Guys nicknamed Mini-Me need not apply. Ditto for men carrying too much
Labatt Fat or Molson Muscle.
And if you're a balding movie critic who loves show tunes, don't even
think about it.
The casting director for X-Men 2 (or X2 as it's widely called) didn't
issue those exact restrictions at an open call for extras Saturday afternoon,
but the vibe was obvious.
Size does matter for certain scenes in the Twentieth Century Fox blockbuster
that starts filming here in late June.
By the time extras casting director Andrea Brown threw open the doors
to a Traveller's Inn.com Discovery Street office space at 1 p.m., an estimated
80 men had assembled outside to put their best biceps forward.
The producers were looking for more than a few good men - strong, athletic
types, military experience preferred.
The chosen ones will be featured in climactic scenes involving helicopters
and SWAT teams swooping onto the lawns at Royal Roads after principal
photography gets underway at Hatley Castle on the sequel to Marvel Comics-based
mega-hit.
Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry and other X-Men stars including Patrick
Stewart and Hugh Jackman are scheduled to reunite in Victoria for main
unit shooting.
By the time Saturday's six-hour call had wrapped, dozens of males of
all shapes, colours and sizes had filtered through the room. They filled
out forms listing details like eye and hair colour, waist and chest measurements,
availability from June 22 through mid-July for second-unit shooting, and
whether they had military or combat training.
 Candidates
then waited in line and stood against a wall height measurement chart
to have their Polaroid's taken by Brown. The lucky ones would get a call
back.
"You've got to stand out. It's all about being seen" said Steve
Killi, 31, a part-time actor dressed in military fatigues.
Killi, represented by Barbara Coultish Talent and Model Management,
has acted in various projects filmed in and around Victoria, including
a gig as Tom Berenger's stand-in on the thriller All Around the Watchtower.
The tall blond actor even picked up some SWAT team experience opposite
Brian Bosworth in the action flick The Operative.
Killing a little time before the doors opened, Killi engaged in playful
combat with: his friend and fellow client Ken Mayes, 37.
"I'm here busting the black guy, staying true to the stereotype",
joked Killi as Mayes burst into laughter.
Mayes, a bald muscular actor who works as a bail supervisor with the Ministry
of Children and Families, was dressed in black from head to toe.
"They say dressing in black helps in terms of photos," said
Mayes. "It helps you come across".
One of Mayes' most recent acting jobs was as a state trooper in the thriller
Black Point starring David Caruso.
"I got to hang out with Caruso in the cabin for a while. He was great.
He told me how much he loved Victoria and hated the smog and traffic in
California."
Andrew Watson, 43, was another contender dressed in black.
"Image is everything," said Watson, a model and actor whose
credits include Black Point and I Fought the Law. "I've also had
experience shooting weapons".
Except for a couple of young women who accompanied their boyfriends to
the auditions, females were conspicuously absent.
April Halisheff, vice-president of Traveller's Inn, joked that she'd
have to get her girlfriends there, "What a place to meet guys!"
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