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Wesley Snipes
Remember Wesley Snipes, and how the Blade star was ‘on the lam’ back in late 2006? He was wanted for allegedly defrauding the IRS in the United States? Well, after finally being apprehended, and after being charged with tax evasion in a Florida court last week, the actor has further been ordered to pay $1.7 million in back commissions to the United Talent Agency for assistance in helping him land film roles.
You’d think all that stress would necessitate a massage, and you’d be right. Early last week the celluloid vampire fighter was in Vancouver and indulged in one of Absolute Spa’s on-the-road treatments, including a relaxation massage and aromatherapy.
As NBC gets set to debut its re-imagined Bionic Woman tonight, comes word of production sightings for the Vancouver-shot series. Last week the show filmed evening sequences at Windermere Secondary (3100 block of East 27th), and then a couple of days later took over the Smile Restaurant at West Pender and Richards before moving across the street to film in front of a Pender bookstore.
Many of you have written to ask what the strong dollar will mean for our B.C. film industry. The short answer is that nobody really knows. All agree that a dollar at parity with its U.S. counterpart will make it more challenging to lure American productions to Canada, but thus far there seems to be little consensus about what to do, or indeed, if anything needs to be done just yet.
For the next few months, at least, it’s unlikely we’ll see significant blowback. Film and television productions already underway are secure, as networks and/or studios generally buy Canadian dollars many months in advance of projects that have already been greenlit to shoot here. Moreover, several economic strategists believe our dollar will drop again in the New Year.
On the other hand, if the dollar remains at parity, and anticipated Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes hit next spring/summer, it could signal a perfect storm from which Hollywood North would have a tough time recovering.
robert@hollywoodnorthreport.com
