EDITOR KATJA DE BOCK THE VOICE, THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018 4 From books to barista Langara Film grads struggle to cope in an ailing B.C. film industry By BEN BULMER is a successful screenwriter and novelist, and he’s also rather good at his day job, making coffee. Harris wrote and produced his first movie, Neutral Territory, in 2008. He published his first novel, A Thousand Bayonets in 2011, and he is currently adapting it into a screenplay. But nei- ther of these successes is paying him a wage. “T work in Starbucks. That pays the bills,” said Harris. The Save BC Film organization and its supporters packed a North Shore studio on Jan. 22, calling on Victoria to increase tax credits to enable them to compete with Eastern Canada and the U.S. Currently, Ontario and Quebec give a 25-per-cent tax rebate on the to- tal production cost, while B.C. gives a 33-per-cent rebate on labour only. With the dollar as low at 63 cents in 2002, U.S. film producers saved vast amounts of money by moving produc- tions to Vancouver. From this emerged a world-class TV and film industry, filming shows that became household names like The X-Files and Smallville. With the dollar now at par, produc- tions have moved to cheaper places and taken jobs with them, leaving 90 per cent of B.C.’s 25,000 film workers unemployed, according to Save BC Film. Harris thinks he could make a living screenwriting if the industry was in a better position. “ Definitely’ is such a strong word, but I’d say that there’s a good chance that would be the case. “Tf we have that incentive [tax cred- its] and we have that in place than there’s nothing to Ls journalism grad Joel Harris DAVID COOPER photo left to right: Siona Gareau-Brennan, Masae Day, Erica Hoeksema act in Studio 58’s new play Spring Awakening Acclaimed Broadway play makes debut at Studio 58 Spring Awakening explores teen sexuality and loss of innocence stop us competing with Ontario or with the United States.” Langara film stu- dent Hillary Katlan said it was impor- tant to be hopeful when considering the job market af- ter graduation. “T don’t know how realistic that is. I like to think that [unemployment] won’t be a prob- lem.” Premier Christy Clark said on Jan. 22, $285 million has already been allo- cated to support the film industry. “I JOEL MARK HARRIS works at Star- bucks to make ends meet By DEANNA CHENG tudio 58 debuts on Jan. 31 with Spring Awakening, an award- winning rock musical, for a rather frank discussion about abortion, homoeroticism, rape, child abuse and suicide. It explores the ups and downs of sexual awakening, self- definition and self-destruction as each character “overflows with need,” said Lauren Jackson. Jackson plays the character Wendla, a curious 14-year-old girl in 1890 Ger- many. Wendla goes through changes in her body and gains new information about her world. She begins to ask a lot of questions, feeding her curiosity. “It takes a lot of courage to be curi- ous and push limits,” said Jackson. “And Wendla goes after what she wants.” Stephanie Izsak plays Ilsa, the abused outcast child. Her role in the play is to show what happens when you defy your parents, tell someone about the abuse and when you don’t “shut up and take it.” Ilsa exists between adulthood and childhood, going through a journey to accept her lost innocence. From the process, she has a strong desire to mas- ter and understand her world. “The reality is, life is dirty. Life is messy. Life is sexy,” said Iszak. “And Ilsa sees that sooner. She rises up and wears it as her own. She decides to wear her messiness. Wear her gritti- ness.” This play was ahead of its time. Play- wright Frank Wedekind wrote Spring Awakening between 1890 and 1891 but it was not produced until 1906. Izsak said: “This was not an easy choice. The choice to tackle the beast that is Spring Awakening says a lot about Studio 58. It makes me very proud to go here and be able to work with people who make those kind of de- cisions. .. Those kind of decisions will help shape bold artists and they’re commendable, putting themselves on the line for us. We’re going to carry that forward.” For more info go to: www.langara.be.ca/studio-58. TIMES and tickets JAN 31 -FEB 24 Shows: 8 p.m. Tue-Sat. Matinees: 3 p.m. Sat-Sun. except Feb. 2. No shows on Mondays FREE PREVIEWS FOR STUDENTS Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 TICKETS $10 Tuesday special ($12.25 with service fee) Single tickets $27.75/22.75/21.75 matinee & group rates wwwticketstonightca ime retardants may cause Cet, child growth Problems a KATJA DE BOCK photo Global TV news anchor Chris Gailus came by and was kind enough to take an interest in The Voice. Global BC host hits campus News anchor Chris Gailus charms Langara audience with anecdotes and useful tricks of the trade By BRENNA BROOKS long rants and boring slideshows. But for anybody who attended Chris Gailus’ presentation on Jan. 24, there was endless laughter and a hu- morous question period. The Emmy-winning Global news an- chor dropped by Langara College to share his experience in the news indus- try and take a few photographs with fans. Gailus says he was always a natural GC: speakers sometimes bring storyteller, but it wasn’t until college that he was inspired to trade his bas- ketball dreams for a camera bag and broadcasting degree. “When you recognize a passion, you have no choice other than to follow it,” he says. After graduating and working in Le- thbridge, Dallas and New York, Gailus was chosen to be the successor of the iconic Tony Parsons by Global BC news director lan Haysom. “Replacing an icon is a tall order for anyone. He had big shoes to fill coming in,” says Haysom. “Good thing he had big shoes.” Since becoming the 6 p.m. news an- chor, Gailus feels responsible for main- taining the fairness and reputation of the news hour, even if it means “standling] at the door of the news room with a sword and shield,” he says. The significant boom of the online media industry may seem threatening to television news, but Gailus says tele- vision isn’t going away anytime soon. “There’s a human connection with what we do,” he says. Because he doesn’t receive immedi- ate reactions from a live audience, Gai- lus says he imagines speaking to one person in order to keep the news real and conversational. The only thing Gailus is more pas- sionate about than the integrity of the news is his family. Haysom says that the anchor is a huge family man. Gailus lights up with a smile as he talks about his son William, whom he adopted with his wife in August 2011.