Dreaming in the Rain: How Vancouver Became Hollywood North by Northwest [Paperback]

While movie stars may now be a familiar sight in Starbucks outlets all over Canada's West Coast, it wasn't so long ago when the road between Vancouver and Hollywood was far less travelled. According to Dreaming in the Rain, David Spaner's genial and informative history of the city's filmmaking scene, Vancouver was of little use to movie producers unless they needed a shot of a mountain. If the city was known at all, it was as the hometown of minor stars like Yvonne De Carlo or the place where Errol Flynn died in the arms of his 17-year-old girlfriend. As for local productions, they had thrilling names like Canadian Pacific and CaribooTrail. Hollywood players--like director Robert Altman and TV producers Stephen J. Cannell and Chris Carter--eventually recognized its potential, and X-Men 2 and The X-Files are just two of the enormous number of movies and TV shows to be made there in the last decade. While Spaner, a writer for the Vancouver Province, charts the history of the romance between the two cities, he's more interested in making the case that Vancouver is not just a cheap, picturesque stand-in for an American locale. Spaner believes that an "alluring dichotomy" makes the city unique. "On Vancouver's surface," he writes, "there is a stillness, a ravishing natural beauty that seems to leave some dumbstruck, content to sit and marvel at the vista with nothing to say. In the city's underground, though, there have always been restive social and cultural movements, chafing to shout about plenty." Spaner does his own share of shouting as he relates the colourful history of Vancouver's indigenous film scene, which was built on the efforts of fiercely independent filmmakers like Larry Kent, Bruce Sweeney, and Lynne Stopkewich. Even though Hollywood's affection for the city has created a bustling film industry, the directors celebrated by Spaner all know how necessary it is for Vancouverites to create films that could only come from the place they love. A movie like Sweeney's Last Wedding--a savage comedy rife with jokes about leaky condos--proves that Vancouver deserves to be portrayed as something other than a substitute Seattle. --Jason Anderson

Spaner writes about the rise of the city as one of the major centers of film production not only in North America but in the world.
—Hollywood Reporter (Hollywood Reporter )

. . . [Spaner has . . . scrupulous attention to detail and an obvious curiosity and passion for both Vancouver and its film industry.
—Entertainment Today (Entertainment Today )

. . . paints a clear and accurate portrait of an industry that in 20 short years left an undeniable mark on a city and its people.
—The Calgary Herald (The Calgary Herald )

Anyone who plans on pursuing a career in filmmaking or just has an interest in independent film would be well served to read this book.
—Nexus (Nexus )

. . . a delightful new retrospective on the history of film production. . .
—Vancouver Lifestyles Magazine (Vancouver Lifestyles )

Twenty years ago, Vancouver didn't exist on any map of the film world. Today, Vancouver is at the heart of two film worlds. The city's American-based film industry is powerful enough to inspire loathing and threats from Hollywood, and its Canadian-based film scene is among the most acclaimed, provocative independent filmmaking communities anywhere. Vancouver Province movie critic David Spaner's Dreaming in the Rain is the story of West Coast Canada's emergence as a movie capital, from its early days as a Hollywood studio backlot, to its emergence as a place for movies of the week and television series like The X-Files, to its being home for local filmmakers like Mina Shum, Lynne Stopkewich, Bruce Sweeney, and countless others, who remain resolutely independent.

Along with tracing the art and commerce of Vancouver filmmaking, he brings to life the flamboyant film personalities who left their marks. There are Errol Flynn and his young companion Beverly Aadland, who spent the movie swashbuckler's last days partying in the Vancouver night life of the 1950s. There is also Robert Altman, who pioneered the Vancouver film industry, making films in the city long before becoming a legendary director. And there are local heroes such as The Matrix's Carrie Anne Moss, who grew up in Vancouver, and Kissed star Molly Parker and director Lynne Stopkewich, vital players in the groundbreaking Vancouver indie scene. And many more.

Dreaming in the Rain features David's own interviews with, among others, Robert Altman, Molly Parker, John Travolta, Lynne Stopkewich, Beverly Aadland, Stephen J. Cannell, John Frankenheimer, Carrie Anne Moss, Helen Shaver, Mina Shum, Sylvester Stallone, Nicholas Campbell, Ken Olin, Bruce Sweeney, Parker Posey, Chris Haddock, Sandra Oh, Barbara Parkins, Willem Dafoe, Nick Mancuso, Chris Carter, Sandy Wilson, Ian Tracey, Selma Blair, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Carole Laure, Ellie Harvie, Norman Jewison, Barbara Williams, Babz Chula, Bif Naked, and Anne Wheeler.

Includes more than 40 black and white photographs.

(arsenalpulp.com )

David Spaner has worked as a movie critic, feature writer, reporter, and editor for numerous newspapers and magazines. He is the author of Dreaming in the Rain: How Vancouver Became Hollywood North by Northwest. He lives in Vancouver.