YVR Screen Scene is a digital magazine and podcast that celebrates the shining stars who power Vancouver’s booming film and television industry. Helmed by award-winning film and television journalist Sabrina Furminger, YVR Screen Scene is a go-to source for in-depth conversations with the dynamic artists, actors, writers, directors, and all manner of behind-the-scenes magicians who’ve made Vancouver’s screen industry the juggernaut industry it is today.
Sabrina honed her craft as the force behind the Westender’s wildly popular Reel People column and with YVR Screen Scene, she continues in her mission to showcase Vancouver’s film and television storytellers through engrossing, revelatory, informative, funny, intimate, and regularly confessional conversations with Vancouver’s brightest stars.
We had a moment to check-in with Sabrina and learn more about what led her to YVR Screen Scene, read our full interview below and follow along with YVR Screen Scene on Facebook and Twitter.
What milestones have you achieved or are you focusing on now?
We hit the ground running on January 8 with a full slate of articles featuring top-notch industry talent like Amanda Tapping, Vincent Tong, John Cassini, Agam Darshi, Lee Majdoub, Christopher Russell, Christina Sicoli, and the filmmakers behind Adventures in Public School and Scout and the Gumboot Kids. As soon as we launched, the response from the film and television industry (and people who love reading about the film and television industry) was immediate and validating, which reiterated something I’ve long believed: there is an appetite for these kinds of stories. I spend my days conducting interviews and writing articles while also seeking out the next generation of entertainment journalists and planning for the podcast, which is coming in March. My goal is to publish at least two interview-driven articles a week but I’ve been surpassing that because there are so many wonderful stories to tell, and I have ample space to tell them. I have some incredible interviews in the can that I’m excited to share, featuring an array of established and emerging film and TV industry talent from both sides of the camera.
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of the numerous articles I’ve written over the years in which the interview subjects have trusted me with their deeply personal stories. In my journey to find the story behind the screen story, I’ve written articles about pregnancy loss, racism, sexism, domestic violence, poverty, #metoo, missing and murdered Indigenous women, grief, trauma, being an outsider, and all manner of love. I’m just as interested in why someone chooses to tell a particular screen story as I am in how they choose to bring it to the screen. I told many such stories at the Westender, and I’ll continue telling them at YVR Screen Scene.
I’m proud to have been the first recipient of Women in Film and Television Vancouver’s Iris Award for shining a spotlight on female filmmakers, performers, and storytellers in my column (you can watch her full speech on YouTube!).
I’m proud of the cover story I wrote in October about the #metoo movement which featured several brave women speaking out about sexual harassment and violence they’ve faced on set and in the industry. I am proud of those women, full-stop.
Where can readers learn more and sign-up for YVR Screen Scene?
The best place is the source itself: www.yvrscreenscene.com.
