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The title itself is a literary accomplishment.
Shot in Vancouver: Adventures in Hollywood North chronicles Vancouver’s history as a backdrop for many legendary films and TV series over the years. But the double entendre of the title becomes realized when you know that the writer is Sam Wiebe, Vancouver’s prolific murder mystery novellist.
“I wanted to write the book that I wished was out there,” says Wiebe over a phone call with the Straight. “Because there are great books about the independent film scene or about different shows and stuff, but there wasn’t one that really embraced all the Vancouver stuff—the good, the bad, the questionable. So that was sort of the goal.”
The book catalogues decades of local film and television history, covering everything from the ‘70s and ‘80s days of McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Rocky IV to the more modern hits with both humour and in-depth research.
“I’m interested in all of it,” says Wiebe. “I wanted to be able to talk about the independent films, like the Bruce Sweeney and Mina Shum films, but also like Timecop and the X-Files and the slightly goofier things.”
The book came out earlier this month via Arsenal Pulp Press, and Wiebe says that the reaction has been strong. “There’s just a lightness to talking about it compared to mysteries,” he says. “I’ve written maybe a dozen mysteries, and all I can really sell people on is the quality of the prose and the story. If people don’t like the genre, they’re not interested. But there’s real interest in this subject. The industry is maybe a little bit under-regarded or under-represented.”
For Wiebe personally, the production that intrigued him most was the 1977 Canadian cult classic Skip Tracer. “I had heard about it, and it’s just a fascinating thing to read about and connect with some of the people who worked on it,” he says. “And then also just like seeing Vancouver in the ‘70s, when Granville Island was completely flat with nothing in it.”
It continues to be a busy month for Wiebe, who is about to fly to Calgary for the mystery fan convention Bouchercon. Shortly after that, Wiebe heads into this week’s Vancouver Writers Fest with a couple of key appointments on the docket.
Wiebe will be appearing twice at the festival—to serve on the Best of B.C. Mysteries panel on October 25 at the Revue Stage and as the moderator of Vancouver: A Field Guide on October 24 with fellow Vancouver writers Steve Burgess, Christopher Cheung, and Justin McElroy.
“I think the thing that unites us is that we all have a real ambivalence where we all love Vancouver, but there is a real trenchant social critique to the books,” Wiebe says. “So that’ll be interesting to discuss—where’s the city going, what are the things to celebrate, and what are the things that you want people to be aware of?”
Sam Wiebe appears as part of the Vancouver Writers Fest on October 24 and 25.