Vancouver Screen Scene: Wesley Snipes, Cam Gigandet, Jenna Elfman, and more

In this week’s roundup of what’s shooting in Vancouver, it’s testosterone time, as we have a number of action-based thrillers and gritty dramas lined up.

But to break up the boy’s club, there’s also a romcom TV series, about a woman with an imaginary friend, in the mix.

Let’s get things rolling with the sci-fi thriller The Recall, directed by Mauro Borrelli, which started shooting in B.C. on July 25.

The story centres around five friends vacationing at a remote lake cottage as an alien invasion is taking place on Earth.

The cast includes R.J. Mitte (Breaking Bad), Jedidiah Goodacre (Descendants), Niko Pepaj (Awkward), Laura Maria Bilgeri (Toby Goes to Camp), and Hannah Rose May (Ballers).

Wesley Snipes (Blade, The Expendables 3) also stars in the role of “The Hunter” in the film.

Meanwhile, Canadian filmmaker Jamie M. Dagg impressed audiences and collected awards for his 2015 feature film debut River.

The thriller stars Rossif Sutherland (the Vancouver-born son of Donald Sutherland and half-brother to Kiefer Sutherland) as an American doctor working for an NGO in Laos.

He intervenes in the sexual assault of a Laotian woman, but when the assailant is founded murdered and the investigation starts to point to him, he’s forced to go on the run to reach the U.S. Embassy.

Dagg will start shooting his sophomore effort, the feature film Sweet Virginia, here on August 22.

Although shot in B.C., the story takes place in Alaska, where a motel manager befriends a young drifter who incites a wave of violence in the town.

The cast is still to be announced.

While we’re on the topic of gritty dramas, the crime drama TV series Ice, which we previously mentioned would start shooting in July, looks like it has been rescheduled. It starts shooting today (August 8) and continues until December 23.

It’s named after the slang word for diamonds, and follows a family as they become entrenched in the complicated underbelly of the L.A. diamond trade.

The cast has since been announced and includes Cam Gigandet, Jeremy Sisto, Donald Sutherland, and Ray Winstone.

Similarly, the TV series Shut Eye was originally slated to wrap up in July but will continue until August 16. It began filming on March 21.

The series follows a conman Charlie Haverford (Burn Notice’s Jeffrey Donovan), who runs a Los Angeles chain of fortune-telling parlours that are controlled by organized crime.

After a blow to the head, Charlie begins to see visions that changes his perspectives on things.

Among the cast is the luminous Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet).

As for other series wrapping up, A Series of Unfortunate Events concludes its shoot this week on August 12.

The Netflix series began shooting back on April 4.

It stars Neil Patrick Harris as the dastardly Count Olaf (played by Jim Carrey in the 2004 film version) who tries to steal the inheritance of three orphaned siblings.

When it comes to new shows, the first season of the TV series Imaginary Mary starts shooting on August 22, and is scheduled to continue until December 6.

The series follows the misadventures of a workaholic PR executive named Alice, played by Jenna Elfman, who falls for a divorced father of three.

But things go awry when Alice’s imaginary childhood friend, Mary, comes back into her life.

Mary tries to give Alice advice on her love life but, alas, winds up wreaking havoc.

Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch provides the voice of Mary.

Well, that pretty much winds up this latest round of what’s shooting around town, but we’ll leave with you a trailer of Imaginary Mary to give you an idea of what the show is like.

Until next week, happy star-spotting!