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	Television Interviews Movie-Television November 15, 2003

Canada's Movie Television had a special behind-the-scene segment on the making of The Squad, which would seem to be the new name for The Life. The film takes place on the bleak streets of Vancouver where drug traffic is rampant and is told from the viewpoint of two extraordinary cops, who have devoted their lives to dealing with the area and its problems. Host Terry David Mulligan interviewed the director Lynne Stopkewich, along with several actors from the film: Alisen Down, Brian Markinson, Bruce Greenwood and Nancy Sivak. The full segment aired over City TV and Canadian Bravo and is also available online.

Terry David Mulligan Vancouver's infamous downtown east side is the setting for a made-for-television movie called "The Squad". Based and inspired by the amazing documentary called "Odd Squad: Through a Blue Lens" and it follows the exploits of police officers in this area who have to deal every day and every night with the prostitutes and the junkies. The film is directed by Lynne Stopkewich and stars Bruce Greenwood and Brian Markinson.

Lynne Stopkewich It's inspired by that project and yet at the same time this film has it's own sort of life-beat, it has it's own characters, it has it's own sort of point of view. So, it was a really interesting springboard for this project. I was really thrilled to get the offer to do this project because it's, you know, very ambitious and the content was in my own backyard, so it was really cool.

Alisen Down I've been thinking a lot about, you know, drugs and the choices that we make. I think that in the beginning, it's a choice that you don't know that it's going to effect you so much. It's this fun thing that you do in the beginning and then it becomes this ball-and-chain that you have. You become a slave to it.

Brian Markinson Our characters are based on...really who've forgone any transfers or promotions to stay on this beat, really from 4 o'clock in the afternoon to 3:00 in the morning, 4 days on, 4 days off, dealing with these same folks.

Nancy Sivak I met quite a few heroin addicts in doing the research and a lot of times it was one or two choices that, that person made that sent them down this road. They have an addiction and that addiction is so strong that it overpowers them but they are human beings.

Bruce Greenwood

The situations that these people exist in is just, it defies belief at times. It's so impoverished and so desperate but they do have senses of humor about it. It's full of irony and kind of a hideous ugly wit, you know.

Alisen Down It's very important that we care about these characters because they are human beings and they are on the street and they are in pain and they are going through this, so it's imperative that we care about them.

Lynne Stopkewich ....and so far, I think we've been doing a really interesting job, the cast is fantastic. The cast is like the Canadian and Vancouver Who's Who of the acting world so for me it's amazing.

Brian Markinson Bruce and I, both really want to get this right in terms of the detail. It's rare that you see cops portrayed like this. You know, we're not wearing capes and so we wanted to do justice to it.

Nancy Sivak One woman I met, that I talked to...I said, "What could I do? How can I show your story? What can I do if you turned on the TV and you watched me, what would make it real?" and she said, "Just tell people that I have a heart."

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