Loretta Sarah Todd might be responsible for one of the most wildly inventive series premises to hit Canadian TV screens in eons.
How wildly inventive? Two young women — one Aboriginal, one Asian — operate a martial arts dojo together on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. They juggle their dojo duties with a bodyguard business and out-of-this-world abilities (as in, of the superhero variety).
A sci-fi action-adventure martial arts series set in the DTES and starring two powerful minority women? That’s just the jumping-off point for Skye & Chang, the pilot for which airs on APTN on May 20 and stars Sera-Lys McArthur (Arctic Air) and Olivia Cheng (Supernatural) in the title roles.
“I wanted to make something that was accessible and beautiful and hip and cool, and yet at the same time had that idea that everyone has their own power, and we don’t have to keep giving up our power to politicians, or drug pushers, or consumer society,” says Todd, the acclaimed Cree/Metis filmmaker who wrote, directed and produced Skye & Chang.
It’s a fun first foray into the world of sci-fi television for Todd. The self-described sci-fi nerd was yearning to create a genre piece that harkened back to the genre’s earliest roots as a truth-telling medium while also empowering young women.
“Young women are being pigeonholed into this overly sexualized role, and the idea of having your own power and being comfortable with who you are is being forgotten,” says Todd.
So when Skye and Chang strut onto the small screen, they’re embodying characteristics such as bravado, heroism, and humour: kicking ass and crushing gender stereotypes in a single bound.
Also challenged are stereotypes about a neighbourhood close to Todd’s heart. “Often the Downtown Eastside is portrayed as depressed and full of problems, which it is, but it’s also full of people with big hearts,” says Todd, who worked from an office in the area for many years. “I wanted to reflect back that these are real people with real lives.”
Todd speaks highly of her cast – “Sera-Lys and Olivia took their roles so seriously that they let their chemistry naturally develop, because they knew they needed that chemistry to live onscreen” – as well as her crew, who helped her squeeze the most out of a modest budget.
“The budget didn’t allow us to do some things that we would have liked, but what we did, we did really well,” says Todd.
They made ample use of three locations, two cameras, and animation segments. “I like to think that we made it look much bigger than our budget was,” she says.
The pilot was made under licence from APTN, with the support of the Aboriginal Program Canada Media Fund.
Most recently, it won the award for Best Short Feature at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.
Skye & Chang is enjoyable as a stand-alone hour of television but Todd’s goal is a full series order. “We had so many companies that gave us great discounts because they really want this project to happen for Vancouver,” says Todd.
Skye & Chang airs Tuesday at 8:30pm on APTN. SkyeAndChang.com
