logo
'The Sexiest Man in Winnipeg': True crime film tells odd story of sportscaster-turned-bank robber

'The Sexiest Man in Winnipeg': True crime film tells odd story of sportscaster-turned-bank robber

Yahoo21-05-2025

In the documentary The Sexiest Man in Winnipeg (now on Prime Video), narrated by Will Arnett, directors Ben Daughtrey and Charlie Siskel chronicle the odd true crime case of broadcaster-turned-robber, Steve Vogelsang. The beloved sports anchor confused locals when he was found to have led a number of odd bank heists.
For Daughtrey and Siskel, it's the character study component of Vogelsang's story that interested them. With a "made for TV personality" — Vogelsang even reenacts his own crimes for the documentary — it's a fascinating film that brings up several questions about fame and celebrity.
"I don't think either of us has a particular interest in true crime as a genre, but this was an opportunity to take it apart as a form, and break it open and look at the true crime industrial complex that we seem to all feed on," Siskel told Yahoo Canada.
While Vogelsang's crimes weren't victimless, with traumatized bank employees impacted by his actions, the heists were so mishandled and executed without strategic thinking that they're more like heists you would see in a comedy movie, not real life.
"When you look at Steve's crimes, his half a dozen robberies, he created characters for each of these crimes," Siskel highlighted. "They were theatrical, they were performative. They're funny. He's got little jokes in them."
"He hid the money that he stole from one of the banks inside an urn with his mother's ashes. Did he have to do that? Was that the best hiding place? Or was it something that would make a great story to tell afterwards."
But all of that also feeds into is Vogelsang's desire for attention.
"He's a media animal," Siskel said. "As a kid, his mother called him, 'My son the Prime Minister.' This was a guy who knew his way around storytelling."
"He made himself kind of a centrepiece of a lot of the sports stories he did. So it seemed fitting to kind of take him apart as a character, as someone who didn't want to live an ordinary life. Steve got quite used to being a celebrity, lost that celebrity, and I think we kind of asked the provocative question, is it possible that Steve robbed a bunch of banks in order to tell a great story. In order to become a celebrity again, in order to have ... another crack at fame?"
Going one step further, The Sexiest Man in Winnipeg also becomes an evaluation of its audience, and the filmmakers. There's a moral question about how we create and consume crime stories as entertainment.
"We wanted all of that complexity, moral complexity, narrative complexity, and allow the audience to be jury members and decide what they think of it," Siskel said. "What do they think of Steve as a character? What do they think of the filmmakers? What do they think of themselves as consumers of this kind of entertainment? And hopefully have a lot of laughs too. Sometimes at Steve's expense, because he is quite willing to play the fool, I would say."
What's brought up in The Sexiest Man in Winnipeg is who the "real" Vogelsang is, and what's just a facade or a show. When asked if the directors believe they got to know the real Vogelsang, they identity him as both a "publicity monster" and "a human being trying to figure out who he is."
"I think both things are equally true, and that's what we're trying to do with the film," Daughtrey said.
"I think Steve maybe grew in some ways over the course of the film. I think Charlie and I were like, at moments, 'God, I hate this guy.' And then other parts of us were like, 'I sort of empathize with him.'"
Vogelsang also claims in The Sexiest Man in Winnipeg that he didn't enjoy fame very much, but the filmmakers aren't so sure, and the audience is likely to be dubious of that statement as well.
"Steve is hyper-intelligent and he's super delusional, in my opinion, and he has an answer for everything," Daughtrey said. "Some days I believe him, some days I don't."
"Clearly where he ends up is quite modest, but maybe that's just a fault of his life choices."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Prime Video's CARRIE Series Gets Flanaverse Vets Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel and More
Prime Video's CARRIE Series Gets Flanaverse Vets Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel and More

Geek Girl Authority

time6 hours ago

  • Geek Girl Authority

Prime Video's CARRIE Series Gets Flanaverse Vets Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel and More

Highlights Mike Flanagan's Carrie series at Prime Video brings more talented actors into the fold, including Flanaverse vets Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel and Michael Trucco. Carrie The above three are part of an expansive roster of recurring guest stars. Flanagan will write, direct select episodes and executive produce the series based on Stephen King's legendary novel. The Flanaverse Comes to Carrie If one thing can be said about horror auteur Mike Flanagan, it's that he has an established crew of actors with whom he loves to collaborate. This also applies to his Carrie TV series for Prime Video. Based on Stephen King's debut novel, the show has now added 14 recurring guest stars, including a few faces familiar to fans of the Flanaverse. RELATED: Mike Flanagan's Carrie Series Gets Greenlight From Prime Video So, who will be joining the main cast? Let's start with the Flanaverse vets: Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco, Crystal Balint, Danielle Klaudt and Katee Sackhoff (whose last Flanagan credit is 2013's Oculus ). Additional recurring guest stars include Heather Graham, Tahmoh Penikett (here's hoping he appears onscreen with fellow Battlestar Galactica stars Sackhoff and Trucco), Tim Bagley, Mapuana Makia, Rowan Danielle, Naika Toussaint, Delainey Hayles and Cassandra Naud. The Main Cast As for the main cast, Summer Howell will step into the titular role of Carrie White. Siena Agudong will portray Sue Snell, with Amber Midthunder as Miss Desjardin, Samantha Sloyan (another Flanaverse vet) as Margaret White, Carrie's mother; Josie Totah as Tina, Joel Oulette as Tommy, Thalia Dudek as Emaline, Arthur Conti as Billy, Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen and Matthew Lillard as Principal Grayle (who appears in Flanagan's upcoming film The Life of Chuck , adapted from King's novella of the same name). RELATED: Stephen King's The Institute Series Gets Release Date and First-Look Photos Flanagan will pen the scripts for the eight-episode show and be at the helm for certain episodes. He'll also serve as executive producer. According to Deadline , Flanagan's project 'reimagines the story of misfit high-schooler Carrie White, who has spent her life in seclusion with her domineering mother. After her father's sudden and untimely death, Carrie finds herself contending with the alien landscape of public high school, a bullying scandal that shatters her community, and the emergence of mysterious telekinetic powers.' As of writing, we don't have a premiere date for Carrie ; however, it's purported to debut sometime in 2026 on Prime Video. The Netflix Flanaverse Shows, Ranked Contact: [email protected] What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events. Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet. Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium. Critic: Rotten Tomatoes, CherryPicks, and the Hollywood Creative Alliance.

'Smallville' star Laura Vandervoort on combatting typecasting, voicing her opinion on set: 'Being put in a box, it can be very frustrating'
'Smallville' star Laura Vandervoort on combatting typecasting, voicing her opinion on set: 'Being put in a box, it can be very frustrating'

Yahoo

time10 hours ago

  • Yahoo

'Smallville' star Laura Vandervoort on combatting typecasting, voicing her opinion on set: 'Being put in a box, it can be very frustrating'

Born and raised in Toronto, Laura Vandervoort is a force whenever she's on screen. Beginning her acting career at age 12, from classic Canadian projects like Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, to shows with huge fandoms like Smallville and The Handmaid's Tale, Vandervoort does it all with an infectious presence, which she's also bringing behind the camera as a director. As Vandervoort described, she was "introverted" as a child, a "tomboy" and "super nerdy," a kid who spent most of her time playing sports. But when she saw the 1991 movie My Girl, starring Anna Chlumsky, that sparked a new interest for her. "I'd never seen someone my age emote those kind of feelings before, and it kind of stirred something in me," Vandervoort told Yahoo Canada. "And I was like, 'I want to do whatever that is.' And my parents were like, 'Absolutely no. Child actors, bad thing.' But eventually they were like, 'You know what? This is probably good for her. She's pretty shy.'" That led to the talented actor starting her career with background work on projects like Road to Avonlea and Harriet the Spy, and then moving into commercials, eventually getting an agent and working on beloved Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs), including Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire, with Caroline Rhea and Charles Shaughnessy. From Canadian productions, Vandervoort made the move to the U.S., really growing in her career at a time when it was important to go to Los Angeles, participate in pilot season, and just be across the border for meetings and to audition in-person. Ultimately, the actor knew the L.A. life wasn't for her. "I did move and didn't love it," she said. "Wasn't my thing. Still pretty introverted. Didn't go out. Didn't party. Didn't do the whole L.A. thing, which is probably how I never got into trouble as a kid actor." "But it's not necessary anymore. Especially since COVID, actors can audition anywhere by self-tape. There's pros and cons to that. ... I did find though, the minute I moved to L.A., all of my jobs were in Canada. So it was almost like Canada was like, 'Oh, she left. We want her more.' And I think that's kind of how it was back then, but that's definitely changed." In terms of the roles that really excite Vandervoort, she likes playing characters who are far from who she is in real life. "With typecasting and being put in a box, it can be very frustrating," she said. "So if I'm given an opportunity to ... just completely change who I am, not just visually, but mentally, ... I find that so juicy and exciting." "It's hard to find roles like that right now. So you find you're either creating them, or you're trying to collaborate with other artists to create a project that doesn't exist for all of you to do. You want to always change people's opinions about who you are and what you're capable of, and challenge yourself."For Canadian teens and tweens in the 2000s, Instant Star was the perfect TV obsession. A young teen, Jude Harrison (Alexz Johnson), wins a singing competition that launches her music career. Vandervoort played Jude's sister, Sadie, who becomes quite jealous of all the attention her younger sister starts receiving. Admittedly, Sadie may have not been a favourite character for many, given a pretty one-dimensional arc to play with, but Vandervoort is not closing the door to bringing Sadie back, with a storyline she deserves. "Instant Star was great for me to get my feet wet, to play a character that I could not relate to in any way," Vandervoort said. "I actually hated Sadie. I found her so annoying, but it was great." "The cast is great. Everyone's doing wonderful now. Tim Rozon is busy, he and I were just talking about doing a movie together, because I haven't worked with him in so long. And I think Alexz started something online about having a reunion, which we're all in for. I just was like, please give Sadie a storyline, because she never really had one. She was an annoying brat." Interestingly, while Vandervoort was on Instant Star she booked Smallville, and at one point was doing both shows at the same time, travelling between Vancouver and Toronto as Instant Star approached its end. But the actor almost wasn't able to move on to Smallville. "[Instant Star] was a good place for me to kind of learn the ropes, and then getting on to Smallville, which was a huge U.S. show, moving out of the city for the first time as a teenager, driving myself around Vancouver, 18-hour work days, stunts. ... I'm grateful for it," Vandervoort said. "I think if I recall, Epitome Pictures, who did Instant Star, would block shoot my scenes, which is essentially, we'll shoot all your scenes in a day. But they weren't going to let me do Smallville when I got cast. Contractually, they weren't going to let it happen. And thankfully they did, because it made a huge difference for my career." For an entire generation, Vandervoort is Supergirl (Kara), starring alongside Tom Welling as Clark Kent in Smallville, making her first appearance on the show in Season 7. "I've always been drawn to stronger, independent, tough women, and growing up doing martial arts, I just felt like I could relate to trying to portray a strong female character, which you'd then later see in my career," Vandervoort highlighted. "But I auditioned for it and didn't think anything of it. I just put myself on tape in Canada and sent it off, and it took months, and then we got a call." "We were actually at our cottage and they were like, 'You need to be in L.A. tomorrow.' So we drove home, I got on a plane and I screen tested, with three other girls. And it was an awkward situation, because they had all of us in one room and no one was talking. And me, as a Canadian, I'm like, 'Hi. How are you guys? Nice to meet you!' ... We did the screen test, and then the producer came back out and said everyone could go home, but me. And I thought I was in trouble, but it turns out I got the job." Vandervoort stressed that joining Smallville was one of the best things that could have happened to her as a young actor, because it was an "iconic" show that allowed her to play a female superhero, specifically a character that was particularly underserved in other projects. "Meeting young fans at conventions, young girls who looked up to me, was really cool," she said. "Having come from a character like Sadie to someone who's a little more confident in her own shoes, and who little girls looked up to, was very cool for me." As Smallville fans will know, Kristin Kreuk, who played Lana Lang, has publicly reflected on her time on the show and has said that she didn't love how some episodes portrayed her character, and objectified Lana. But also, as a young actor, Kreuk didn't feel that she had the space to speak up. Vandervoort shared a similar sentiment about the ability to express opinions as a young woman on set. "As a kid, I didn't voice any opinions. Of course I had them, but I didn't think it was my place. I was hired to do a job and I will do, to the best of my ability, whatever they need me to do," Vandervoort said. "And I was working with adults, so I wanted to be an adult. I wanted to be professional and just make everyone happy. I'm sure my therapist would tell you, later in life that's not great." "But since then, as a grown-up, I have found my voice, and I have used it, and the world didn't end. And people are collaborative and understanding and want to hear your side of it. But I think that comes ... once you have some respect in this industry. It took a long time for people to listen to me. Maybe I was trying to voice it, but I wasn't heard until I had done enough in my career for people to stop and listen. And I would say, as a kid, I didn't enjoy the process, and now I do, because I realize the world doesn't end if you forget a line. You're meant to enjoy this process as an actor. ... If I would have been able to talk to her as a young actor, I would have said, 'Just enjoy it. This is a cool job and it's not the end of the world. Just enjoy the process.'" Vandervoort's exit on the show became a big topic of conversation for Smallville fans, leaving after one season, only coming back for small appearances after Season 7. But without social media at the time, it's something the actor has to respond to now, at places like conventions, more than she even did at the time. Vandervoort also shared that there were things she would have changed about her character, if she was able to at the time. "I definitely would have changed a few things about Kara, my character, and her story arc, and her personality and her wardrobe," Vandervoort said. "But I know that people liked what they did with her at the time the show was existing in the world." But one of the great TV disappointments is the cancellation of V after just two seasons. The sci-fi drama, based on the 1980s miniseries, about a extraterrestrial species arriving on earth. In addition to Vandervoort, the cast includes Elizabeth Mitchell, Morris Chestnut, Joel Gretsch, Morena Baccarin, Scott Wolf and Rekha Sharma. "I was upset. That was an incredible show, ABC, great ratings, incredible cast who have all gone on to do huge things, and we were just getting into the flow of it," Vandervoort said. "We never found out why it was cancelled. I think within a day we got three different answers as, oh it's going to be a miniseries now, we're going to do one more episode, and then suddenly we were just done." "I was having a great time, especially towards the end. I would have been playing two characters, my evil twin and myself. It was a wild show. I got to do some crazy stuff. I remember the most challenging part of shooting it was that my character couldn't share emotions. So you'd think that would be the easiest job in the world, but it was so hard for me, because you want to express through your eyes. And I grew up expressing, and that was an interesting, surprising challenge for me." But in 2016 Vandervoort had to pass on the "Supergirl" baton, in some ways, when the series Supergirl, starring Melissa Benoist as the title character, was released. "That came about because I met one of the producers at an award show in Los Angeles, and he was like, 'Hey, we have this new show. We'd love for you to kind of give the nod of approval and come on,'" Vandervoort explained. "I always wanted to see that character have her own show and I said, 'Can I be a villain and just look nothing like myself?' So they came up with Indigo." "It was the first season for [Melissa], so I made sure to just be respectful, and I'm just here for this job, but it's always fun to be a villain. It's more fun than being a superhero, because ... you're not set into a box. I was with Kara, because there were certain expectations for that character, but with Indigo, which was a made-up character, I could just be very sneaky." A project Vandervoort described as "one of the best experiences" in her life was a small budget short film called Age of Dysphoria, written by Vandervoort and Zoe Robyn, directed by Jessica Petelle. The main reason it's so important to Vandervoort is because she got to work with the late Gordon Pinsent. "He also was a relative of mine and he was my mentor since I was a kid," Vandervoort shared. "He came to my first real set on Goosebumps. Came into my trailer, gave me the spiel about how to behave, how to be respectful." "[I] was in awe the whole time we were filming that, just watching him. And it was surreal, because ... we'd never been on camera together, and it meant so much to me. ... I had trouble keeping the tears from falling just doing scenes with him. And the full circle part of it is Age of Dysphoria was his last project, and he was on my first project. So for whatever reason, it felt very serendipitous." What Vandervoort's resume proves is that even when her time on a project is limited, she makes an impact. That includes her role in The Handmaid's Tale Season 4, in which she plays Daisy, who worked at the original Jezebels, surviving after Winslow's death. "It was a short lived experience, but one of the highlights for me," Vandervoort said. "Being on a show that dealt with those topics, that I was already a fan of, politically I loved what they were doing, and Elisabeth Moss is just an idol for me." "I was petrified to do my scenes with her, and just kept quiet and watched her, and watched how she handled the set. ... She was just a boss. And I was so impressed and it really inspired me to want to get more behind the camera. We did our scenes together and I was like, 'Oh my God, I got through it.' ... She was lovely and sent me a DM [saying] how it was nice to work with me. ... You don't have to do that, so that made it a very special moment for me. I kept that message, screenshotted it, and then I look at it sometimes just to be like, after all these years, you're getting to work with people that you really admire." Taking the lead behind the camera is exactly what Vandervoort did with the short thriller film she wrote, directed and produced, My Soul to Take. It's about a young woman, played by Jenny Raven, as a software update on her phone unlocks a dream world. "I wrote My Soul to Take during COVID, I was working more than ever, which is odd, flying and shooting Christmas movies or whatever it was, and so I was quarantining when it was what you had to do, for 14 days in between each show," she explained. "So I was alone a lot and I had trouble sleeping, and so I downloaded a sleep app that sort of just walks you through a story and helps you fall asleep." "I just thought how disturbing it was, for whatever reason. I've always been into kind of darker M Night. Shyamalan, Hitchcock and Tim Burton. ... So instead of sleeping, like a crazy person I got up and wrote for three days, and wrote the first script I've finished. ... I sent it off to a producer friend and I was like, 'Do we have something here?' And she said yes. And we got the team together. I did an Indiegogo platform to raise all the funds for it, and sold all of my Smallville merchandise to fund it, and cast some incredible friends in the show. And then somehow got Colm Feore to say yes. We shot it in three days and it was terrifying." In terms of actually being able to get the funds to make the film, Vandervoort said it was "scary," but she was "determined" to make it work. "The fans showed up. They made it happen," she said. "I didn't think I could direct, and once I had the team together and I had my [director of photography], Kim Derko, ... she helped me through it the whole time. ... I maybe couldn't tell her the lens that I wanted, but I could tell her visually what I saw in my head. ... She was the technical side of it." What's compelling about My Soul to Take is the way that Vandervoort leaned into the idea of curating yourself for an audience, linked to particularly poignant messaging of being addicted to being constantly online, our dependence on technology, but ultimately feeling isolated. "Social media is a double-edged sword," Vandervoort said. "I use it. I'm guilty of it. I play the game. But at that time and even now, I really didn't love what it was doing to my self-esteem and to the thoughts I had about myself, and my career." "You'd see other actors posting their announcements, they've been cast in this, and like anyone you want to take a break from feeling like a failure or comparing yourself to someone else. And so I think, at that time, I was 14 days in an apartment, I couldn't leave, I was on social media and it was just making me miserable. So I think it stemmed from that. I'd also met an actor who made a living from social media and I found that frustrating, and it's just this whole other world. And that's where the 'Alice in Wonderland' aspect of My Soul to Take came in with this fake world, where it seems like everyone's doing well and happy, when in reality people just aren't posting when they're in the fetal position crying in the shower. Life isn't cultivated, it's lived, and why are we watching people live a fake version of it, or a highlight reel? So there was a lot going on in my head at the time, for sure."

2025 is the year creator platforms will drive more ad revenue than old media, a new WPP forecast says
2025 is the year creator platforms will drive more ad revenue than old media, a new WPP forecast says

Business Insider

time11 hours ago

  • Business Insider

2025 is the year creator platforms will drive more ad revenue than old media, a new WPP forecast says

YouTube has blown past prestige streamers like Netflix and Disney+ to become the biggest TV company by viewership. And the traditional media business is about to get another wake-up call. This year, ad revenue from creator-driven platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn will exceed ad revenue driven by studios and media companies known for their professionally made content, WPP Media's new mid-year global ad forecast says. WPP Media — a part of ad holding company giant WPP — estimated that the ad revenue generated by those creator-driven platforms would just exceed the $235 billion driven by TV, audio, print, and cinema companies this year. That's a shift from 2019, when WPP estimated that professional content companies' share of content-based ad revenue topped 70%, with creator-driven platforms driving the rest, said Kate Scott-Dawkins, global president of Business Intelligence at WPP Media. WPP acknowledged that the definition of the creator economy can be blurry. It adjusted for the fact that some of the revenue generated by those creator-driven platforms comes from professional sources, as when companies like Disney and Comcast put clips on YouTube. WPP also categorized some of the biggest YouTubers, like MrBeast, who's made the jump to Amazon's Prime Video with a competition show, as professional content creators. While WPP's estimate includes TikTok, it excludes China-based companies. WPP separately calculated the revenue going to creators directly. The firm estimated revenue would total about $185 billion in 2025, up 20% from 2024, and double to more than $376 billion by 2030. WPP estimated that about 60% of that revenue comes in the form of brands and sponsorship deals, with the remainder from other sources, including the revenue split that platforms like YouTube share with creators. WPP said that sources of revenue for traditional media are largely declining. TV advertising is slated to grow just 1% this year, to $162.5 billion. A quarter of that comes from streaming, which is expected to grow rapidly, by 12.5% in 2025 and to about $72 billion by 2030. Audio (which includes video advertising formats attached to podcasts) will be flat at $26.5 billion this year. Print will continue its decline, shedding about 3% to $45.5 billion, according to WPP. Overall, WPP projects global advertising will grow 6% to $1.08 trillion in 2025, a downgrade from its December forecast of 7.7%. The figure excludes US political advertising.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store