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CBC
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Q&A: N.L. director says 'Skeet' resonating with audiences outside the province
The new movie "Skeet" is having a big impact -- not just in Newfoundland and Labrador, but across the world. Starring N.L. actor Sean Dalton and Syrian actor Jay Abdo, the film tells the story of a man returning home from prison, and a his interactions with a Syrian-refugee. The movie has been screened at the Scotiabank Cineplex theatre in St. John's and is resonating with audiences not just in its home province, but across the country. Sexton says the film will soon be screened in other countries, including Germany and potentially Syria. CBC's Weekend AM host Heather Barrett spoke to Sexton about audience reactions. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Q: Now you just finished a cross country cinema tour with Skeet. What has the reaction been of audiences across Canada? A: Well, you make these films in Newfoundland and they're unapologetically Newfoundland films, even though the story is pretty universal. And you never know how it's going to go. But … it was incredible to see how many people [also] knew Billy Skinners in Edmonton or Antigonish, or in Vancouver. Q: Tell me about some of the reactions that you're getting from people who you might not think of – in terms of cinemaphiles. A: We got these messages from social workers, especially saying I want to take clients to see this. The intention of the film was to show what the root cause of these problems is … how we got here was kind of the intention of some of the storytelling. We [heard from] a social worker from Her Majesty's Penitentiary who wants to show it there. We had a social worker — a friend of mine [that] I leaned heavily on during the research for the film … we made sure we got all our facts straight before we started rolling cameras. Q: Jay Abdo, your Syrian lead actor, is used to working on big budget films. What does he make of the reaction to this film? A: He's kind of blown away. He really loves Newfoundland. And he really is what you see. He's that charming, beautiful man. I think he's kind of shocked about how much people are connecting with it on such … a deep level. I will say this about Jay Abdo is he too understood the character Moe very well because, [while] he may have worked on some big productions at one point, he found himself with nothing in Los Angeles, not knowing the language [and] having to flee for his life from Syria because he spoke out against his government. I think between Billy and Moe, if you really look at the film … both of these men are trying to rebuild their lives and, and I think he really connected with that. Q: How about the Billy Skinners of the world? Have you heard from people that have lived that life and have seen the film? If I'm being completely honest, some of the Billy Skinners I think about are myself and Sean talked about … a lot of them have passed away, sadly. No one's reached out directly … I don't think people want to be called a skeet in Newfoundland either. No one wants to really be Billy Skinner as much as they identify with Billy Skinner.
CBC
14-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
With ongoing trade war, Newfoundland fashion designer takes rain check on U.S. expansion
Tariffs are pouring down on one Newfoundland-based raincoat company's plans to break into the United States market. Instead, the owner is focusing on a new market across the Atlantic Ocean. Mernini raincoats have been growing in popularity, and founder Maria Halfyard moved her business out of her home and into a St. John's warehouse. The company — now in 50 stores across Canada — has seen booming sales, and Halfyard began looking to the U.S. for new business — until U.S. President Donald Trump began issuing tariffs on incoming goods, creating a global trade war. "With everything that's going on in the market — the tariff war — it wasn't a very great place to be," Halfyard told CBC Radio's Weekend AM. "Obviously those tariffs … would be extremely detrimental to my price point." Now, she's looking to sell her coats in the United Kingdom instead. Halfyard says the U.K. market has been more welcoming. As political tension began to heat up between Canada and the U.S., Halfyard says she noticed a shift in mood from her U.S. contacts. "I didn't get a lot of replies as quickly," she said. "The U.K. was a lot more responsive and excited about taking a Canadian brand." Halfyard says small businesses who sell directly to the U.S. will be hit significantly by tariffs, adding it can be extra hard for companies selling a new product. "I know that there's some Canadian companies that have had to scale back, they've had to lay off people and then look for new markets," she said. Tariffs would likely mean higher prices for U.S. customers, says Halfyard. If the company doesn't lower its prices, the customer has to pay the tariff, she says, adding she's optimistic that pivoting to the U.K. will be a good thing for her company. "I think the U.K. market is going to love my products," she said. "For me, it's a smaller market to penetrate." Halfyard says she will soon be releasing a new midnight blue coat and a children's line in the fall.
CBC
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
After conquering cancer as a teen, this Newfoundland opera singer looks forward to career on the stage
Paige Sargent will be five years cancer free in May After a central Newfoundland woman's life was uprooted with a cancer diagnosis at a young age, she turned to her passion for music. Now, Paige Sargent, a mezzo-soprano opera singer from Lewisporte, N.L., is embarking on a career on the stage with her graduating recital this week at Memorial University's School of Music in St. John's. "When I was 16, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma and so I had to kind of stop school, [and] moved to the Janeway to undergo treatment for my cancer," she told CBC Radio's Weekend AM. "But while I was doing that, I continued my music all throughout." Sargent was in the hospital for six months and had to undergo eight rounds of chemotherapy. In May she will mark five years of being cancer free. "Obviously, it was a very traumatic experience to have cancer at 16," she said. She spent her first year at university recovering mentally. But, she said, her professors were understanding and welcoming. Falling in love with opera Sargent says she was introduced to opera by a cousin, who had just come home from a U.K. trip where they had seen a musical. After learning more, she fell in love with opera, she said. Sargent took singing lessons as a child and developed her operatic skills, like using her voice to fill a big room. "I started taking lessons with Leslie Hewlett and we worked on my classical technique, doing baby bits of opera, while she helped gear me up to get ready to go to music school and really fine tune that technique," said Sargent. In the middle of it all was the COVID-19 pandemic, which she says added more isolation on top of her treatment. But even through that, Sargent says she told her music instructor she still wanted to continue with her voice, piano and acting lessons, which they did over Zoom. "I was the lead in a musical and I said, 'Please let me still do it even though I'm in the Janeway.' And they said, 'You know what, we'll make it work.'" Sargent said. Sargent says she attended rehearsals on FaceTime, singing songs hundreds of kilometres away while in the hospital. "The nurses, I think, seem to like that I was singing opera. I think they found it a bit entertaining, I hope," she said. After Sargent graduates from MUN, she's heading to British Columbia to complete a masters degree.
CBC
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
How Bonavista became a run-down Lumon company town for Severance
The Bonavista Peninsula was converted into Salt's Neck in 2023, a fictional Lumon company town that held an ether factory for the hit Apple TV show Severance. The show, directed by Ben Stiller, had crews take over the area for about a month that spring to shoot just one episode. To help crews find the perfect locations for Harmony Cobel's journey into her dark past, the show went to Edith Samson, the executive director of the Sir William Ford Coaker Heritage Foundation. The episode — the eighth of Season 2 called Sweet Vitriol — tells the story of Cobel's journey back to her hometown to find a missing item and subsequently face her demons. Cobel is played by Patricia Arquette. "I was just waiting for every scene to see all of the area, what I could recognize," Samson told CBC Radio's Weekend AM. The Bicycle Picnics Café in Bonavista was redesigned to become the rugged Drippy Pot Café. Port Union also had its moment in the spotlight along Open Hall and Fogo Island. On the most recent episode of Audacy's The Severance Podcast, Ben Stiller discussed the decision to shoot in Newfoundland and Labrador. He said he wanted the location to seem like it was northeast of Kier, the town where the show takes place. That's when the show's cinematographer, Jessica Lee Gagné, who previously worked on Fogo Island, suggested Newfoundland. "The thing about the terrain in Newfoundland is it's rugged and beautiful, but it's not the scale, it is not like somewhere like Iceland or Greenland or something like that where it's gigantic mountains," said Stiller. "It's a little bit smaller, but it's still as beautiful in its own way." Actor Adam Scott chimed in. "It has a vastness to it," he said. Arquette said she loved the area. TV take over Samson said crews scouted the area for about five months leading up to filming, and a lot of the foundation's buildings were used for actors to get ready. An art director from New York did drawings of the buildings and made plans to repaint one of them, before painting it back to how it was. "That was really kind of an interesting process to go through," said Samson. Samson worked with Stiller and gave him a lesson about the area. In a behind-the-scenes video on Apple TV, Arquette describes the area as cinematic. "It was so cold, and icebergs are floating by and I felt like it was very much in keeping with Harmony's inner landscape," said Arquette in the video. On The Severance Podcast, Arquette also described Newfoundland as a special and unique place. "It's so difficult to get to and so difficult to live there that it's very locked in its own time. And it had this sort of difficult terrain to survive in," she said. While Arquette found it cold, Samson said they had nice spring weather during the time of filming. She said crews even had to ship in ice to make snow, which lasted for nearly three weeks after filming. Samson said the large numbers of crew members coming to the town also boosted the local economy, which usually peaks during the summer tourism season. "There were a lot of tourism operators who would have had extra cash coming in," said Samson. "So I think that was great." However, Samson said she was surprised by how short the latest episode was, considering how long they filmed for. She thinks there will be more clips featuring the area in future episodes.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Bonavista became a run-down Lumon company town for Severance
Harmony Cobel, portrayed by Patricia Arquette, encounters her old friend Hampton in an episode of Severance that was filmed on the Bonavista Peninsula in 2023. (Apple) The Bonavista Peninsula was converted into Salt's Neck in 2023, a fictional Lumon company town that held an ether factory for the hit Apple TV show Severance. The show, directed by Ben Stiller, had crews take over the area for about a month that spring to shoot just one episode. To help crews find the perfect locations for Harmony Cobel's journey into her dark past, the show went to Edith Sampson, the executive director of the Sir William Ford Coaker Heritage Foundation. The episode — the eighth of Season 2 called Sweet Vitriol — tells the story of Cobel's journey back to her hometown to find a missing item and subsequently face her demons. Cobel is played by Patricia Arquette. "I was just waiting for every scene to see all of the area, what I could recognize," Sampson told CBC Radio's Weekend AM. The Bicycle Picnics Café in Bonavista was redesigned to become the rugged Drippy Pot Café. Port Union also had its moment in the spotlight along Open Hall and Fogo Island. On the most recent episode of Audacy's The Severance Podcast, Ben Stiller discussed the decision to shoot in Newfoundland and Labrador. Bonavista's Bicycle Picnics Café & Bistro was redesigned and temporarily renamed the Drippy Pot Café for its appearance on Severance. The Café was owned by Hampton, played by actor James Le Gros. (Apple/Bicycle Picnics Café) He said he wanted the location to seem like it was northeast of Kier, the town where the show takes place. That's when the show's cinematographer, Jessica Lee Gagné, who previously worked on Fogo Island, suggested Newfoundland. "The thing about the terrain in Newfoundland is it's rugged and beautiful, but it's not the scale, it is not like somewhere like Iceland or Greenland or something like that where it's gigantic mountains," said Stiller. "It's a little bit smaller, but it's still as beautiful in its own way." Actor Adam Scott chimed in. "It has a vastness to it," he said. Arquette said she loved the area. TV take over Sampson said crews scouted the area for about five months leading up to filming, and a lot of the foundation's buildings were used for actors to get ready. An art director from New York did drawings of the buildings and made plans to repaint one of them, before painting it back to how it was. "That was really kind of an interesting process to go through," said Sampson. Patricia Arquette says she 'loved' filming in Bonavista for the Apple TV show Severance. (Apple) Sampson worked with Stiller and gave him a lesson about the area. In a behind-the-scenes video on Apple TV, Arquette describes the area as cinematic. "It was so cold, and icebergs are floating by and I felt like it was very much in keeping with Harmony's inner landscape," said Arquette in the video. On The Severance Podcast, Arquette also described Newfoundland as a special and unique place. "It's so difficult to get to and so difficult to live there that it's very locked in its own time. And it had this sort of difficult terrain to survive in," she said. While Arquette found it cold, Sampson said they had nice spring weather during the time of filming. She said crews even had to ship in ice to make snow, which lasted for nearly three weeks after filming. Sampson said the large numbers of crew members coming to the town also boosted the local economy, which usually peaks during the summer tourism season. "There were a lot of tourism operators who would have had extra cash coming in," said Sampson. "So I think that was great." However, Sampson said she was surprised by how short the latest episode was, considering how long they filmed for. She thinks there will be more clips featuring the area in future episodes. Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.
