Fireworks fly over reality TV show
Police respond after explosive devices shot near camera crews filming Ice Lake Rebels
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, November 12, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A clash between Tinseltown and Old Town is erupting on the frozen shores of Yellowknife Bay, one serious enough to involve the RCMP on Friday.
A camera crew from the reality TV show Ice Lake Rebels makes its way across Yellowknife Bay in a canoe loaded down with camera equipment Friday afternoon. The crew was startled last week after people reportedly shot fireworks in its direction on two separate occasions. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo |
Police were called after a film crew working on the reality TV show Ice Lake Rebels complained of people shooting "flares" at them. It was the second incident in as many days.
RCMP Const. Elenore Sturko said the officers confronted those responsible for shooting off what turned out to be fireworks, at which point they admitted to firing them "in the area of the film crew nearby" the night before.
According to Sturko, those responsible for shooting the fireworks told the officers they "did not intend to hit anyone or scare them" and no charges were laid.
"Whether it was intentional or not they were told not to do it," she said.
One cameraman, who was getting ready to paddle across the bay after the incident on Friday, told Yellowknifer having the fireworks go off reminded him of being back in Los Angeles.
Mary Caroline Cox, a city resident who is working as a production assistant on the show, declined to comment but she did write a Facebook post Thursday night after the first incident to speak out against whoever had been targeting them.
She stated that the camera crew has been met with all kinds of scorn since coming back to shoot the show, now in its second season.
"I know what it's like to have people swear at me because I'm carrying camera equipment around Old Town," writes Cox.
"I know what its like to see friends at the pub and have them instantly start ragging on the show I work for after I've just spent 12 hours out in the cold working my butt off. And tonight I found out what its like to have people shoot flare guns at me and the crew while we are working.
"I'm sure the intention was only meant to ruin the shot, but it is really hard to not take offence to the sound of a gun going off and flares exploding close to you. In fact, it made my gut sink and my skin crawl."
The show's producer, Kathryn Haydn Hays, said she did not know enough about the incident to comment about it. Hays has been to Yellowknife six times in the last three years and said she feels like it has become a second home to her. She said everyone she has met has been very welcoming to her and it's her goal is to be respectful to the houseboating community.
"Our number one thing is to ensure that our crew is safe, our number two thing is to make a television show, and our number three thing is to make sure that we are good citizens of Yellowknife when we're here," she said.
One houseboater, who declined to give his name, was waiting for the camera crews to clear out before paddling home on Friday afternoon. He told Yellowknifer he didn't appreciate the added attention the television crews brought to the community. He hadn't heard of the incident with the fireworks and said he simply tries to ignore the presence of the cameras.
"Most people live on houseboats so they can be left alone, not to be on TV," he said.
Scott Mitchell, who lives on a houseboat beside Government Dock, said he actually entertained the idea of being a character on the show at one point. However, once he saw how they planned to portray the houseboating community, he backed off.
"I call it 'dock TV,' because just watching them is funny as hell," he said. "It doesn't bother me either way. I don't have anything to do with them, and I don't want to have anything to do with them. They're free to do what they need to do."
Regardless of what people think of the show, Cox pointed out that it has provided her and about 15 other Yellowknife residents income throughout the winter. It has also contributed tens of thousands of dollars toward the local economy, she stated.
"I know Yellowknife is full of great people. A community that comes together in a land of extremes," she wrote. "A little less aggression is all I ask."
