Men in Trees

As we reported last week, Men in Trees, one of the final few left standing with scripts, finally succumbed to the four month-long writers' strike and shut down production.  It wrapped up filming its last original content installment on Thursday, cutting short the show's production schedule which normally runs through to April.

James Tupper, who stars as Jack Slattery on Men in Trees, told The Canadian Press that many of their crew have expressed their intent to leave the Vancouver and Squamish, British Columbia where the show is filmed, in search of other available projects.

"I think it's scary," Tupper admitted.  "Actors are used to being out of work but I think it's scary for us and it's funny because there's kind of a family feeling in the cast and we're all just kind of relying on and supporting each other.  Some of us are going to New York, some to L.A. and some are staying here, so it's a weird moment."

Plans for members of the cast and crew to move on and vacate the region is a departure from past seasons when their shooting schedule ran from fall right up to the following spring.

"Last night I was having a conversation with [Anne Heche's] assistant, this young woman Sue, and she was almost in tears thinking about what she was going to do with her life while we were gone and how she was going to make ends meet," Tupper related.  “I think all those people are just suddenly in jeopardy.  They're all looking at their families, their mortgages and they're having to find a way through a difficult time."

For his part, the Men in Trees co-star revealed that he intends to squeeze in some time on the slopes before buckling down to the task of finding other gainful employment in the biz.

"I have to go down to Los Angeles for a few auditions for movies and stuff and try to figure out my life," Tupper said.  "Even if we come back, we're going to have at least a month off because it'll take them that long to produce the next script."

On Wednesday, the cast of Men in Trees had a farewell dinner together and spent some time with locals who have thrown their support over the years.

"We just had a little thing where we gave the mayor of Squamish a giant picture of the cast all signed as a thank you," Tupper mentioned.


-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Canadian Press
(Image Courtesy of ABC)