Vancouver’s Cold Reading Series 28th Anniversary Event To Feature Helene Taylor’s TV Pilot “The Grifter Sisters,” With Special Guest Tara Spencer-Nairn Reading As ‘Jeanie’

The Grifter Sisters will be the featured script at The Cold Reading Series Vancouver’s (CRS) 28th Anniversary Event, with special guest Tara Spencer-Nairn (Corner Gas, Evil Stepmom) reading as ‘Jeanie’.  Spencer-Nairn conveys her delight on being cast in this role, “As an actor I never stop being blown away when someone reaches out to work with me. I love this character and I’m truly honoured to be a small part of bringing this to life.” CRS casts feature and television pilots from British Columbia screenwriters on the spot and watches them come to life in front of a live audience, with no rehearsals. This free event will be streamed via Zoom and requires advance registration.

Taylor’s one-hour streaming crime/comedy/drama follows a pair of Gen-X swindling sisters, assigned witness protection in the isolated community of Point Roberts, who use their con-artist ways to protect its retirees from hustlers. Penned in the tone of Dead to Me and the karmic satisfaction of My Name is Earl, the story was inspired by the writer’s obsession with Point Roberts, the tiny community dangling off Canada’s coastline without access to the rest of America; a unique place “known for cheap gas, ex-cons and bored Baby Boomers.” 

The Grifter Sisters is an exploration of sisterhood,” explains Taylor, “and the forced opportunity these women are offered to reinvent themselves after a life controlled by their career-grifter father.” She continues, “It’s a story about Generation-X women, who’ve been unable to explore or express their desires as a result of being imposters their whole lives. Many of us feel like imposters, but these sisters really were every time they conned a mark.It’s about their realization it’s now possible within the confines of this new life to ask, “WHAT DO I WANT? WHO AM I REALLY?” All the while external forces from the Ecuadorian mob and the town’s propensity for grifters, challenge their attempts at theirreinvention…”

Taylor worked with a Hollywood producer who loved the premise but suggested instead of two women, make it about a young group of teens. However, Taylor continued to write her version ofThe Grifter Sisters the way she originally envisioned. Upon its completion, she surprised the producer with its two original middle-aged female protagonists intact. “The only way in to the story for me was through the point of view of these sisters. We don’t see enough of my generation on television, ”Taylor emphasizes, “and I want to watch complicated, flawed, women like me. Taylor muses, “This is my love story to the 55 million middle-aged women out there starving to see themselves represented on screen, kicking ass, and taking names on their terms.”

The Cold Reading Series (CRS) is committed to supporting and developing the talents of Vancouver’s storytellers – writers, actors, and musicians alike – by providing a forum where they can present their craft to a live audience and get instant feedback. The Cold Reading Series’ script submission guidelines can be found here: https://www.coldreadingseries.com/crs-submission-guidelines

WRITER BIO: HELENE TAYLOR

Helene's a cynical childfree Canadian of the forgotten Generation X. She worked in NYC's film and TV scene for 17 years. Her writer’s voice often reflects under-served characters where they discover the gusto to fight for themselves with storylines torn out of her life, headlines or inspired by IP. She writes projects ranging from short film, to full-length feature, Web and TV series. Recent writing projects include the short films, BUREAU 121 (Top 25 Table Read My Screenplay Hollywood, Quarter-Finalist ScreenCraft, Diversity Feedback Film Festival, Script to Screen Summit, The Crime List), SUCKER (Best Drama Hollywood Just4Shorts, Best unproduced script London International Film Festival), and tv pilot, ALL THE RAVE (Austin Revolution Film Festival, Top 15 The Red List) and FLAT-CHESTED FRAN (Finalist, Barnstorm Media, Top 15 The Red List). She is a published short story and poetry writer, and a recipient of the Canadian Cable Television Programming Excellence Award.

SPECIAL GUEST BIO: TARA SPENCER-NAIRN

A graduate of the Vancouver Film School, her big breakthrough came in 1999 when she was cast in the highly acclaimed New Waterford Girl. The film screened at the Sundance Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival and received seven Genie Award nominations including Best Picture. She garnered rave reviews for her portrayal of the disaffected Lou - a Bronx-raised teenager who moves to a small Nova Scotia town and quickly turns it on its ear. Tara Spencer-Nairn is best known as the deadpan police officer Karen Pelly in Corner Gas, Corner Gas the Movie and Corner Gas Animated a role she played in the Gemini-winning, #1 rated CTV sitcom earning a Gemini Award for Best Ensemble Performance in 2007 and two Gemini nominations in 2004 and 2006.  She starred alongside Don McKellar in the independent film Rub and Tug. The 2002 offering was Tara's first foray into comedy and resulted in a Canadian Comedy Award nomination for her portrayal of the street-smart Betty. Spencer-Nairn appeared in the recurring role of Sandy in CTV’s hit drama THE LISTENER. She has appeared in numerous other television productions including THE OUTER LIMITS, THE STRAIN; MURDOCH MYSTERIES, WAKING UP WALLY (THE WALTER GRETZKY STORY), FLASHPOINT, SAVING HOPE and DEGRASSI, HUDSON and REX, FRANKIE DRAKE and RANSOM. She can be seen in the third season of Syfy/Space hit series KILLJOYS as a recurring guest star. Spencer-Nairn was born in Montreal, raised in Vancouver and now calls Toronto home. The youngest of three siblings, the actor spent 12 years as a competitive gymnast. She is happily married and the mother of two young sons.