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Yaremko working behind the scenes in huge Hollywood films

It only takes a couple rings before Thomas Yaremko answers his cell phone, but even he is surprised that the phone actually rang. On the other end, the sound of wind blowing can be heard, muffling the conversation.
Eugene Gogowich (left) and Thomas Yaremko (right) have both been working on the set of Hell on Wheels. The men have ties to the St. Paul area. The duo usually works as
Eugene Gogowich (left) and Thomas Yaremko (right) have both been working on the set of Hell on Wheels. The men have ties to the St. Paul area. The duo usually works as greensmen on the set of movies filmed in southern Alberta, but had the chance to dress up in costumes and act as extras on the show Hell on Wheels.

It only takes a couple rings before Thomas Yaremko answers his cell phone, but even he is surprised that the phone actually rang. On the other end, the sound of wind blowing can be heard, muffling the conversation.

“I'm actually up on a mountain right now,&” says Yaremko, as the cell phone cuts in and out. Normally, the phone wouldn't get reception in the remote area, but he happened to be right near the top of the mountain when the call came in.

A few days later, Yaremko is back in a much quieter, and likely warmer, environment. Calling from Calgary, Yaremko explains that when the earlier phone call was received, he was working with a crew on a rather large production - the next Planet of the Apes installment.

For most film productions he's involved with lately, Yaremko is listed as the “head greensman.&” And although the film industry in Alberta is often referred to as being part of the arts, Yaremko, who has been involved in the industry for almost 17 years, says he doesn't see himself as much of an artist at all.

“At times, it's closer to being a lumberjack than the arts,&” says Yaremko. As head greensman, Yaremko is responsible for any part of the movie set that has trees and plants. And he also helps make things look as authentic as possible.

For example, if there's a power pole showing while a crew is filming a movie based in the Wild West, then Yaremko works to camouflage the pole. Or if there's too much mud for the horses to walk though, which was the case when he was working on the set for Hell on Wheels, then he will build a road, and camouflage that road so actors and animals can perform.

While Yaremko was attending the University of Calgary, working on completing a degree in history and playing football in the late 1990s, he decided to take on a summer job working on the set of a movie. Yaremko says he started working on smaller sets, but quickly realized it was the type of job he could make a career out of.

At three and a half years into his degree, Yaremko says he wasn't sure how his parents would respond to him not completing his schooling, but over the years, the Yaremko family has been very supportive of their son.

Yaremko didn't make the leap into the film industry alone though. He has worked alongside a number of friends, including Eugene Gogowich, who also has roots in St. Paul.

Gogowich is often Yaremko's lead greensman on projects.

“He's actually on set right now,&” says Yaremko. Both men moved away from St. Paul around the same time.

After a couple years in the industry, Yaremko was given an opportunity to be the head of his department when he was 23 years old. The movie turned out to be a rather big project with some big names attached to it - Brokeback Mountain.

One of the more recent projects Yaremko has had his name attached to is one that has been receiving much praise in Hollywood and on the awards-scene. Not only was Yaremko involved in the set of the Revenant while the movie was being shot in Alberta, but he also travelled with the crew to Argentina, to an area that's commonly referred to as the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia.

When asked how he's worked his way up to being involved with such large productions, Yaremko says it was a progression of working in the industry, and a also possibly his background of being raised on a farm.

A lot of the things he's been asked to do on set, such as build a fort for the actors to hide in, he did when he was a kid. He is also in tune with nature and the types of plants that grow in Alberta because of how he was raised.

“Growing up on the farm in St. Paul was probably the best training I could have had,&” says Yaremko, who has had no specific educational training as a greensman. Although his years at the U of C studying history do prove useful at times, the job itself is one you learn as you go.

“It feels like we play a lot,&” says Yaremko, when describing the job. Before getting into the film industry, Yaremko says he worked a few “real&” jobs, “And they felt like jobs. I guess this felt like a career.&”

The days rarely drag on, but instead, Yaremko often finds he doesn't have enough hours to get everything done. It's also a job that's good for people with short attention spans, says Yaremko, with a bit of a laugh.

On the set of the Revenant, the greens department in Alberta was made up of about a dozen people who saw their names on the credits. Yaremko says it was a busy project to be part of, and was “very demanding.&”

Other major productions Yaremko points out as highlights of his career, so far, include Inception and The Bourne Legacy.

As a bit of a joke, Yaremko and Gogowich even scored roles as actors in a couple of episodes in Hell on Wheels. The pair was outfitted in costumes and can be seen on the railroad they built. Part of the job is being asked to do things you have never done, says Yaremko.

Much of the province's film industry is located in southern Alberta. Yaremko says there are a few reasons for this. First, there are a lot of untouched areas where you can look out and not see anything modern for a long time.

“We have a great crew here,&” he adds. Also, there is opportunity for westerns to be shot in Alberta, which is something Yaremko enjoys being part of. “We do a lot of westerns, and that's kind of immersed in the culture here.&”

And of course, there are the Rocky Mountains.

But although Alberta may have the landscape for filming movies, the majority of movies and television shows filmed here aren't actually set in this part of the world, and that's where Yaremko comes in. He has had to make the landscape in Drumheller look like the southern U.S., or “sometimes it's not based in reality at all,&” and the crew will have to make an Alberta forests look like something out of someone's nightmare.

For the most part, Yaremko and the crew he's often involved with sticks close to home, waiting for productions to come to the area. This allows for the greens crew to be more knowledgeable about what is available in the immediate area.

And while much of the province is feeling the ill effects of the low Canadian dollar, Yaremko says the film industry in Alberta is growing right now.

“It's sort of an ebb and flow,&” he says of the industry. When the dollar is low, it encourages American companies to come work in Canada. “Then we get a lot of work.&”

A new film studio is also now near completion in Calgary, which was a project that was a long-time in the making, says Yaremko.

In the 2000s, there were a number of people who left the film industry in Alberta, says Yaremko. But, he decided to stick to it. When things were really slow, he would make his way back up to St. Paul to help his family on the farm, which is located south of town.

Then, when things go busy again, he would return to Calgary to work.

“I'm having fun. I get to work with several friends . . . It doesn't make it feel like work.&”


Janice Huser

About the Author: Janice Huser

Janice Huser has been with the St. Paul Journal since 2006. She is a graduate of the SAIT print media journalism program, is originally from St. Paul and has a passion for photography.
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