NANAIMO -- Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy wasn’t the only one excited about making history at the Emmys this year. Todd in Nanaimo was too.
“[I was] like jumping up and down screaming,” Todd says, as he watched the awards show.
While the Schitt’s Creek cast was surprised to sweep the major comedy categories, Todd would have once been surprised that he even cared.
“I was kind of, like a lot of people, put off by the name,” he explains of his initial disinterest in the TV show. “It seemed like low-brow humour.”
But then he watched the Canadian series and found himself laughing loudly and caring deeply.
After viewing its finale, Todd was compelled to express his gratitude for the show through his collection of vintage Fisher-Price toys.
He visited locations all over Nanaimo and started filming footage of his toys.
“Some people would ask what I was doing, others would see me and just step away,” Todd laughs at the image of himself. “This grown 45-year-old man playing with his toys on the train track!”
But after almost 120 hours worth of painstaking stop-motion production, Todd had created an almost four-minute long original music video, inspired by a song from the show, “A Little Bit Alexis.”
The elaborate animation features dozens of comedy scenarios inspired by Schitt’s Creek with iconic Harbour City references from the Nanaimo Bar to the Bathtub Race.
Todd shared the video on his Twitter page and YouTube channel. It’s received almost 400,000 combined views and countless kudos, including one from the official Creek account, that called the video “storytelling at its finest.”
“It really gave me some confidence in what I’ve been doing,” Todd says.
Todd also fronts a Schitt’s Creek tribute band called The Schitts. They created an original song of appreciation titled “Simply the Schitt” which includes lyrical references to the show. The music video—filmed at The Nanaimo Bar—uses footage from the show to make it appear as though the cast, including Emmy winners Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy and Annie Murphy, are watching the band perform from the audience.
“I poured my thoughts, humour and love into it,” Todd smiles.
Todd has had time to create all this because the pandemic has not been kind to his event DJ business.
But there’s been a silver lining. Todd received major recognition from Creek’s co-creator and star, Dan Levy. The actor re-Tweeted the stop-motion video to his 661,000 followers and called it “a masterpiece.”
“To have one of my creative heroes—and now Emmy winner—call my project a masterpiece, that kind of put me over the edge,” Todd says.
It empowered the husband and father to realize he was worthy of an additional title—artist.
“I’ve always been a creative person but I never considered myself an artist because I don’t get paid for what I do,” Todd explains. “Now I consider myself an artist. Creating something that you know can make somebody smile is a pretty cool thing.”
Todd couldn’t be more grateful for the recognition he’s received from the Creek creators, or more proud of the honours his fellow Canadian artists have earned at the Emmys.
“We haven’t brought the Stanley Cup home in 27 years, but we now have this huge comedy win,” Todd smiles. “It’s a really cool moment for Canada.”
And it’s a transformative moment for this Nanaimo artist.
