The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
When Bryan 'Chunk' Pawlachuk and his wife were asked about starring in their own reality show, the question didn't seem that far-fetched. 'We'd had it in the back of our heads that it would be great for TV, some of the stuff that happens around our lives,' he says. The producers of Nightclub Confidential, a new half-hour Citytv series airing in Saskatchewan, agreed. The weekly show follows the hectic existence of Pawlachuk, a Flin Flon native who owns and operates the Tequila Nightclub in Saskatoon. There's the business side of his life, from hiring staff and poring over financial stats to landing top deejays and deflooding the roof of his club. There's the family angle, including his loving relationship with wife Nathalie and the fatherly task of waking up at 7 a.m. to play with his twin boys _ after less than three hours of shut-eye. But what really grabs viewers is the drama of watching people strive for success under intense pressure and occasional discord. 'There's definitely funny parts to it, there's the hardworking stuff and the partying,' says Pawlachuk, 39. 'And Simon (Papadopoulos), my partner (and president of the club) is kind of a high-drama guy. There's a couple of shots of him getting his hair done and avoiding me because I was in a bad mood.' Though classified as a reality show, Pawlachuk prefers the term 'documentary show' since nothing is scripted or staged. 'It's very real. Everything in the show actually happened,' he says. Nightclub Confidential debuted last week to some rave reviews and strong hopes that it will grow from a regional show to a national one next month. Pawlachuk just learned there will be a second season. Among the adventures to be documented: a trip back home to Flin Flon. Though he left town when he was 19, Pawlachuk still has strong emotional and familial ties to Flin Flon. The son of Ken and Janice Pawlachuk, he adopted his familiar nickname 'Chunk' in the sixth grade. His friends were starting to refer to people by their last names, so he shortened his and added a consonant. He wasn't a shy youth by any stretch, becoming one of the first males to enter what had been called the Queen Mermaid pageant. 'I do like the _ not attention, that's not the right word _ but I like doing different things, like really different,' says Pawlachuk. As a teenager, Pawlachuk worked as an inserter at The Reminder, ensuring copies of the newspaper were assembled and ready for delivery. He also pumped gas at Gas Bar and stocked shelves at Co-op. Not long after graduating from Hapnot Collegiate in 1992, Pawlachuk and a buddy headed west to Saskatoon. He worked in construction but found greater financial rewards in bartending at a nightclub that he would go on to purchase and rename Tequila Nightclub. Last year, after filmmaker Antonio Hrynchuk caught wind of the behind-the-scenes drama at Tequila, Nightclub Confidential was born. Hrynchuk, originally from Saskatoon, became director and his Fahrenheit Films the production company. See 'Cameras' on pg. Continued from pg. To produce just six half-hour episodes for the first season, cameras followed Pawlachuk and his employees around for six months, five days a week, hoping to collect enough compelling footage. 'The problem with a documentary is, it isn't set up,' Pawlachuk says. 'You can't set things up to fail, you have to wait for things to happen and hope the camera catches it. I shouldn't just say fail, but any type of action (is what) they want to catch.' Pawlachuk admits there were times he wished the cameras would leave him alone, but the show does respect his and his family's privacy when needed. Though Pawlachuk is the central focus of the show, he does not have the final say over content, provoking some anxiety for him and wife Nathalie. See 'Nervous' on pg. Continued from pg. 'We were both really nervous until we saw what it was, because they film everything,' says Pawlachuk. 'You just get nervous about how they're going to portray you because it really comes down to the editors and story people on what they'll portray you as.' Nightclub Confidential follows not only the Tequila Nightclub, but also Pawlachuk's other business, Chunk's Construction. Since the first episode aired last week, Pawlachuk has become something of a celebrity in Saskatoon as strangers begin recognizing him. 'It's strange walking into a place and people think they know you,' he says. 'It's very confusing at first because you're trying to remember how you know them and how they know you, but they don't really know you.' Nightclub Confidential airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Saskatchewan time on the Saskatchewan affiliate of Citytv. Episodes are also available at www.citytv.com /saskatchewan/.
