Skip to content

Yellowknifer Angela Gzowski photographs Netflix's The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

0911sabrina56
photo courtesy of Angela Gzowski The bedroom of Sabrina's warlock cousin, Ambrose, is rich with detail.

Netflix Canada chose Yellowknifer Angela Gzowski to capture behind-the-scenes images of its recently released hit series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

The popular Netflix adaptation is inspired by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's 2014 dark comic book series of the same name.

Netflix Canada made a call for photographers through the Grammasters North contest and selected Gzowski as one of three photographers to travel to sets across Canada.

She photographed the filming of season two of the series in a massive warehouse in Vancouver this fall.

“When you think of Sabrina, it's not the original one. This is based off the darker one. It reminded me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” she said.

“I don't think people realize how much fog is blown through the set,” she said.

photo courtesy of Angela Gzowski
The bedroom of Sabrina's reliable sidekick and warlock cousin, Ambrose, is rich with detail.

The series itself is a mixture of the horror genre, drama and teenage love, said Gzowski.

Much like the 90s TV sitcom series Sabrina the Teenage Witch starring Melissa Joan Hart and Louise Miller's 1989 cult classic Teen Witch, the adaptation's central focus is on the 16th birthday of Sabrina the half-witch.

Sabrina navigates the simple trials of (sigh) being a teen girl with supernatural powers – battling patriarchal traditions in her coven, raising people from the dead, terrorizing homophobic high school jocks and questioning her loyalty to the Dark Lord.

Gzowski focused on telling the stories of the mortals who make TV magic happen, including the crew director and set designers.

photo courtesy of Angela Gzowski
Canadian set designer Lisa Soper stands in the Spellman Mortuary, one of her designs inspired by paganism and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's 2014 dark comic book series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

The average passerby wouldn't know of the witchy happenings behind the walls of the nondescript warehouse, where Canadian set designer Lisa Soper has created a pagan-inspired world, said Gzowski.

Wallpapers, books and duvets are handmade and the set has 80 hired carpenters.

“The detail was incredible. The tour is really long, because it's such a big set,” she said.

“I wanted to make sure I had a lot of detail, because when you're watching the show you're not as likely to see that stuff,” she said.

She also photographed Chance Perdomo, who plays Ambrose Spellman, a pansexual warlock on eternal house arrest for his role in attempting to blow up the Vatican.

photo courtesy of Angela Gzowski
Actor Chance Perdomo gets a haircut in between scenes on the set of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

“It was nice to be able to meet the cast and see their real personalities compared to their characters,” said Gzowski on the Netflix Canada's Instagram.

Gzowski aimed to capture the essence of the behind-the-scenes work “to really pull back and get this wide angle,” she said.

Working a set requires blending in and making sure you don't interrupt filming, so most of the photos are taken with natural light and in between scenes, said Gzowski.

Gzowski is a seasoned photographer and has captured images all across the North. A born and raised Yellowknifer, she has published photos for Canadian Geographic, VICE, Up Here and Parks Canada, to name a few.

“I do a lot of photojournalism. You're telling the story of behind the scenes of the people that are creating the show,” she said.

“A lot of Canadians aren't aware of how much homegrown talent we have in Canada,” said Gzowski.

“Growing up here and being a photographer in the North has taught me how important telling stories is. A lot of Canadians don't know their geography and its important to showcase our home,” she said.

Netflix will slowly release Gzowski's images over the coming weeks.

photo courtesy of Angela Gzowski
Gzowski photographed the work behind creating the magical world of Greendale for Netflix's latest hit series.

 

photo courtesy of Angela Gzowski
Gzowski photographed the set of the Spellman Mortuary, the Spellman family business.

 

photo courtesy of Angela Gzowski
Gzowski photographed the work behind creating the magical world of Greendale for Netflix's latest hit series.
0911sabrina54
photo courtesy of Angela Gzowski Canadian set designer Lisa Soper stands in the Spellman Mortuary, one of her designs inspired by paganism and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's 2014 dark comic book series of the same name.
0911sabrina51
photo courtesy of Angela Gzowski Gzowski photographed the work behind creating the magical world of Greendale for Netflix's latest hit series.
0911sabrina55
0911sabrina55 photo courtesy of Angela Gzowski Gzowski photographed the set of the Spellman Mortuary, the Spellman family business.