WIRE Buzz: SYFY's Van Helsing back in production; Lost Boys musical bites new video; Netflix's 'Connected'

Production on the fifth and final season of SYFY's Van Helsing has officially resumed amid the pandemic with pre-planned safety protocols, Nomadic Pictures and Dynamic Television announced today.

"The safe and efficient return to production is a result of 12 weeks of tireless efforts on behalf of our entire executive team, producers, writers, directors and crew," Chad Oakes, executive producer and co-chairman of Nomadic Pictures said in a statement. "This would not be possible without the round the clock consultation, drafting and execution of our safe return to work protocols with all the unions and guilds. We thank them for their unwavering support and will continue to craft our execution plan as we enter a new era of film making. We understand the herculean responsibility to be the first out of the gate and will proceed with every cast and crew members safety as our first priority."

Van Helsing is the first dramatic series to return to set in Canada. Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy), Ali Liebert (Bomb Girls), and Steve Bacic (Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda) have all boarded Season 5, which is still scheduled to premiere in the fall with 13 episodes. The first three episodes were able to wrap up filming in Bratislava, Slovakia before the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Kim, Ali and Steve are incredible talents and we are thrilled to welcome them to our Van Helsing family. And we are especially ecstatic to finally be back to work with them,” said Michael Frislev, also executive producer and co-chairman of Nomadic. “We started on our COVID protocols and PPE collection shortly after shutting down. The entire cast and crew have been through our COVID safety training and were tested prior to going to camera. Our extensive and detailed protocols have been blessed by all BC unions, guilds, ActSafe BC and WorkSafe BC.  We are ready and look forward to a safe and successful shoot."

Coates is playing Count Dalibor, "the husband of Olivia who despite his best intentions, makes some disastrous choices"; Liebert is playing Nina, "a vampire with a colorful past that involves Julius, and a hidden agenda that entails a lot of death"; and Bacic is taking on the role of The Father, "a wild vampire who dresses in animal skins and has been hiding in an abandoned mine with a child."

Perhaps responding to all the coverage that's stemmed from our exclusive interview about The Lost Boys Broadway musical, musician G Tom Mac has dropped a new music video for the vampiric stage play. It features "Sleep All Day (Party All Night)," a rockin' ballad for the titular band of blood-suckers, who snooze while the sun's out before heading into the evening in search of new victims.

"It was a way for people to become aware of it," Mac told SYFY WIRE of the videos, explaining that "there’s little pieces of dialogue that go into songs; very little, so you can get a gist of what’s going on ... You get into the story of it by hearing the music."

Check it out:

As Mac previously told us, the production was eyeing a fall 2021 debut before the coronavirus pandemic shut down Broadway. Now, A Lost Boys Story is hoping to open sometime in 2022. In terms of plot, the musical will present the backstory of David (the character originally played by Kiefer Sutherland) and fill in the blanks of how he became a vampire under Max. Malcolm McDowell is in talks to play that role, which was originated by the late Edward Herrmann.

Science reporter Latif Nasser is here to blow our minds in the first trailer for Connected on Netflix. Premiering in early August, the new docuseries finds Nasser traveling all over the world "to tease out the subtle and surprising ways that we are all inextricably linked to one another and our world," reads the official synopsis. Think of the show as a cross between MythBusters and Malcolm Gladwell.

Per Netflix, our selfies and fecal matter are somehow tied to "catastrophic shipwrecks, fraudulent elections, and even distant galaxies." That's some food for thought next time you visit the restroom. Watch the trailer now:  

Connected will begin to shine a light on the subtle things that connect us all Sunday, August 2.