Deadpool & Wolverine in the Building
Television professionals and the megastars who appreciate them
Dear Squawkers,
Deadpool & Wolverine will be the biggest box office hit of 2024. Which means the biggest movie of the year came to my workplace on on Tuesday. And I see in the chat that some of you have questions. This is what we’ve always wanted to do at The Squawk, give some inside media baseball on these kinds of celebrity events. So, to borrow from Wade Wilson and Logan Howlett, let’s fucking go.
For the benefit of those of you who don’t live in Canada…
I work at 299 Queen Street West. It’s a famous address in Toronto, with its own Wikipedia page, a heritage building in the heart of downtown that for almost 40 years is considered to be the entertainment centre of Canada. This is because it’s known as the home of MuchMusic, Canada’s version of MTV. During the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, MuchMusic was a global cultural destination. This building has hosted the most famous stars of the last four decades. Madonna has been here, U2 has been here, the Spice Girls have been here, Taylor Swift has been here, BEYONCÉ has been here. Their portraits hang all over the building.
Probably every Canadian growing up in the 80s and 90s watched MuchMusic. I did, obsessively. So it’s surreal to me, constantly, that this is where I’ve been coming to work for almost 20 years. And there is a lot of work here. There are at least six daily shows that are filmed in this building every day, some of them live, and all kinds of other production and administrative facilities scattered over two sections, connected by a bridge that is backdropped by the CN Tower, another landmark. I personally consider 299 Queen to be the Toronto equivalent of New York City’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Like, yes, we are not as world famous, but in terms of what we have done and continue to do here and its value to Canadian media and culture, it’s a significant space.
And within this space, one of the most historic spots is our parking lot. Because from 1990 to 2018, the parking lot was the setting for the MuchMusic Video Awards (the MMVAs), an annual block party dressed up as an award show featuring live music and some wild ass moments that hosted some of the most iconic names in music. Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, multiple times, Mariah Carey (!!!), Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, it’s a huuuuuuuuge list.
And it was a huge one-of-a-kind production because of the location. The stage and the fans were all in the parking lot together. The streets were blocked off for more fans and the red carpet. MMVA weekend was madness in the best way. Kids would camp out for days ahead of time for their wristbands – I remember coming to work and the queue was so long, having to nudge my way through the lines to get into the access doors. This was an amazing summer tradition here in Toronto…
That doesn’t happen anymore, because of the changing media landscape that everyone is experiencing around the world. Even the all-powerful MTV VMAs have been affected by the volatility in media. Which brings me to Tuesday, and the Deadpool & Wolverine event here… in the parking lot.
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