Game of Thrones shines with Canadian talent

Season 5 of Game of Thrones is wrapping upSunday night after 10 episodes that had fans cheering and screamingmore than ever.

Itwas perhaps themost controversial season ever, with some fans even threatening to quit the series over especially violent deaths and a rape scene of a favourite character.

But the series isn't just the biggest show on HBO Canada.It's the biggest show on HBO ever.

And behind the dragons and the drama you'll find there are quite a few Canadians in critical roles.

There's a certainCanadian who worked in front of the cameras.

Remember the stunning white dire wolf "Ghost" that protected Jon Snow?

His real name is "Quigly" and he happens to bean Arctic wolf from Calgary.

Hisbattle scenes were filmed in Calgaryand inserted later.

And behind the scenes, Jeremy Podeswa is a Canadian directorwhoquickly became TV's go-to-guyfor challenging series, from Boardwalk Empire to TheWalking Dead.

Podeswa shot two episodes of Game of Thrones this season and just left forBelfast to start work on Season 6.

Canadian directs Game of Thrones

9 years ago

Duration 1:47

Jeremy Podeswa talks about shooting two episodes for the HBO seriesHe says there are a number of Canadians working on the show, a few of them he brought onto the show himself.

"Ithink maybe there might be something about Canadians who arekind of easy to get along with, and being adaptable and being comfortable in various situations," he explained.

He says on such a show with complicated battle scenes and exotic locations, an easy-going nature is critical and something Canadians generally share.

Podewsa was also behind the camera and directed the most controversial moment of Season 5: the traumatic rape of the bride Sansa.

• Game of Thrones rape scene prompts outraged fans to quit the series

He admits reactions can cause some stress, but he's pleased the public is so invested.

"The great thing is people are super invested in the show," he says."That's what Ilove about the dialogue that surrounds it. If people are enraged by something or if they love something, that's just really a testament to how strong the storytelling is and that people are really affected by it."

But it's not just Canadians behind the camera.

Canadian visual effects artists are also working on the showto create those amazing other-worldly locations and monsters.

Montreal's Rodeo FX

When the Mother of Dragons Daenerys Targaryen freed the slaves and the golden statue came tumbling down fromthe Great Pyramid, that was alloriginalcomputer generatedimagesfromMontreal's Rodeo FX.

Rodeo created epic battle scenes, built the slave city of Meereen and brought the Smoking Seas to life, all from scratch.

"It was a little bit different than the rest of the shots we worked on," says Wayne Brinton, visual effects supervisor at Rodeo."Just because it was the first time we were actually introducing the audience to that world."

Brinton says buildingvisual effects for key scenes in the series doesn't mean he and his crew know everything about how it ends.

"I've seen enough of the last episodethat I kindaknow what hits the fan," he says,"but I don't know how it happens. So Ican't wait."

Click on the video above to seeJeremy Podeswa as he describes his work on visual effects.