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Lifestyles Profile - Wayne McLeod By Heather Wilson Wayne MacLeod knows as much nitty-gritty about what’s going on around town as anyone – especially in the English-speaking community – yet I’ve never heard him say an ungracious word about anybody. Alter-ego Stan Hunter, on the other hand, has over 200 columns worth of oblique, symbolic and humorous things to say about the dichotomies of living in a foreign country. As director-editor of the English-language “Vallarta Today,” he’s pretty much a one-man band when it comes to editorial and public relations. Faithfully churning out five papers a week, he takes the pressure in stride. “I used to work two jobs, one of them producing a live, two-hour TV show every day, so this doesn’t seem unusual.” He’s also a voted-in member of the Puerto Vallarta Film Commission and a mainstay at local press conferences and events, taking every opportunity to toot the horn of others while working creatively behind the scenes. In Canada and the USA he’s been a scriptwriter, lighting director, video controller, talent coordinator for the Tom Jones show and executive producer for the Paul Anka show. “It’s really satisfying to know that I just might play some small part in helping somebody, by letting them know about a charity, for instance. And I enjoy working with new writers, giving them exposure and helping to build their confidence. Plus, I get to meet the full spectrum of people – and here in Vallarta they’re often wearing bikinis.” He considers British Columbia’s first film commissioner, Wolfgang Richter, an important mentor. “He was able to convince the government that film and TV production was important to the economy, and over the years Vancouver became a huge base of production.” “When I came to Vallarta, I realized that we could benefit from a commission here. And lo and behold, after 12 years of lobbying we now have Mexico’s only municipal film commission. My other thought is that we should have a working studio if we’re going to generate more production.” He grew up accustomed to moving around a lot, his father in the Canadian Armed Forces. As well as living in Germany and Washington, D.C., Wayne spent a year in Rome. Now in Vallarta longer than anywhere else, fashion designer Laura Lopez Labra, whom he met shortly after arriving in 1990, is “the big reason I’m still here.”

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