One of the most unique stories from the North Okanagan this century is being brought to the world of streaming.
The two-part documentary Wild Boys: Strangers in Town debuts on the streaming app Paramount+ Feb. 18.
The documentary relives the tale of two brothers who were found to be living in the woods behind the Kal Lake Store in Coldstream in 2003. Residents and media referred to them as The Bush Boys.
The pair told locals they had lived in isolation all of their lives, and were taken under the wing of the Greater Vernon community, including one local hockey mother who had a knack for helping people. The city rallied around the brothers, offering them food, money, and a roof over their heads.
“A small-town obsession is ignited with journalists and authorities digging deeper and raising unsettling questions about how far people are willing to go to believe a story they want to be true,” said Paramountpressexpress.com.
Eventually, the truth came out: the brothers were American runaways.
Coldstream native Sam Mullins was 15 and going to Kalamalka Secondary School when the story of the Bush Boys broke. Now a writer and comedian, Mullins created and aired an eight-episode podcast on the brothers in 2022, which included interviews with the pair. He shared his story with The Morning Star in February 2022.
Titled Chameleon: Wild Boys, the podcast went to No. 1 in podcast rankings in Canada and New Zealand. The following year, 2023, Mullins and his partners won Podcast of the Year at the Ambies – awards to podcasting that are like the Oscars for movies – for Chameleon: Wild Boys.
Mullins’ podcast helped the documentary project gain additional traction after being in the works for more than a decade.
Mullins and Campside Media are listed as co-producers of Wild Boys: Strangers in Town, along with See It Now Studios, Candle True Stories, Vox Media Studios, and Endless Eye.
The documentary is directed and executive produced by Jeremiah Hammerling and Rita Baghdadi.
Trent Johnson serves as a producer.