Who is Christopher LaVoie? Man behind ‘4 Days’ reality shows has history of run-ins with police, dubious business ventures
In the past few years, the St. John’s-based man behind ‘4 Days to Live’ and ‘Rip the Hood,’ Christopher LaVoie, has been at the center of several police stings, criminal charges, and a lawsuit regarding an alleged debt to a fake lawyer.
LaVoie, who’s been a resident of the Avalon Heights neighbourhood in St. John’s since 1999, began his career of television shows while growing up in Saint John. His first job after graduating from Saint John’s University was as a writer for the popular TV show ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ – and the first one he’s created was a short-lived police report-style show entitled ‘4 Days to Live.’
In 2012, the show was cancelled after airing its first three episodes.
“I was pretty bitter at the time,” LaVoie says. “I have a passion for radio and television, and I really did enjoy ‘Hockey Night in Canada.’ But the timing just wasn’t right. I didn’t know how it was going to unfold. But I was lucky in the sense that a few months later, the show returned, with a different format and a different showrunner.”
The return of LaVoie’s original show would prove to be controversial as it featured police officers who were called in to stop and arrest people without probable cause, a scenario the show’s creators tried to avoid.
“That season of ‘4 Days to Live’ was the only show I ever wrote in my life,” says LaVoie. “I would never have gone into the field without first having gone to school for it and studying the system. It was incredibly valuable. It took a really long time to fully develop. To be quite honest, I never wanted to make a show like that. But the timing was right. There were a lot of factors. For one, they were dealing with the city and they were going through a recession. The police force was on the defensive and we needed exposure.”
Over the past 10 years, LaVoie has had numerous run-ins with the St. John