As an Asian-Canadian, Samantha Wan is forging a path to inspire creatives within the entertainment industry and advocating for the importance of representation in television and movies. Her show, Second Jen, is a buddy comedy about two second-generation millennials who are trying to make it on their own in the big city. Find out more about her work below!

Hi Samantha, congratulations on your nomination for Best Comedy Series in 2019 Canadian Screen Awards for your sitcom, Second Jen! Tell us about your show and how you came about creating it.

Thank you! Second Jen is a sitcom about Second Generation kids and their crazy immigrant families. Two Asian Canadian girls moving away from home and experiencing all their adult-ing firsts together. It’s based around the lives and neighborhoods of my co-creator, Amanda Joy, and myself. We created the show because at the time we found there weren’t many developed roles for us as Asian actors. We created what we thought was a pilot (later we realized it was more 22 min short films) and then used it to pitch at the Banff World Media Festival. There we got the show optioned by Don Ferguson Productions and some interest from broadcasters. Skip over three years of stuff that is less exciting to hear about, numerous bible rewrites, pitches, and LOTS of waiting ( maybe a bit of crying, thinking the show was over, then it wasn’t, then it was…), Rogers Media picked us up for development and then series! We finished our second season last year and are super proud of the work. The nomination is the icing on the cake!

Medea Kalantar is the author of Honeycake: A Family of Spices, the first installment of her brand-new children’s book series which is currently available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Medea infuses valuable lessons on love and acceptance into her writing, celebrating diversity within families. Find out more below!

Thank you so much for answering our questions, Medea! Your children’s book, Honeycake: A Family of Spices, looks adorable! What is it about and what inspired you to create this book?

Firstly, I would like to say thank you for featuring me on Defective Geeks. I’m so honored and grateful to be given this platform to discuss the importance and the valuable lessons my books will give families around the world. I was inspired to write these books when I learnt that I was about to become a grandmother. My stories are all based on my own family, whose members come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. This unique mix is a perfect recipe, and it’s the reason why I call my grandchildren my little Honeycakes.

Sarah Abbott is a young and rising star who will be starring in Lifetime’s television-movie, Mommy’s Little Princess, which will air on March 17th. She can also be seen in Netflix’s Black Mirror and the upcoming vampire series, V-Wars, alongside Ian Somerhalder. Get to know her below!

Hi Sarah! Thank you for doing this interview with us. You’ve had such a very full career at such a young age already! Tell us how you got into acting and who or what inspired you to pursue this creative journey?

When I was younger, I loved Disney channel and it sparked my interest in acting. My mom then spotted an ad in our local newspaper saying an agency was holding open call auditions. My parents and I discussed it and we decided it was worth a try. A short amount time later, I was signed with the agency! My first jobs were commercials, but I built my way up to bigger roles from there. 

Devery Jacobs will be starring in season 2 of American Gods and will play the character, Sam Black Crow, who she feels a close connection to because of her own background as an Indigenous woman. Besides acting, Devery is also a director and is standing up for representation through her art. Read more about it below!

How exciting is it for you to be a part of the new season of American Gods! We love the show. Tell us about your role as Sam Black Crow. Do you relate to your character?

I recognize how rarely audiences have seen a character like Sam on screen, so I don’t take playing her lightly. I have been such a fangirl of Neil Gaiman’s novel, American Gods, for years, and I completely connected with Sam Black Crow. As an actual sarcastic, queer Indigenous woman, I thoroughly related to Sam’s experiences and hounded my agent to make sure I auditioned for her. Sam Black Crow is such a fun, meddlesome character whose beliefs are complex. While she’s sarcastic and opinionated, she’s also deeply curious about life, and about Shadow, who she is introduced to and encounters in this upcoming season!

The lovely Arista Arhin is best known for her role as the young Michael Burnham on Star Trek: Discovery, where she delivers a strong and emotional performance. She spoke to Defective Geeks about the challenges and inspiration for her work, as well as her upcoming show, Bajillionaires. Read all about it below!

Thank you so much for answering our questions, Arista. It is so exciting that you get to portray Young Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery! Can you tell us what it’s like working on this series and knowing that it’s part of this huge, sci-fi universe? 

It felt unreal and a little startling when I first got cast for the show knowing that I was now part of one of the most iconic TV shows of all time. When I first started filming, I felt under pressure to deliver a great performance knowing how huge the franchise was and not wanting to disappoint any of the fans. Yet, after a lot of positive feedback, it really meant a lot to me to know that people enjoyed watching me on the show. I was very happy to have been invited back to Season 2. 

Alita: Battle Angel is a new film by James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez, starring Rosa Salazar as the battle angel herself. The movie is based on a somewhat niche manga by writer and artist, Yukito Kishiro, which was released in the early 90s. In my early days attending and cosplaying at anime convention, I had seen the cult following that this particular franchise had. In fact, I remember plenty of people telling me that I should cosplay Alita… but that was far and long ago, during my youth.

Tennille Read stars as Frankie’s close friend, Bianca, in season two of Workin’ Moms. She is also the co-founder of Theatre Inamorata, a company focused on developing female-centric stories for the stage. Tennille talks to Defective Geeks about her work and the importance of representation in the creative community.

Hi Tennille, thank you for answering our questions! Tell us about Workin’ Moms and your character, Bianca? How did you get involve with the show? 

Workin’ Moms is a comedic sitcom about women who are juggling their professional careers with their personal lives and being moms. I love the show because we get to see women in different situations, expressing themselves in ways that we don’t typically see on tv. I first got involved at the end of Season 2. My scenes were with Juno Rinaldo’s character Frankie, and I think the powers that be liked our chemistry because I was brought back in Season 3. I think Bianca is pretty courageous, choosing to become a solo-parent and all, and I think she’s pretty relatable.

Jordan Canning fell in-love with directing and has directed more than a dozen short films that have been featured in festivals including Tribeca, the Toronto International Film Festival and Interfilm Berlin. She talks to Defective Geeks about her journey into becoming a director and her inspiration.

What kind of journey led you to becoming a director? When did you know it was something you wanted to pursue as a career? 

As a kid I was always watching movies. That was usually what me and my parents did every night after dinner– that, or watch Star Trek: The Next Generation. When I was alone, I would make up stories and little scenes and play them out in my room (did I mention I was an only child?). I went to university in Montreal for creative writing, working mainly in short fiction. After I graduated I moved back to St. John’s and started working at a production company, writing for a docu-drama series about ghost stories and shipwrecks. (Think Creepy Canada, but on the East Coast.) I started conducting the on-camera interviews, and eventually I began directing the dramatic reenactments.