Rosie Mae and Pastel Supernova, collaborate to launch Burlesque Uni, a fitness studio designed to teach the art of burlesque dance. The school is a 10-week program for students looking to further their dance and
performance skills, but also welcomes students of all-levels. Read more about what inspired these women to start their own studio below.

Thank you so much for taking the time and answering my questions. Tell us more about Burlesque Uni and each of yourselves as dancers. What was the story behind the two of you opening up this studio? 

Rosie and Pastel: Burlesque Uni is a studio designed for dancers to explore the world of showgirls through the art of burlesque and various dance and fitness classes. The studio was opened as the city was lacking a space that not only focused on burlesque but also included extensive dance training that could lead to working showgirls. 

With Shadowhunters coming to an end, our favorite seelie, Jade Hassouné, takes on the music world as J4DE. His new single, “Insta Story” debuted this month and is now available in Apple Music, Spotify and several other platforms for streaming. Learn more about his music below!

Welcome back to Defective Geeks, Jade! Or shall we say, J4DE? We’re so excited for you and your debut EP. How are you feeling about releasing your music to the world? 

Hi! Thanks so much! Makes me very happy. I feel so excited about this new phase in my life. I won’t lie, it was quite the vulnerable feeling when I put my music out there, I felt unsure about how it would be perceived. It’s one of the first time I’ve put anything that was completely mine out there into the world, especially something so personal and where I made artistic choices that were very bold like the super pop-y style of music and the auto-tune vibe of the song which to me represents the filters of instagram. I do love me some auto-tune though but some people judge it. And since they have nothing else to compare it to, it might seem like a mistake or trying to make myself sound good. But I had a vision and I stuck to it, and the response has been very positive! Besides, the fans is who I am doing this for anyway. This is just the beginning and it is picking up momentum which I am very happy to see! 

Actor and creator, Vasilios Filippakis, talk to Defective Geeks about the brilliant origin story of the title his new series, FAK YAASS– and if you wanted to find out what his dream project would be, keep reading below!

Hello, Vasilios, thank you for talking to Defective Geeks! FAK YAASS looks absolutely hilarious and heartfelt. What inspired the title and how does it tie-in with the themes of the show?

Hey there! Thanks so much for taking the time to ask me some questions about the show. I love shows that are exactly that, have heart but make you laugh out loud. I was serving a table at my night job and I happened to serve these wonderful Greek ladies and their mother. We got chatting, I told them about the show and how I wanted a title with a pun. I tossed the ideas of something with gyro, or souvlaki but still couldn’t figure it out. Later when I got back to the table, they said “what about FAK YES!” So that’s how I get the title! Fakes– pronounced “fah-kehs”– is an authentic Greek lentil dish. We put a play on the words and created our title FAK YAASS. I owe those ladies a free dinner. 

Actor, Sydney Meyer, is known for playing Helena Blackthorn in Shadowhunters, a show beloved by fandom. Soon, you will see her in a new series called Departure as well as Netflix’s V-WARS alongside Ian Somherhalder.

Tell us about your new upcoming television show, Departure, and what was it like working with a cast that includes Archie Panjabi and Christopher Plummer? Who is your character, Sophie? 

Departure is an exciting mystery mini-series centered around a flight disappearance. It’s absolutely beautifully shot, so cinematic, and it has all these rich entwining storylines that keep you guessing until the last episode. It’s a beautiful, exciting, emotional series. The cast was incredible. It’s funny, when I was maybe 14 I went to Shakespeare school at Stratford and I remember seeing Christopher Plummer in The Tempest and being absolutely blown away by him. He was an actor I so looked up to and respected. So being on a show with him was just an absolute dream come true for me. Archie is so fabulous and such an amazing woman to be around as a young female artist. She is so incredibly skilled and intelligent and kind. She’s just remarkable to work with, and to be able to do scene work with her and learn from her was such a gift. She’s truly an inspiration to me.

Only thirteen-years-old and already making a name for herself, actor and singer, Simone Miller stars in a new original web series called Detention Adventure. Check out this incredibly fun series on CBC Gem and get to know Simone below!

Hi Simone! Detention Adventure looks like such a fun show! Please tell us about it and about your character, Raign Westbrook.

Hello! Thank you so much for this opportunity Defective Geeks! Detention Adventure is a CBC Gem original web series, about three nerds who purposefully get themselves thrown into detention. In detention they meet Brett, the school bully, and together the group looks for hidden clues to try and find Alexander Graham Bells’ hidden lab that is said to be hidden under the school. 

Boss & Co’s Gwenlyn Cumyn and Karen Knox stars on their award-winning series, BARBELLE, with season one boasting over four million views. This colorful show explores the relationship between pop-star duo, Alice O’Hara and Veronica Vale and their public relationships– both professional and romantic. Watch the show now on KINDAtv’s YouTube channel and read our interview below!

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Gwenlyn and Karen! Tell us about your show, BARBELLE, and about the characters you play. What was the inspiration behind the show and Veronica and Alice?

We like to describe BARBELLE as the Gay Soap Opera of your dreams with good jokes, or if you prefer, a woke lesbian Spiceworld for 2019. The show is a short form digital series, and Season Two JUST started airing! You can watch it on Shaftesbury’s YouTube channel KINDAtv. The Series was inspired mostly by a drive to create a show that we (Karen Knox and Gwenlyn Cumyn) would have wanted to watch as teenage girls! There simply wasn’t representation for queer women that was hitting the mark in terms of quality TV shows. SO… We decided to make one!

Patricia O’Callaghan is a classically trained and multi-genre singer who has established herself as an incredibly versatile musician. She received her first Juno Awards nomination for Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral this year. Read more about her creative inspiration and how music has always been a part of her life.

Congratulations on your JUNO nomination, Patricia! How did it feel to be nominated for the first time?

It felt really exciting actually. It feels great to receive acknowledgement from the industry. Plus friends and family get very excited about it and it’s so nice to share that with them! 

Director Katrina Saville with Producer Gurjeet Kaur Bassi collaborated on I Beat Up My Rapist, a short film based on a true story from xoJane (titled “My Friends and I Beat Up My Rapist, And I Will Never Apologize for Getting Revenge”). The two women chat about the motivation behind the project and what moved them.

Tell us about I Beat Up My Rapist and what was the inspiration behind the story. What drew you to this particular narrative and why?

Katrina: I read the memoir essay online when it went viral 3 years ago. Leif’s (the author) writing is so vivid and compelling, I immediately began imagining it on the screen. It’s almost like I could see certain scenes pop off the page right away. I sent the essay to Gurjeet (my good friend, and producing partner) and asked her what she thought. She replied pretty quickly, saying– we have to make this. I contacted Leif personally, and asked her if we could option her essay to adapt it into a short film. Thankfully, she was open to working with us, and trusted us to tell her story.