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.

Defective Geeks is feeling particularly lucky with this interview, featuring actor, Jade Hassouné, who stars in Shadowhunters as Meliorn an extremely handsome and alluring fairy (aka Seelie). Jade himself is as alluring in real life– get to know him more below and find out about fandom, acting and his journey into his music,

Hi Jade, thank you for doing this interview! First of, what has it been like being a part of a show as big as Shadowhunters? What has been the best part about it? 

Hello! Thank you for featuring me! 

Well it has been a dream come true, that’s for sure. And the two best parts has been the life-long friends I’ve made on the show, with who I get to travel the world now to meet (the other best part): the fans. The fandom is something extremely special, it is rare that a TV show gets such a huge following and we are all very fortunate to have this ocean of love constantly ready to support our every move. 

Born in Athens, Greece and raised in Lake Louise, Alberta, actor Michael Antonakos is the voice of Alexios in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey, the latest game in the blockbuster series released last month. From theater, to film and television, to voice acting and motion capture– Michael has done it all! His voice can also be heard in Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, Dead Rising 4, Mass Effect Andromeda and many more. Read about his journey into acting below.

Hi Micheal, thank you for doing this interview with Defective Geeks! Tell us about Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey and your character, Alexios. What is it like being the voice of a video game franchise that so many people love?

You’re very welcome! Thank you for chatting with me.

Well, it’s a hell of a game to say the least. It all takes place in Ancient Greece around 431BCE, the beginning of Western Civilization, and the height of the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta. You (the player) get choose to be a male (Alexios) or female (Kasandra), a mercenary (Ancient Greek: misthios) who can fight for both sides, while on a quest to unite their family and uncover a malign cult called the Order of The Ancients.

It was pretty cool to be a part of this incredible franchise. It comes with a lot of weight to it, but I’ve been very honored to be a part of such a massive game.

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Shira Taylor created SExT: Sex Education by Theatre back in 2014 for her dissertation during her time at the University of Toronto, in order to explore the use of theatre for sex education aimed at young students. The play, SExt, has been performed by youth peer educators at Canada’s largest theatre festivals to thousands of students in schools and indigenous reserves across Ontario and Saskatchewan. She has also worked with teachers to implement sex education in an art-based, culturally-inclusive and impactful ways.

“Bodak Consent”– a Bodak Yellow (Cardi B) parody– was created through SexT’s partnership with the Canadian Foundation of AIDS Research (CANFAR). Read the interview below with Shira to find out more!

Thank you so much for talking to Defective Geeks and answering our questions today. Can you tell us about SExT: Sex Education by Theatre, how it was founded and why you wanted to start it in the first place? What are the programs’ main goals?

Five years ago, I walked into one of Canada’s most diverse and over-populated high schools, located in an immigration destination of Toronto, with the idea of having sex education more comprehensive, relevant, and impactful by emboldening youth to sing, rap, and dance about everything from chlamydia to homophobia to racism. This visit led me to create the peer education program, SExT: Sex Education by Theatre, as my PhD Thesis (Public Health, University of Toronto) to empower youth from communities where talking about sex is cultural taboo to take center stage. Our main goal is to support young people to reflect on, challenge, and communicate their realities and celebrate their unique identities through performance art. Youth are invited to tackle current issues head-on in a non-judgmental environment that promotes education, discussion, creativity, and personal discovery.

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Using a catchy dance beat, Bree Taylor’s new song, You Played It All, is about dating and relationships in today’s modern world and was inspired from Bree’s personal experience. She spoke to Defective Geeks about her rise as a musician, what it meant to overcome negativity in her life and embracing her passion with 100% confidence. Read more about her journey and her new song below!

Bree Taylor’s new single, You Played It All, from her first EP Unbreakable is out now, available on Spotify, iTunes and GooglePlay.

Hello, Bree! Thank you for taking the time and answering my questions. First of all, how long have you been singing and what has it been like pursuing music as a career? Who are your personal inspirations?

I have been singing since I was a kid. I always loved singing, writing and being creative and I was always surrounded by music growing up so wanting this as a career has always been on my mind and in my heart– it just took me a long time to really get the confidence to go after it. I was a very shy and introverted kid because of bullying in school which was the opposite of who I was at heart. I felt like I had to suppress myself. I was told I wasn’t good enough and couldn’t sing and it discouraged me from performing and affected me in having that confidence to pursue it as a career. It took me growing as a person and going through life events to really set me back on this path and realize that this is my purpose and what I am meant to do. I owe a lot of it to my relationship with God. I truly feel that this is my God given purpose and when I trust and have faith, I find that that is when magic happens with my music.

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Taras Lavren was bitten by the acting bug at a young age and has taken on that passion to grow a career in acting and filmmaking. He received his first big break when he landed a role in The CW’s Reign, and currently plays Nate in Netflix’s Anne With An E. Read his interview below to find out more!

Hello, Taras, thank you so much for talking to Defective Geeks! Tell us what it’s like to be involved in such an acclaimed show, ‘Anne With An E’, and how you got the role to play Nate.

It’s pretty wild being on such a huge show as Anne with an E, I’m still blown away by how large of an audience and fanbase it has outside of Canada, let alone here! So the way I booked the gig, is actually hilarious because I never once stepped into an audition room. I had sent a tape into casting right before I left on vacation to Mexico in 2017 and then about three days into my trip I got an e-mail saying I had a callback in like two days! Not knowing what to do, I messaged casting and after some careful deliberation they agreed that I could just submit a second tape from where I was. So I’m in a hotel room with my girlfriend in Mexico, and with a stack of corona cases we borrowed as a tripod for the camera, we somehow managed to submit the second tape over dodgy wi-fi. Two days later, (on our last day) I got an e-mail that I booked the part! I’ve never had a luckier vacation, I still think it’s probably for the best as I probably would’ve completely bombed it if I had to go in the room!

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Karrnnel is one of the most original and decorated musicians, known for his authentic compositions of fiddle music around the world. With 300 songs composed under his belt, he will be releasing his brand new solo double album Crazy Old Man and SKMB this upcoming Fall season on September 13. Want to know more about how he established himself as a unique musician? Read the interview below!

How did you get into music and fiddle music? When did you know you wanted to become a musician? What kind of revelations did you have along the way during your career?

Everything music for me comes from my family. Long before I was around, my dad was a musician (accordion, fiddle, guitar) and had a prairie dance band for years called the Melody Ranch Boys. Because of this, there was a lot of music in my family on both sides along with musical friends always coming over to visit and jam. Add this to the fact that both of my sisters started playing fiddle, and that was the recipe– music in the family and musical heroes in both my sisters. I was hooked.

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