Jessica Rose is a creative powerhouse and you may recognize her from television shows such as Man Seeking Woman and Saving Hope. She has also written and starred in her own short film called Alison which explores the intimacy between a couple during one particular strange night. Read more below to find out what acting means to her and her upcoming projects.

Your short film, ‘Alison,’ is so simple yet conveys so much about a relationship in one single night. I love how the short started out a bit silly then the emotional roller coaster escalates. What was the inspiration for it and what did you hope to show people?

Thank you! I think relationships are a subject that have always fascinated me. There is a specific kind of intimacy you develop in long term relationships that I hadn’t seen on screen before, and a particular kind of work involved that isn’t often talked about. There is a vulnerability, sometimes a very dark side, that we share with our partners that no one else sees. I know many couples who appear to always be fighting or dealing with some sort of drama, but they remain extremely determined and committed to staying together. Love is complicated, and our need for intimacy and partnership is powerful. I’m fascinated by the equation behind it: what and how much we are willing to endure in order to keep a relationship going, and whether the rewards of companionship outweigh the challenges.

Risa Stone explores the fears and doubts most have when it comes to meeting strangers through dating apps with her short film, Man Eater. What would you do when your dream man or woman becomes your worst nightmare? Man Eater will premiere on October 15th 2017 at the 2017 ReelWorld Film Festival as part of the ACTRA Shorts Program. Find out more from Risa below!

Thanks for doing this interview with us, Risa! Can you tell us about yourself and how you got started acting?

Thank you for interviewing me! Some people, mainly my parents, would say that I started acting as soon as I was old enough to engage, so let’s call it age three. As a child, I was always putting on some kind of home-show but I would have to say that my acting career got “serious” over the last six years when I started actively working in commercials, film and TV.

The highly-anticipated feature film, Black Cop, made its world premiere this year at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be making its festival rounds this fall as well. Ronnie Rowe Jr. stars in the film as a rogue police officer who becomes sick and tired of the systematic abuse of black people. The film hopes to bring thoughtful conversation to its audience through satire.

Thank you for chatting with us about your upcoming new film! Please tell our readers about Black Cop.

Black Cop is a satire psychological drama about an officer that is struggling between his duty as a cop and being a black man. Things take an interesting turn, when he is profiled off duty by another officer.

Suck It Up is written by Julia Hoff and directed by Jordan Canning, explores the story of two best friends who go on an adventure in hopes of getting over the death of a loved one. Erin Carter plays Faye, and with Ronnie (played by Grace Glowicki), the two women deal with their grief together during a summer getaway. The movie is set to make its festival rounds starting at the 2017 Atlantic Film Festival on September 17.

Carter is an accomplished actress and filmmaker, an alumni of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s prestigious Actors Conservatory. In this interview, she discusses her role in Suck It Up and what inspired her to pursue acting.

Hi Erin, thank you so much for doing this interview with us. Suck It Up looks like an amazing movie about women for women. Can you tell us more about it? 

Oh my goodness, that is quite the way to put it! I am very proud to call this a female driven project, so many of our cast and crew were female, and the project was conceived by women, but, I think the beauty of the film is that it’s not just for women, it’s definitely a story for everyone. It’s a movie about two young women who suffer a mutual loss. Faye’s love of her life, Garrett, happens to also be her best friend Ronnie’s brother, and when Garrett passes away of cancer it forces the two of them to redefine their lives without him. Which for Ronnie means an epic drinking spree, but for my character, Faye, it means taking care of her best friend Ronnie. The two end up in the quaint town of Invermere, BC, due to a rash decision on Faye’s part, and they’re then forced to face their grief at Ronnie’s childhood cabin.

Jaz Saini and Harjit Bhandal are the two content creators behind the popular channel YouTwoTV on YouTube. The award-winning duo share an amazing creative energy together and we chat about how they met and how they got their start. Jaz and Harjit have an amazing chemistry with each other which is why their hilarious videos are so successful— they are not only talented but also relatable and lovable by their fans worldwide. Check them out!

Hi guys, thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions! Can you tell our readers about your YouTube channel, YouTwoTV?

JAZ:  Thank you for having us! YouTwoTV is a YouTube channel we created in February 2016 and we’ve been creating weekly comedy skits on it since! We like to say that we make reality funny on our channel. We take relatable situations and make them into short 3-4 minute skits.

HARJIT:  Some of our most popular videos include Back To School: Types of Students and Types of Girlfriends Guys Hate. Some of our personal favorites are If You Boyfriend Was A Superhero and If Your Girlfriend Was a Cell Phone!

Robert Lieberman has been working as a director for television and movies for years, with shows under his belt including The X-Files, D3: The Mighty Ducks, Lost Girl and most recently, The Expanse. Lieberman has been nominated for “Best Director in a Dramatic Series” from the Directors Guild of Canada. He talks to Defective Geeks about his own experience within the industry and the evolution of television shows.

Congratulations on your nomination for “Best Director in a Dramatic Series” from the Directors Guild of Canada! Tell us more about your experience directing episodes for THE EXPANSE television series.

Thank you. It is a great honor to be nominated by my peers and recognized in this way for my work.

The Expanse is a highly sophisticated, futuristic sci-fi show that I am honored to be a part of. Based on the series of novels by S. A. Corey, they tell a suspenseful and exciting story that takes place two hundred years from now when Mars has been colonized, the asteroid belt between here and Mars is inhabited by a group of the under-classed citizens and is policed by a private, corrupt enterprise. Mars and Earth are on the precipice of war as our unlikely heroes try to track down an entity that can survive in zero atmosphere and threatens the very existence of all organic life.

Lee Lawson is both an actress and a writer based in Toronto, Canada who can be seen playing a diverse range of roles onscreen. She can be seen in independent films starring as as a soldier dealing with PTSD in director Tamara Moos’ Kavod, a young teacher navigating the childhood crush of a gifted student in Hue’s Theatre and as Leaf Girl in Joëlle Wallinga’s conceptual collaboration with child writers; Cave Big, Cave Small. We chatted with her about her journey in acting and her upcoming projects.

Tell us more about yourself and what inspired you to become a creative person and pursue acting. What has that journey been like for you?

Hi! so happy to be chatting with you! It’s funny; I certainly wasn’t the typical actor kid. I was quite shy; a day dreamer. It took me a really long time to find my way into onscreen acting. I always felt this instinctive pull towards story telling, but theatre never fit quite right. It was so freeing when I finally discovered the Independent film scene. In front of the camera I felt like there was no distance to contend with. For me, acting for camera is an incredibly intimate experience. My artistic journey has been all about finding the right medium, material and community to work within.