The Firecracker Department with Naomi Snieckus

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ENUKA OKUMA Dec 08, 2021

Show notes

Our guest this week is award-winning actor, writer, producer, director ENUKA OKUMA! Currently, she is a writer on Netflix and CBC's smash hit WORKIN' MOMS and stars as Sloane Mitchell. You probably recognize her as the series regular, Traci Nash, on ABC and GLOBAL's long-running police drama, ROOKIE BLUE. Enuka co-wrote, with Adriana Maggs, a sixth season episode of the show ROOKIE BLUE. She has also guest starred in Showtime's MASTERS OF SEX, ABC's HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER and ABC's GREY'S ANATOMY. Enuka recently starred in the Netflix's THE SLEEPOVER and was a series regular on IMPULSE, one of the first scripted dramas for YouTube, produced and directed by Doug Liman (THE BOURNE IDENTITY). COOKIE, is a short film, written, directed and produced by Enuka and starring Jennifer Finnigan from MOONSHINE and Jonathan Silverman from WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S. COOKIE premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival and then went on to conquering the world by screening in over 20 film festivals! Set for 2022, she is producing and starring as Annabelle in the short film WOMAN MEETS GIRL, and OUT COMES THE WOLVES, a feature written by Enuka that reunites her with ROOKIE BLUE alum, director Adam MacDonald.

Twitter: @enukaokuma Instagram: @enukaokumaofficial http://www.enukaokuma.com/

WOMAN MEETS GIRL Over a vodka-fueled game of Never Have I Ever, Annabelle, a 40-something year old virgin and Tessie, an 18-year old homeless sex worker, challenge each other to expose their vulnerabilities revealing their differences and similarities. Through the night, an undeniable chemistry emerges between them. @wmgfilm

WORKIN' MOMS @workinmoms @workinmomsnetflix

ARE YOU MY MOMMY https://watch.reelwomensnetwork.com/are-you-my-mommy PAULA JEAN HIXSON @paulajeanhixson

Reel Women's Network Twitter: @ReelWomensNetw1 Instagram and Facebook: @reelwomensnetwork https://reelwomensnetwork.com/

Podcast Team Head Producer and Editor: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor: Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Graphic: Vicki Brier @brier2019

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Karen Walton Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

Our guest this week is award-winning screenwriter, executive producer and founder of Ink Canada- KAREN WALTON! She is best known for penning the original cult classic horror film, GINGER SNAPS, along with writing and co-executive producing Bell Media and BBC America's hit sci-fi series, ORPHAN BLACK. Other credits include: Showtime's QUEER AS FOLK, CTV's FLASHPOINT, THE LISTENER, THE ELEVENTH HOUR and CBC's WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING ALONE, STRAIGHT UP, DROP THE BEAT. She also wrote 2 true-life MOWs, CBC's HEART-THE MARILYN BELL STORY and THE MANY TRIALS OF ONE JANE DOE, which won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Writing in a Movie or Miniseries. Other accolades include: the prestigious Margaret Collier Award, ACTRA Toronto's Nell Shipman Award, Women In Film and Television Toronto's Crystal Award for Mentorship, the Writers Guild of Canada's Writers Block Award, and the Banff Media Festival's Fellowship Alumnus Award, Toronto International Film Festival Special Jury Citation for Screenplay, a Canadian Comedy Award, and Canadian Screen Awards for Best Dramatic Series. Karen founded INK CANADA - CANADIAN SCREENWRITERS AND THEIR SKETCHY FRIENDS on Facebook in 2007, and it has grown to over 9K screenwriting pros, students, fans of the art and industry colleagues from Canada and around the world.

Karen Walton Instagram: @helloiwrite

INK CANADA - CANADIAN SCREENWRITERS AND THEIR SKETCHY FRIENDS Twitter: @inkcanada Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/inkcanada/

Podcast Team Head Producer: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor: Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Graphic: Vicki Brier @brier2019

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Reel Women's Network Spotlight: Armin Sethi Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

Our 12th Reel Women's Network spotlight guest is writer, producer and crown attorney ARMIN SETHI! Armin has a superpower for making a vision come to life through Fly Away Films with her collaborator and sister Asis Sethi. She is a full-time Crown Attorney in Ontario and in the evenings or early mornings, Armin is the Editor-in-chief of Bollywood Film Fame magazine where she interviews many Bollywood icons. Since 2019, Armin as been a writer and producer for docu-series short films, including co-writing the historical DARSHAN DEKH JEEVA highlighting the story of the ten Sikh Gurus with conversations between young Sikh youth. Armin then went onto co-write with Asis, A BLOODY MESS, an award-winning film about a young South Asian woman, attempting to normalize conversations surrounding menstruation. Armin also wrote FUTURE SUPERHEROES, a film about children empowering each other to care for each other and the environment, specifically during the time of COVID-19.Armin co-wrote ROCK THE CRADLE, with Asis! ROCK THE CRADLE is a short film on postpartum depression and in November 2020, it was selected in the Top Ten Scripts at the Landed Entertainment's Script Writing Contest.

Fly Away Films @flyawayfilmsinc https://flyawayfilms.ca/

Bollywood Film Fame Instagram: @bollywoodfilmfamecanada Twitter: @BFFCmag Facebook: @Bollywood.Film.Fame.Canada.Magazine https://bollywoodfilmfame.com/

On Reel Women's Network https://reelwomensnetwork.com/armin-sethi/

A Bloody Mess https://watch.reelwomensnetwork.com/a-bloody-mess

Future Superheroes https://watch.reelwomensnetwork.com/future-superheroes

Asis Sethi's Reel Women's Spotlight https://open.spotify.com/episode/744g0lJOuUpgA80SjYkzH1?si=aeOwpdsfSHuy_aT5lgxjdQ

Reel Women's Network Twitter: @ReelWomensNetw1 Instagram and Facebook: @reelwomensnetwork https://reelwomensnetwork.com/

Podcast Team Head Producer: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor: Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Graphic: Vicki Brier @brier2019

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Jaime Moyer Nov 17, 2021

Show notes

Our guest on the show this week is JAIME MOYER! Jaime voiced April and Colleen on FOX TV's BOB's BURGER, guest starred as the Female Snowflake, in FOX's new animation series THE GREAT NORTH. She has had recurring roles on: PEACOCK's AP BIO, Netflix's THE BIG SHOW SHOW, ABC's MODERN FAMILY, and Disney's hit show KC UNDERCOVER. She also appeared on NBC's PARKS AND RECREATION, CBS's 2 BROKE GIRLS and Hulu's FUTURE MAN. Jaime wrote for three seasons of Nickelodeon's LEGO CITY ADVENTURES where she helped create many memorable original characters. Jaime has a lifetime love affair with live theater, and she wrote and starred in original revues as an alum of THE SECOND CITY - DETROIT. Jaime occasionally appears as Guillermo's wife on JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, and she was awarded the sole prize of Maestro at the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival in Austin, Texas in 2011.

Twitter: @Jaime_Moyer https://jaimemoyer.com/

Comfort Cases https://www.comfortcases.org/ @comfortcases

Wellness Department - Igniting Your Self Love: Mind, Body and Soul. November 21, 2021 - on Zoom https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/igniting-your-self-love-mind-body-and-soul-tickets-204073448177

Podcast Team Head Producer: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor: Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Graphic: Vicki Brier @brier2019

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Leesa Levinson Nov 10, 2021

Show notes

Our guest on the show this week is Toronto-based actor, producer and advocate LEESA LEVINSON! She is a graduate of Wexford Collegiate's prestigious Performing Arts Musical Theatre Program where Leesa began displaying strange neurological symptoms at 16. At 19, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Leesa continued to pursue her passion at Fanshawe College and attended Ryerson University's Radio and Television Arts program. Some of Leesa's credits include CBC and The CW's CORONER and CTV's JEFF LIMITED. She has been on the board of the OMDC, now ONTARIO CREATES, she was public adjudicator with the CANADIAN BROADCASTS STANDARDS COUNCIL. She has consulted for the CRTC, and the BBC, along with the Media Access Office of Hollywood and the Screen Actors' Guild Disabilities Committee. Leesa is on the DIVERSITY & INCLUSION COMMITTEE at ACTRA Toronto, as an advocate for performers with disabilities and focuses on promoting the inclusion of talent with disabilities in mainstream arts and media.

Leesa Levinson Twitter @llevisnson1

Leesa would like to extend a huge thanks and gratitude for all the funders and collaborators who made Lights Camera Access a huge success.

The DIVERSITY & INCLUSION COMMITTEE at ACTRA TORONTO. https://www.actratoronto.com/committees/diversity-inclusion/

Firecracker Script Department Event November 14, 2021 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/firecracker-script-dept-reading-november-tickets-164661475907

Podcast Team Head Poducer: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor: Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Graphic: Vicki Brier @brier2019

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Niccole Thurman Nov 03, 2021

Show notes

Our guest on the show this week is a Los Angeles-based actor, writer, and the co-host of the podcast, THE SCROLL DOWN- NICCOLE THURMAN! Niccole and THE SCROLL DOWN's co-host Marcella Arguello, talk about all things social media, unpacking the vibes and juicy topics from the week and they dissect the main characters—while cracking a few jokes in between. Niccole is the voice of Jabberjaw, Squiddly Diddly and Dee Dee Sykes in the HBO Max animated series JELLYSTONE. You can see Niccole in Netflix's GRACE AND FRANKIE, NBC's KENAN, NBC's INDEBTED, NETFLIX's DESPERADOS, HBO's A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW, SHRILL on Hulu and SUPERSTORE on NBC. She was also a correspondent on Comedy Central's THE OPPOSITION WITH JORDAN KLEPPER. Niccole has written for THE SEVENTY SECOND PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS, hosted By Jimmy Kimmel, AMC's SHERMAN SHOWCASE and HAUTE DOG on HBO Max, Fox's LET'S BE REAL and the upcoming Peacock Show, BAKING IT.

Niccole Thurman @niccolethurman THE SCROLL DOWN https://headgum.com/the-scroll-down #TheScrollDown Marcella Arguello @marcellacomedy Head Producer: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor: Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Graphic: Vicki Brier @brier2019

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Reel Women's Network Spotlight: Pearl Gluck Oct 27, 2021

Show notes

Our 11th Reel Women's Network (RWN) spotlight is award-winning writer-director-producer PEARL GLUCK. She creates both documentary and narrative films that explore themes of class, gender, and faith. Her first documentary feature film, DIVAN, is a Hasidic tale five years in the making that was developed in part at the Sundance Institute. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and opened theatrically at the Film Forum in New York City and it broadcasted on the Sundance Channel. Her first narrative short, WHERE IS JOEL BAUM, won Best Actor at the Starz Denver Film Festival and Best Short Film at the Toronto Female Eye Film Festival. THE TURN OUT is Pearl's first fiction feature film about a trucker, alienated from his family, who encounters an underage prostitute at a local truck stop and discovers that he is an unwitting participant in a sex trafficking ring. THE TURN OUT won Best Debut Feature at the Toronto Female Eye Film Festival, and the Critic's Choice Award at the Iowa International Film Festival. Pearl founded Palinka Pictures, a multimedia production company with a twist that aims to collaborate with artists, media makers and educators to make a difference through the arts. In Pearl's spare time she is an assistant professor at Penn State University teaching Screenwriting and Directing.

Follow Pearl Gluck and Palinka Pictures @palinkapictures

THE TURN OUT https://watch.reelwomensnetwork.com/packages/the-turn-out/videos/the-turn-out-1

Reel Women's Network Twitter: @ReelWomensNetw1 Instagram and Facebook: @reelwomensnetwork https://reelwomensnetwork.com/

Photo credit: from Pearl Gluck's personal collection

Podcast Team Head Producer and Editor: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor: Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Graphic: Vicki Brier @brier2019

Subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.firecrackerdepartment.com and follow us @firecrackerdept!

Kate James Oct 20, 2021

Show notes

Our guest on the show this week is New York-based comedy writer, actor, improviser KATE JAMES. Not only does Kate write for WORK IN PROGRESS, she has also written for Comedy Central, NPR, Slate, The Second City, the band Phish and a ton of awards shows. Kate is the co-creator and writer of Schadenfreude, a nationally syndicated comedy show on Chicago Public Radio for two seasons. Kate also writes material for Sir Patrick Stewart's personal and award show appearances like The Golden Globes, BAFTA Awards, and many more. When Kate isn't writing, she has appeared on TV shows including Netflix's EASY, USA Network's PLAYING HOUSE, Showtime's SHAMELESS and stars as Miram in Showtime's WORK IN PROGRESS. Kate plays Tricia on the cult-hit podcast HELLO FROM THE MAGIC TAVERN and is a regular contributor to the podcast TRUMPCAST.

Kate James on Twitter @katecjames

WORK IN PROGRESS stream Seasons 1 and 2 on SHOWTIME. @showtime https://www.sho.com/work-in-progress Stream WORK IN PROGRESS on CraveTV in Canada. @cravecanada https://www.crave.ca/en/tv-shows/work-in-progress

HELLO FROM THE MAGIC TAVERN https://hellofromthemagictavern.com/ Twitter @magictavern

Firecracker Department Work in Progress Facebook Live Panel (July 2020) https://www.facebook.com/firecrackerdept/videos/734380397129102

Work in Progress Facebook Live Panel (July 2020) Bonus Podcast Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7jsWmLYi4XXSfbrJtSMCOD?si=VRw8JppuSlyCkIPjOa7Drg&dl_branch=1

Celeste Pechous's episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4rOEOOA8fzODHSgAZY2qdS?si=n8ZISuAAS4GVdfPTQHRtWw&dl_branch=1

Mary Sohn's podcast episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/51BQjQAGUUGjQslOSW8YSq?si=NhuJDVbRRn6o08ZOq973Uw&dl_branch=1

Women's Voices Now - Girls' Voices Now Under the Scarf. https://www.womensvoicesnow.org/films/under-the-scarf/ https://www.here.tv/video/girls-voices-now-under-the-scarf

Head Producer: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong

Editor: Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz

Graphic: Vicki Brier @brier2019

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Madeleine Sims-Fewer Oct 13, 2021

Show notes

Our guest on the show this week is writer-director-actor-producer British-Canadian MADELEINE SIMS-FEWER. She has BFA. with honours in film production at York University and a MFA in acting at the Drama Centre London. She is an alum of the Berlinale Talent Campus 2016 and the Rotterdam Lab this year in 2021. Madeleine met Dusty Mancinelli at the 2015 TIFF Filmmakers' Lab, and they founded DM FILMS. Their jam is a naturalistic performance style with their films exploring gender politics, human nature, and abuse of power. Their debut feature, VIOLATION, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Madeleine was a TIFF Rising Star. VIOLATION won the Emerging Canadian Artist award at the Calgary International Film Festival, the Emerging Canadian Director award at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and Madeleine won the Vancouver Critics Circle award for Best Actress. VIOLATION had its international premiere at Sundance Film Festival, Texas premiere at South by Southwest, and has been nominated for Five Canadian Screen Awards, including the John Dunning Best First Feature Film Award and Best Female Actor in a Leading Role for Madeline playing Miriam.

Instagram: @madeleine_simsfewer

DM Films https://www.dmfilms.com/

VIOLATION https://www.dmfilms.com/violation

VIOLATION is available on digital and on demand https://itunes.apple.com/ca/movie/violation/id1551684339

Firecracker Shoutout Limor Markovzki @limormarkovzki For Alissa Abeler @winter_thistle Francesca Coviello @fran_creates Nadine Brito @nadine_brito Naomi Snieckus @snieckus

Head Poducer: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor: Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.firecrackerdepartment.com and follow us @firecrackerdept!

Bilal Baig Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

Our guest on the show this week is a queer, trans-feminine, Muslim playwright, performer and workshop facilitator BILAL BAIG. Their first play ACHA BACHA, had its world premiere in 2018 and it has been published by Playwrights Canada Press. Bilal develops and facilitates workshops for youth in under-resourced neighbourhoods in Toronto, at non-profits, such as RIVERS OF HOPE where they combat Islamophobia through the arts and STORY PLANET which focuses on creative writing and literacy. Bilal makes queerstory by becoming the first queer, trans-feminine, South Asian and Muslim performer in Canada to be cast in the lead role of a primetime TV series - on the new groundbreaking CBC and HBO Max original series SORT OF. They are starring as one of the first non-binary lead characters on North American mainstream network TV! Bilal leads the creative charge as the Executive Producer-Writer-Lead Performer-Co-Creator on this amazing new show! SORT OF follows a gender-fluid millennial character named "Sabi" who straddles various identities from sexy bartender at a queer bookstore-bar, to the youngest child in a large Pakistani family, to the de facto parent of a downtown Toronto hipster family. This must-see coming-of-age story exposes the labels we once poured ourselves into as no longer applicable to anyone. SORT OF is available to stream in Canada on CBC Gem; will broadcast on CBC TV beginning Tuesday, November 9 with back-to-back episodes starting at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) @sortofbilal @cbc and @cbcgem https://gem.cbc.ca/media/sort-of/s01 #SortOfCBC River of Hope https://www.riversofhope.ca/

Story Planet https://storyplanet.ca/ @storyplanetto

Acha Bacha https://www.playwrightscanada.com/Books/A/Acha-Bacha https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/acha-bacha/9780369100900-item.html https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08F2YCWCZ?ref=KC_GS_GB_CA https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/acha-bacha Podcast Team: Head Producer: Winnie Wong @wonder_wong Editor: Shayne Stolz @shaynestolz Subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.firecrackerdepartment.com and follow us @firecrackerdept!

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