Vanessa Matsui (Cassie the Oracle) will be Ms. Kate Wilder in GRAND ARMY, a TV series that follows sixteen year old Joey Del Marco (Odessa Adlon), and her attempts to cope after being sexually assaulted by three life-long friends during a Friday night out. The screenplay is by Katie Cappiello (based on “Slut: The Play“, which she wrote in 2013) and the first episode is titled “Brooklyn 2020”. Sydney Meyer, who was Helen Blackthorne in four episodes of SHADOWHUNTERS, is also in the cast. Directed by So Yong Kim, Tina Mabry, and Darnell Martin (2 episodes each), GRAND ARMY is currently in production at Netflix Studios in Mississauga, Ontario, and should be released early next year.

The second season of the CSA nominated webseries GHOST BFF, a dark comedy starring Matsui and Kaniehtiio Horn as two best friends (one alive, one dead) will begin production in Toronto on 22 July. All eleven first season episodes are available to stream on WHOHAHA TV. Christina Rosato (Sheri in “Fae Gone Wild“) and John Cor (Paulo in “Into the Dark“) each appear in several first season episodes.

Natalie Brown (Sabine Purcell in “I Fought the Fae — and the Fae Won“) will be Detective Ivy Seymour in THUNDERBIRD, a supernatural crime drama about Will Brook (Colten Wilke), a reclusive young fisherman who goes looking for his missing sister Sarah (Brittney Wilson) in the Pacific Northwest. Detective Seymour, recently reinstated after a six month suspension, is assigned to investigate a recent upsurge in missing women in the area. After she discovers the body of Sarah’s roommate deep in the forest (the corpse’s head entirely encased in red wax) Ivy and Will begin working together to find Sarah. THUNDERBIRD recently completed filming on Vancouver Island.

Brown is also Danny’s wife Jessica in CROWN AND ANCHOR, which stars Michael Rowe as a teetotaling Toronto cop with a temper who returns home to Newfoundland for his mother’s funeral and finds out that his cousin Danny (Matt Wells) has been drawn into a life of crime. CROWN AND ANCHOR is now available on Google Play and Vudu. A trailer is available on YouTube.

Mia Kirshner (Clio the Elemental Nymph in “Sleeping Beauty School“) will be the (as yet unnamed) sister of recovering OxyContin addict Claire Reimann (Evangeline Lilly) in DREAMLAND, a film written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki, made up of three interrelated stories that show the opiod crisis from three different perspectives. Reimann, an architect, investigates her son’s involvement with narcotics; drug trafficker Jack Kahane (Armie Hamnmer) and his younger sister Emmie (Lily-Rose Depp) set up an operation to smuggle fentanyl between Canada and the US; and Professor Tyrone Brower (Gary Oldman) deals with unexpected revelations about his employer, a drug company planning to market a new, “non-addictive” painkiller. Rapper Kid Cudi appears as an FDA investigator. DREAMLAND has completed filming in Montreal, and a 2020 release date is expected.

Erica Deutschman (Milk Maid #1 in “La Fae Époque“) is Katherine in THE OFFICE GAMES, a lighthearted and positive look at the world of gaming that stars Evan Marsh as Jimmy Spearhead, an obsessive, socially awkward gamer who is suddenly forced to get a job and move out of his parents’ basement. He gets involved with some “quirky, social rehabilitating” co-workers trying to save their company from ruin, and in the process meets the girl of his dreams. (It is unclear if this is Tina, played by Jodelle Ferland, or Jess, played by Jordana Lajoie.) THE OFFICE GAMES was filmed in Montreal. No release date has been announced.

Deutschman is also Sammy in A VERY COUNTRY WEDDING (a sequel to A VERY COUNTRY CHRISTMAS), about a country star NAMED Zane (Greyston Holt) whose marriage to Jeanette (Bea Santos) is put on hold because of his hectic tour schedule. The two must overcome rumours and intense media scrutiny to find their way back together. A trailer is available on YouTube. A VERY COUNTRY WEDDING will next air on UPtv Friday 12 July at 9pm .







