Dayle McLeod (Jenny in “Vessel”) has written her first book, a memoir titled: “THE BIG DREAM: My Terrifyingly Beautiful Shamanic Initiation into the Arts”. After drinking the hallucinogen ayahuasca in Ojai, California on the winter solstice of 2014, McLeod found herself trapped in a dream realm. For forty days, she lived in a land of epic visions where she was initiated into the Illuminati and sent on a doomsday mission to collect the seven chakra jewels of the Earth. She was guided back to normalcy by a Native American Jungian psychologist, and that journey is what the book is mostly about. THE BIG DREAM is available in Paperback and Kindle formats.

McLeod appears briefly as Nathan’s friend Shyliegh in Episode 4.12 of KIM’S CONVENIENCE (titled “Knife Strife”) in which Umma (Jean Yoon) learns about a recent unsolved crime in the neighbourhood and believes she knows something about it, but doesn’t want to say how she knows, and Shannon (Nicole Power) hosts the Branch Managers Annual General Meeting. Season 4 of KIM’S CONVENIENCE can be streamed on CBC Gem in Canada, and on Netflix in the US.

Mayko Nguyen (Delle Seyah Kendry) is Mary Hutton in the psychological horror film THE RIGHTEOUS. Mark O’Brien stars as Aaron Smith, a burdened man who believes a vengeful God has targeted him for punishment after he and his wife are visited by a mysterious stranger. O’Brien, who also wrote and directed, told Nerds and Beyond: “I’ve directed myself before in short films and TV, but this was very different and it was a really kind of bizarre character I’m playing. I liked the idea of movies that leave you like almost like what David Lynch does…confused, but needing to know more. And I just wanted to make a movie that was like that and a movie about someone trying to confront something that they’ve done and, and struggling with that…it was the greatest thrill of my life, but it was also the craziest thing I’ve ever done.” Mimi Kuzyk (WORKIN MOMS) and Kate Corbett (LOST GIRL) are also in the cast. THE RIGHTEOUS was filmed last year in Newfoundland, and is expected to be released later this year.

Olunike Adeliyi (Artura Senbek in “Heart-Shaped Box”) is Omoni in CINEMA OF SLEEP, a mystery/thriller about a Nigerian refugee (Dayo Ade) who wakes up in an American motel room to find a dead woman in his bed. As he struggles to regain his memory of where she came from, he fears that if he is successful, he might never see his family again. Supervising Producer Sami Tesfazghi told the Winnipeg Free Press: “It’s a story about companionship, and about letting go, and it isn’t strictly about refugees. There are also references to old movies such as Casablanca incorporated into it. It can definitely be described as a psychological thriller, and there’s a big twist at the end.” Written and directed by Jeffrey St. Jules, CINEMA OF SLEEP completed filming in Winnipeg last summer.

Sean Baek (Fancy Lee) will be Hideo in Cody Calahan’s horror-comedy VICIOUS FUN. Evan Marsh stars as Joel, an acerbic 1980s film critic for a national horror magazine who finds himself unwittingly trapped in a self-help group for serial killers. Can he match wits with five killers and make it through the night alive? It’s a kill or be killed situation, and Joel will have to cultivate his inner murderer to gain the strength to survive. Director Calahan told Nick Bond of Dark Universe Horror Database: “These characters are wacky, satirical and genuinely funny. I can honestly say that I’ve never had so much fun on set and I think that translates directly to the screen.” Gord Rand (Captain Cardiff in “Wargasm”) and Julian Richings (ancient Scarback in “Full Metal Monk”) are also in the cast. VICIOUS FUN was filmed last winter in Hamilton, Ontario . No release date has been announced.







