Lina Roessler (Tania in “Shaft“) will direct BEST SELLERS, which will star Michael Caine as a sharp-witted, irascible writer of novels who hasn’t had a best seller in a while, enjoys scotch and cigars, and lives with an orange Tabby cat. He is persuaded by an ambitious young editor to go on one final book tour in an attempt to save a boutique publishing house. The screenplay (by Anthony Grieco) won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship award. BEST SELLERS will begin filming in Canada in mid-July.

Three award-winning short films directed by Roessler: WINTER, THE VOW, and MUSTARD SEED, can be streamed on Vimeo.

And Roessler will be Adelina in TAINTED, a film about Lance (Alan Van Sprang), who once worked for the Obtshak (Finnish mafia). Recently released from prison, Lance is trying to stay out of trouble, but soon finds himself entangled with a neighbour whose son is being threatened by his old crime boss. Sara Waisglass (Quin in “Reckoning Ball“) is also in the cast. Written and directed by Brent Cote, TAINTED recently wrapped filming in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. No release date has been announced.

Allie MacDonald (Clara in “Vessel“) is Maddie Carter in six episodes of WHAT/IF, a ten-episode series starring Renee Zellweger as Anne Montgomery, a woman who uses her power as a potential investor to tempt Lisa (Jane Levy) who is looking for someone to back her health startup. Anne asks Lisa: “A night alone with your husband. Would that be an acceptable condition of a firm offer to finance your company?” Three episodes were directed by women: Jessika Borsiczky (episode 4), Jill Maxcy (episode 5), and Maggie Kiley (episode 8). Zellweger was last seen on television in “Shake, Rattle, and Rock” which first aired in August 1994. Created by Mike Kelly (who also created the 2008 CBS series “Swingtown“), WHAT/IF will premiere on Netflix on Friday 24 May . A trailer is available on YouTube.

Anna Hopkins (Fairuza in “Johnny Dangerously“) will star as Dr. Offret Gray in the science fiction thriller TIN CAN. Dr. Gray is a parasitologist who wakes up in a locked cylindrical cryopreservation chamber after having been abducted and frozen. Brandon Cronenberg (son of David Cronenberg) is serving as a consultant on the script (written by Seth A. Smith and Darcy Spidle). TIN CAN recently completed filming in Halifax, Nova Scotia and is aiming for a 2020 release date.

Hopkins is also Teresa Langana in the second season of BAD BLOOD. Teresa’s father is head of the ‘Ndrangheta in Calabria. She and her twin brother Christian (Johnny Falcone) are sent to Hamilton, Ontario to maintain control of the drug trade there. Hopkins told A.R. Wilson of TV-eh: “I hadn’t really seen any female mobsters until I got the role, and then I was sort of researching and found a few characters that show up in film and television. But there really aren’t a lot…Sometimes with roles like this, it can be written like a male and then at the last minute, they just switch it to female. That happens a lot lately. But there’s femininity and it’s used as a strength and it’s part of her unique mobster characteristics.” BAD BLOOD Season Two will be available on Netflix on 31 May . In Canada, all episodes of the show can be streamed on the CITY-TV website.

Dayle McLeod (Jenny in “Vessel“) will be River in HAZY LITTLE THING, a film about Billie (Erin Carter), a social media addict and compulsive online shopper who wrote one semi-famous novel years ago and has suffered from writer’s block ever since. Shortly before her birthday, Billie left a suicidal post she doesn’t remember writing on a social media site prompting her sister Karen (Emily Coutts) and a few of her friends to show up for an intervention disguised as a birthday party. Supinder Wraich and Jade Hassouné are also in the cast. Directed by Sam Coyle, HAZY LITTLE THING is currently raising funds for post-production through Kickstarter.

McLeod, who is also a singer/songwriter, released the single “Sad Story” in April, which, like her album “Friends” (released last year) is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon.







