Hilary Jardine (The Elder disguised as Susan in “Fresh Tendrils”) will be Claudette Fletcher, a former State Department employee turned freelance consultant, in the eighth and final season of HOMELAND. The series stars Claire Danes as Carrie Matheson, a bipolar CIA operative. At the start of the final season, Carrie is recovering from seven months in a Russian gulag when National Security Advisor Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) asks for her help in engaging the Taliban in peace negotiations. Carrie and Saul’s Afganistan mission, at least initially, does not go as planned. Season eight of HOMELAND will premiere on Showtime on 9 February . A trailer is available on YouTube.

Margaryta Soldatova (the Daywalker made human by Jack in “Love Less“) will play a “mystery woman” in EFC. (The title is short for Excelsis Fighting Championship.) In the film (which claims to be the second female-led MMA drama sports feature), Cassady Jones (Karlee Rose) is working her way through the amateur Mixed Martial Arts ranks as a fighter when she gets an unexpected offer from promoter Marcus Moretti (Nabil Dalle) — a chance to enter a tournament in which the winner is offered a professional contract. Cassady’s sister Scarlett (Avaah Blackwell) becomes suspicious of Marcus’ intentions and soon uncovers a devious plot that could radically change the entire sport.

Writer/director Jaze Bordeaux said that the fight scenes “left the octagon full of blood, sweat and tears. They were crafted with a few main goals: to take the audience on the craziest roller coaster ride, and to leave them awestruck while doing justice to the sport of MMA.” EFC was filmed in Toronto. A trailer is available on Facebook.

Alison Wandzura (Nicole in “Fear Her“) is Whitney McKellan in THE NEIGHBOR IN THE WINDOW, a film based on the 2010 book “False Victim” by Kathie Truitt. In the book (which was based on a true story), Karen, her husband Scott, and their young son relocate to a D.C. suburb after Scott gets a long-awaited promotion. Karen (played in the film by Jamie-Lynn Sigler) soon makes friends with her new neighbour Lisa (Jenn Lyon), but this friendship quickly sours as Julie discovers Lynn’s propensity to lie for attention. It also becomes apparent that Lynn has gotten the same car as Julie, is getting a pool just like Julie, and has begun to dress like Julie,. Directed by Menhaj Huda from a screenplay by Karen Stillman and Margaux Froley, THE NEIGHBOR IN THE WINDOW will premiere on 8 February at 8/7c on Lifetime.

Vanessa Walsh (Marybeth in “Like Suicide“) will be Sofia in GENESIS CODE, which stars Bryce McLaughlin as journalist David Harris, a man on the brink of madness. Blamed for the murders of his wife Abby (Elysia Rotaru) and her colleague Charlie Miller (William ‘big sleeps’ Stewart), he struggles to prove his innocence. Then his dead wife’s ghost appears to him, and he finds himself being pursued by the police while chasing clues that could lead him to the real killer. A trailer is available on YouTube. GENESIS CODE will be released in the US on 7 January .







