Conor Forrest is a Toronto-based director, writer, and producer whose work spans narrative shorts, feature documentary, television, and music videos. His films lean toward character-driven dramas and dramedies about coming of age and messy family dynamics, with notable shorts including Friday Night Fish, A Summer’s Day at Sherwood Park, Used Furniture, The Two of Us, and Daddy-O, as well as the series Writers Room. Used Furniture was acquired for CBC Gem’s Canadian Reflections platform, and his feature documentary Unravelling The Ravelled Mind—exploring the lived experience and stigma around ADHD—was picked up by Amazon Prime Video, extending his reach into the documentary space.

Forrest’s work has screened at festivals such as Catalina Film Festival, OutSouth Queer Film Festival, Toronto Shorts International Film Festival, and Yorkton Film Festival, where he was also selected for the RBC Yorkton Film Festival Mentorship Program as one of only three filmmakers. Alongside his festival run, he continues to direct music videos and shorts while building a reputation as an emerging Canadian filmmaker focused on intimate, emotionally grounded storytelling.

Follow him at:
https://www.instagram.com/director_conor.forrest
https://linktr.ee/Conor_Forrest

Kurt Evans is a Winnipeg‑born Canadian actor and director whose career spans more than 100 film and television credits, including work on “iZombie,” “The Man in the High Castle,” “The Good Doctor,” “Supernatural,” “Stargate SG‑1,” “Smallville,” and “The X‑Files,” as well as numerous Hallmark and cable movies such as “Autumn in the City,” “Christmas Town,” “A Family Christmas Gift,” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Vows We Have Made.” Based in Vancouver since the late 1990s, he has become a versatile character actor.

Evans’ path began in theatre in Winnipeg, where a formative high‑school turn as Cyrano de Bergerac led to years of stage work in improvised murder‑mystery shows, Fringe productions, and lunchbox theatre before he transitioned into screen acting. A graduate of the University of Winnipeg with a Bachelor of Education, he has been an acting coach and teacher for more than two decades, teaching audition technique and on‑camera performance at Vancouver Film School while coaching actors privately. In 2019, he founded Artist2Artist, a digital actor showcase that lets emerging performers submit scenes for detailed feedback from working professionals and connect directly with major Canadian casting directors through recurring showcases in Vancouver and Toronto, which have involved thousands of actors to date.

Follow him at:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0262957/

Follow and join the Artist2Artist Showcase in the links below:
(this month's showcase will end at midnight on March 31st, it will be with casting directors Lisa Parasyn, Annalese Tilling & Erin Lally)
https://www.instagram.com/artist2artist.actor.showcase
https://artist2artist.ca/current-showcases/

Naomi Guttman is a Belgian-born, Toronto-based actor and multidisciplinary artist working across film, television, and theatre, known for her fluency in multiple languages and her classical stage grounding. After earning a BA in Anthropology from McGill University, she completed conservatory training at the Tom Todoroff Acting Conservatory in New York.

On stage, Guttman has distinguished herself in contemporary and classical work, with credits including Hedda Gabler, Ivanov, Rotterdam, Les Belles-Soeurs, and Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Richard III, among others. She has also been awarded the 2024 Scene Slam Champion title in Canada’s Monologue Slam and placed first runner-up at Hart House/Shakes BASHd’s Classical Monologue Slam. Guttman continues to expand her presence as an on-camera performer with festival-selected short films such as Beach and French Savant, the hit series Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Lestat), and a range of independent screen projects. As an actor, writer, dancer and all around creative, Guttman strives to bring forth the healing virtues of storytelling. (Rep: Shortlist Artist Management)

You can follow her at:
https://www.instagram.com/naomi.guttman

Episode: https://riverside.com/shared/exported-clip/e346137df7bff8ec1fd1
Post:  https://riverside.com/shared/exported-clip/3748d18c2f730fb6cb2d

Derek Johns is a Canadian actor from London, Ontario, raised in Saint-Colomban, Quebec, who trained at Dawson College’s professional theatre program in Montreal before moving into film and television. After early work in children’s theatre, he began booking screen roles around 2015, appearing in series such as The Bold Type (Freeform) and The Moodys (FOX), and later in projects including Quantico, The Umbrella Academy, Essex County, SkyMed, and TV movies like Candy Cane Christmas and Broken Trust.

His breakthrough came with his recurring turn as the outrageous fan-favorite character Love Sausage on Prime Video’s hit series The Boys, which significantly raised his profile. Johns has since built a solid genre-heavy résumé, starring as Freddy Mercks in the horror-comedy feature We Are Zombies and appearing in films such as The Wolf and the Lion, The Sacrifice Game, Moonfall, Appiness, and The Voyeurs, while also cultivating a following as a Twitch streamer under the handle @DerkaJohnsTV. Also you can catch him on television in Sheriff Country, Brilliant Minds, and of course, the final season of The Boys, which airs April 8th, 2026.

You can follow him at:
https://www.instagram.com/realderekjohns

Today on "Questions and Actor", I’m thrilled to be joined by Toronto‑based Rotten Tomatoes–approved critic, film writer and programmer Carolyn Mauricette. She’s the Director of Canadian Programming at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, a longtime programmer and former development coordinator for Toronto’s Blood in the Snow Film Festival, and the founder of View From The Dark, where she dives deep into horror, sci‑fi and fantasy with a focus on race and representation.

Beyond programming lineups, Carolyn has been actively building pipelines: she's the co-founder of Access Threshold a creative agency dedicated to helping PoGMI (People of the Global Majority and Intersectionality) creators navigate the film industry, she’s lectured on Afrofuturism and Black women monsters for The Black Museum, Fantasia and the Miskatonic Institute. You’ve seen her byline at Rue Morgue, Grim and Hollywood Suite, and heard her on shows like Reely Melanated and A Year in Film—in this episode, we get to tap into her experience and talk about life and career and what the festival circuit looks like from the inside.

Follow her below:
https://www.instagram.com/cemo25

Follow her initiative Access Threshold:
https://accessthreshold.com/

Submit to Fantasia Film Festival:
-Last Chance Deadline (April 25th, 2026):
https://filmfreeway.com/FantasiaFilmFestival

John Frank Levey is a four-time Emmy Award–winning casting director. He’s the architect behind the ensembles of landmark series like China Beach, ER, The West Wing, Third Watch, Southland, Shameless and Animal Kingdom, and spent decades in senior casting roles at Warner Bros. and John Wells Productions before launching his own company.

Starting out as a theatre director before pivoting into casting, John has helped launch or turbo‑charge the careers of actors like George Clooney and Allison Janney, and his work has been honored with multiple Emmys, numerous Artios Awards and the Casting Society’s Hoyt Bowers Award for lifetime achievement.

He’s also the author of the memoir Right for the Role and host of a podcast by the same name, where he shares the stories and lessons from a career spent in audition rooms, on sets and in the middle of some of TV’s most influential creative teams.

Follow him below:
-on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john_frank_levey_
-his website: https://www.johnfranklevey.com/
-his book with autograph: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ILETjKqYMYKFCHcufbpZhP-YFBjIBllmyWiaTOfnPco/
-his book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Right-Role-Breakdowns-Breakups-Breakthroughs/dp/B0BBPY94X6
-his podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/right-for-the-role-with-john-frank-levey/id1783661409
-his headshot photographer: 
https://www.heroshots.la/
https://eusebiocreative.com/

Julian Bailey is a Canadian actor from Montreal, Quebec, with a versatile career spanning film, television, voice acting, theater, and video games. A child performer from the Children's Theatre of Montreal, he voiced iconic characters like Pepito in HBO's Madeline specials (narrated by Christopher Plummer) and Mowgli in Jungle Book Shōnen Mowgli, alongside early roles in animated series such as Ox Tales and Saban's Adventures of Peter Pan.

After taking the leap into the United States and eventually training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena and performing with The Piven Theatre Workshop in Chicago (mentored by Byrne Piven), Bailey built a screen career with guest spots on NCIS, JAG, Charmed, and The Young and the Restless, plus films like Meeting Spencer, He's Out There, The Hummingbird Project, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Breakthroughs include the series regular role of Peter Morrow in Amazon Prime's Three Pines (2022) opposite Alfred Molina, and prominent video game voices as HQ in Rainbow Six: Siege (over 70 million players), Deputy Staci Pratt in Far Cry 5, and others in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and The Outlast Trials. More than an actor, he is an incredible human being, friend, and fierce supporter of the arts.

Follow him below:
-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julianbaileyofficial
-IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1060258/

Adam and Matthew Lupis are a filmmaking brother duo behind Westona Pictures, best known for their debut feature All Is Fine in ’89, a personal, nostalgia-driven indie they developed and carried through the full pipeline from idea to post-production, and now on multiple platforms including Tubi & Plex, and soon Amazon Prime!

Adam Lupis is an actor, host, and producer with a passion for all things retro, bringing a modern twist to everything he does. He hosts a podcast featuring movie reviews, pop culture content, and celebrity interviews. Known for his fresh style and authentic approach, Adam is steadily building a strong presence in today's entertainment industry, guests include Danny Trejo, Luis Guzmán, Joe Mantegna, Sean Gunn, Michael Madsen, just to name a few!

Matthew Lupis works primarily as Adam’s creative partner, directing and writing mostly, on their shared projects, like the short film "The Joshua Painting".

The brothers described themselves as involved “every step of the way” on their feature film debut All Is Fine in ’89—from the initial concept through writing, casting, location scouting, and post-production. In interviews about the film, including this one, they emphasize turning obstacles into opportunities and using their flagship joint project as a foundation to build future stories together under "Westona Pictures". 

Watch "All is Fine in 89":
-Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/100050645/all-is-fine-in-89
-Plex: https://watch.plex.tv/watch/movie/all-is-fine-in-89

Watch "The Joshua Painting": 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQDzA83snmY&t=10s

Follow Adam :
https://www.instagram.com/adamlupis

Follow "The Up & Adam Show":
https://www.youtube.com/@AdamLupis

Follow Matthew :
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13834628/

Follow Westona Pictures:
https://www.instagram.com/westonaofficial/

Pete Robinson, known online as @petesakes, is an Indigenous actor, musician, location sound mixer, and music producer. His career spans acting credits in notable TV series alongside behind-the-scenes work in sound and music that have brought him all over the world, especially with some of his documentary work.

He has appeared as an actor in TV shows like Motherland: Fort Salem, The 100, and APTN's Jason. These roles highlight his presence in sci-fi and drama genres. Starting from reading for actor friends to major roles onset as a key part of the cast, I had the pleasure of acting with him in Vancouver on an upcoming horror feature film called "Stick Indian" directed by Wolf Ryman. STAY TUNED TO THIS WONDERFUL SOUL'S JOURNEY!

Follow Pete:

https://www.instagram.com/petesakes

Follow his music "Ghost Etiquette":
https://www.instagram.com/ghostetiquette
https://linktr.ee/ghostetiquette

The McManus Bros — twin brothers Kevin and Matthew McManus — are Emmy‑nominated writers, directors, and producers known for sharp, character‑driven genre storytelling in film and TV.

Their debut feature, the coming‑of‑age comedy‑drama Funeral Kings (SXSW 2012), established them as a writing‑directing duo to watch. They went on to write and produce for Netflix’s American Vandal and Cobra Kai, earning an Emmy nomination and a Peabody Award for their work on American Vandal. In 2021 they co‑wrote, directed, and produced the Netflix horror‑thriller The Block Island Sound, shot in their home state of Rhode Island and featuring their sister Michaela McManus, further cementing their reputation for grounded, atmospheric genre stories. Most recently, they are releasing Redux Redux, featuring their sister, playing a vengeful mother in a multiverse‑driven horror thriller. The film premiered at SXSW 2025 and will open in theaters across the U.S. on February 20th, 2026 via Saban Films. RUN TO SEE THIS CINEMATIC GEM IN THEATERS IF YOU CAN!

TICKETS to "Redux Redux":
https://www.fandango.com/redux-redux-2026-244300/movie-overview

Follow Matthew McManus:
https://www.instagram.com/matthewmcmanus
https://letterboxd.com/matthewmcmanus/

Follow Kevin McManus:
https://www.instagram.com/kevinjmcmanus
https://letterboxd.com/kevinmcmanus

Follow the bros:
www.mcmanusbros.com