In this interview with actor Adrian Walters, we discuss his role in the film ROADMARKS, which was featured at the 2023 Ottawa and Toronto Black Film Festivals. ROADMARKS follows the story of Kory, who turns to street-fighting to fund his daughter's music school, against his better judgement and the wishes of his loved ones. Adrian shares insights into his character, the themes of economic survival, love, parenting, responsibility, and redemption, and how he approached them in his performance. He also talks about his preparation for the role, including any specific techniques or methods he used to get into character. He shares memorable moments from the set and discusses how his experiences as a writer have influenced his acting. He also offers valuable advice for those pursuing a career in acting, emphasizing the importance of resilience, continuous learning, and networking with fellow artists in the industry. Adrian encourages aspiring actors to stay true to their craft, hone their skills, and be open to diverse opportunities that can help them grow as artists.

Strictly Creative hosted by Garmamie

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Karim Byron speaks about meditation, calming the mind and finding clarity and reverence, one breath at a time. Karim is the co-host of Oneness Radio, a podcast series that "brings attention to, inspires the pursuit of, promotes inner healing through, discuss the journey to, explore the concept of, share experiences of, encourage all minds towards and to be of service to .... Oneness."

Oneness Radio

This interviewed was conducted in April 2021.

Strictly Creative hosted by Garmamie

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Aaron Hill speaks about the performance art that is comedy and how he began his creative journey in writing and reciting jokes! Comedy ain’t no joke, it’s a dynamic and competitive art form! He also shares his opinions on content vs delivery, the writing process, practice, musical comedy and audience engagement and analysis. The learning never ends, stay creative!

This interviewed was conducted in April 2021.

Strictly Creative hosted by Garmamie

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Alexander Cruz speaks about storytelling and filmmaking and his creative process and approach in telling a story. He also shares his views on the challenges and opportunities in pursuing and executing creative projects along with the need for continuous learning and professional development, as a filmmaker and all around creative!

About the director, Alexander Cruz

Alexander was born and raised in Ottawa, but has worked and lived in Calgary, Toronto and Manila. He spent most of his twenties looking for greener pastures as a production assistant and videographer for different studios. Once he realized you have to be rich to be a starving artist, he returned to Ottawa a few years back and found inspiration telling local stories. He has made several short documentaries like “Mémoires sans frontières,” (2012),“Fiesta” (2013) and “68 années de l’hiver” (2014), and other experimental art house stuff that even he doesn’t quite understand. His films have been exhibited at art and film festivals across Canada, in the United States and in South East Asia. With “Pur Laine” (2018), he followed the advice of others and wrote about what he knows: the struggle of first and second-generation immigrants, and the lingering anxieties of les habitants. He lives in Hull.

For more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZB3qYSRuE4

This interviewed was conducted in April 2021.

Strictly Creative hosted by Garmamie

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Rise Ashen has devoted his life to the study of sound and movement.

His record collection spans the 4 corners of the world with club music of all tempos as his primary focus. As a DJ, he blends it all in a worldy mash and is always the sweaty and dynamic life of the party.  He has played in clubs and festivals across the US, Canada, Europe and Asia and has licensed music for use in dozens of countries.

He believes music and dance are essential to human culture and that united, artists can lead humanity towards a more enlightened way of living.  He aspires to embody the wise words of Fela Kuti: "when the higher forces give you the gift of musicianship …it must be well used for the good of humanity”.

This interviewed was conducted in March 2021.

Strictly Creative hosted by Garmamie

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Born in Bermuda, and based in Toronto, Mr. Swan is a past finalist for the Trillium Book Award for poetry, and is the author of 3 poetry collections and 2 books of fiction.

Dane is also an emerging literary editor, compiling and editing Changing the Face of Canadian Literature, which was featured on CBC's The Best Canadian books of 2020 list (non-fiction). Mr. Swan is the co-founder, co-editor and a podcast producer at www.wearestillcool.com, where you can contact him for professional enquiries.

This interviewed was conducted in March 2021.

Strictly Creative is hosted by Garmamie

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Email: [email protected]