The Firecracker Department with Naomi Snieckus

Our guest on the show this week is a Los Angeles-based actor, writer, and the co-host of the podcast, THE SCROLL DOWN- NICCOLE THURMAN! Niccole and THE SCROLL DOWN's co-host Marcella Arguello, talk about all things social media, unpacking the vibes and juicy topics from the week and they dissect the main characters—while cracking a few jokes in between. Niccole is the voice of Jabberjaw, Squiddly...

Our 11th Reel Women's Network (RWN) spotlight is award-winning writer-director-producer PEARL GLUCK. She creates both documentary and narrative films that explore themes of class, gender, and faith. Her first documentary feature film, DIVAN, is a Hasidic tale five years in the making that was developed in part at the Sundance Institute. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and opened theatric...

Our guest on the show this week is New York-based comedy writer, actor, improviser KATE JAMES. Not only does Kate write for WORK IN PROGRESS, she has also written for Comedy Central, NPR, Slate, The Second City, the band Phish and a ton of awards shows. Kate is the co-creator and writer of Schadenfreude, a nationally syndicated comedy show on Chicago Public Radio for two seasons. Kate also writes...

Our guest on the show this week is writer-director-actor-producer British-Canadian MADELEINE SIMS-FEWER. She has BFA. with honours in film production at York University and a MFA in acting at the Drama Centre London. She is an alum of the Berlinale Talent Campus 2016 and the Rotterdam Lab this year in 2021. Madeleine met Dusty Mancinelli at the 2015 TIFF Filmmakers' Lab, and they  founded DM FILMS...

Our guest on the show this week is a queer, trans-feminine, Muslim playwright, performer and workshop facilitator BILAL BAIG. Their first play ACHA BACHA, had its world premiere in 2018 and it has been published by Playwrights Canada Press. Bilal develops and facilitates workshops for youth in under-resourced neighbourhoods in Toronto, at non-profits, such as RIVERS OF HOPE where they combat Islam...

Our tenth Reel Women's Network (RWN) spotlight is award-winning actor-director-writer MEOSHA BEAN. Meosha, founder of M.V.B Films, started filming and acting at the tender age of 7, inspired by watching horror films with her older brother and it grew from there. Meosha was voted the best upcoming director at the New Jersey Film Festival in 2012. Meosha directing projects include: the doc THE UNTOL...

Bonus Episode: the 2021 live red carpet Blaze Award presentation to  screenwriter-author-advocate-and-Emmy Award-winning actor Jo Vannicola. The Blaze Award is presented to a spectacular woman or non-binary artist who has outstanding achievements in their artistic field and givebacks to their community.  It was a unanimous decision to present this year's Blaze Award to Jo. Whether they are in fron...

This week's episode is a throwback to our exciting Facebook Live WORK IN PROGRESS Panel from last July 2020.   WORK IN PROGRESS is about Abby, a forty five-year-old self-identified fat, queer dyke whose misfortune and despair unexpectedly lead her to a vibrantly transformative relationship.     Panel Guests: Abby McEnany stars as Abby and is the co-creator of WORK IN PROGRESS Celeste Pechous @cele...

Our guest on the show this week is award-winning producer and the founder and executive director of Girls in Film and Television (GIFT) CAMILLE BEAUDOIN.  Camille is mixed blood Cree, Haudenosaunee, Métis, and French Canadian. She is an alum of the National Screen Institute and Banff Centre for the Arts, Facilitator for the Whistler Film Festival Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship, as well as Edmonto...

Our guest on the show this week is superstar producer Marina Cordoni, the founder of Marina Cordoni Entertainment, aka MCE!  This is going to be such a treat because Marina will also be one of the mentors for our Indie Producers mentorship workshop on September 25th!  Marina's handled pre-sales and completed picture sales on hits including '4 Weddings and a Funeral', 'Dead Man Walking', 'Fargo' an...

Our guest on the show this week is director, writer, producer, TV personality, ASIS SETHI! Asis is not only an incredible creator whose work is featured on the Reel Women's Network streaming platform, but is also part of our Firecracker Department Core Team!  Asis Sethi started her career as a Reporter on OMNI Television, quickly became a host! Asis has directed, written, and produced a ton of ind...

Our guest on the show this week is Olympic silver medalist, advocate, speaker, and the executive director of Switch4Good, Dotsie Bausch! She won her silver medal in cycling at the 2012 London Olympic Games, as well as two Pan American gold medals, eight US national championships, AND a world record!  Since concluding her professional cycling career, Dotsie's become a major influencer for plant-bas...

Our guest on the show this week is actor, producer, writer, certified Reiki healer, and Firecracker Core Member, EMILY CHURCHILL! AND, Emily also just so happens to be a creator also featured on Reel Womens Network! Emily has trained and performed at Second City Chicago and Hollywood, UCB LA, AND The Comedy Central Stage. She's been a writer and performer for groups and troupes, and her series Fri...

Our guest on the show this week is filmmaker, actor, and firecracker CORE MEMBER, Anna Jane Edmonds, aka AJ! @atotheje is an emerging leader in the film industry, splitting her time between Toronto and Los Angeles working  as a producer, director, performer and idea creator. AJ's garnered over 10 years of experience in the entertainment and film industry as an actor, director, assistant director,...

Our guest on the show this week is transgender writer and stand up comedian, Jeena Bloom!  Jeena has performed all over the country, including a headlining tour of the southern United States, shortly before the pandemic. She has previously been a winner of the Harlem Comedy Festival Competition and a finalist for the She Devil Comedy Competition in NYC. She has performed at the Hollywood Improv, C...

Our guest on the show this week is award-winning actor, producer COLLEEN WHEELER, and her daughter Lily Reynolds! This episode is super special, first because it's our first mother/daughter episode, and second because it was recorded in PERSON, in Colleen's backyard studio in Vancouver! Now, Colleen is originally from Toronto, and now lives in beautiful Vancouver, BC. She graduated from the Univer...

We have a brand new Reel Women's Network creator spotlight for you AND it's also a firecracker department CORE TEAM MEMBER! Our guest on the show this week is Muslim actor, filmmaker, educator and advocate, FARAH MERANI! Based in LA and Toronto, she is a graduate of the Drama Centre London and has performed in Canada and the US, throughout Europe and in Russia. She has been called by her peers a "...

Our guest on the show this week is Toronto-based singer and actor GEORGIA GRANT! We've partnered with Sheridan College's Music Theatre Performance Class of '95 to support their newly created Class of 95 BIPOC Bursary Fund! The new Bursary Fund at Sheridan is to support music theatre and technical production students who identify as Black, Indigenous and/or People of Colour. They have created this...

Our guest on the show this week is actor, filmmaker, musician and executive producer, Kelly McCormack! Currently, Kelly is gearing up to shoot the Amazon Studios TV re-imagining of the 1992 classic A League of Their Own starring alongside Abbi Jacobson, D'Arcy Carden and Chanté Adams. You've seen Kelly onscreen in Ginny & Georgia, Departure, Letterkenny, Killjoys, A Simple Favor, Carter, The Expan...

Our guest on the show this week is queer artist, actor, AND registered nurse Chloe Van Landschoot! When @chlovls isn't dancing or story telling, you can find her working as a nurse in downtown Toronto. Her onscreen credits include the critically acclaimed Canadian feature  Jackie Boy  and the biopic  Chris Watts: Confessions of a Kille r. Now she stars in the feature film, Lune which is written an...

Our guest on the show this week is producer, performer, creator, activist, SEDINA FIATI! Sedina is proudly Black, queer, and deeply invested in artistic work that explores the intersection between art and activism. They're currently the Artist-Activist in Residence at Nightwood Theatre, one of founding collective members of the Black Pledge, and former co chair of ACTRA Toronto's Diversity Committ...

This month's RWN spotlight is on Swiss-Trinidadian actor and filmmaker, MAREM HASSLER! Marem is the co-owner and co-founder of Viscus Film, an award winning avant garde boutique Film company. Her mother is a sculptor, her father a filmmaker, and she began a career in music as a lyricist, songwriter and recording artist. She's produced albums, film scores, commercial jingles, as well as making hers...

Our guest on the podcast today is casting director WENDY O'BRIEN. She's won a Peabody, three Artios awards and was nominated for an Emmy! She's casted Sons of Anarchy, Mayans MC, Y ou're The Worst, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Prison Break, The Runaways, A.P. Bio (with firecracker Mary Sohn), Stumptown (with firecracker Camryn Manheim), Dave, American Vandal, Mr Mayor… and MORE! She also cas...

Our guest on the show this week is Producer Sara Stockmann! Sara is the founder of Sonntag Pictures and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science! Sara has produced OVER 25 international feature documentary films. She's received accolades from all over the world, at Cannes, Tribeca, Amsterdam, at the EMMYS AND THIS YEAR'S OSCARS! Sara's films spark debates in society, internationall...

Our guest on the pod this week is multi award winning Disabled writer, performer, and producer, OPHIRA CALOF! Ophira's work weaves together music, comedy, and storytelling, centring disability and chronic illness experiences. Ophira's journey is so unique and she is whip smart as well as hilarious. A Second-City-er, a trained opera singer, curator, workshop facilitator, consultant, and keynote spe...