Musicians, artists and industry insiders descend on Ottawa, Canada for panels, performances, and parties at the 2025 Cranium Conference and Showcase. Ottawa’s creative scene is growing at a tremendous pace with new artists, producers, graphic designers, photographers, and more emerging daily. With this comes a greater demand for resources such as funding, professional advice, networking opportunities, and platforms to show their work. The Cranium Arts Project offers all of that and more. From May 1-4, 2025, their annual Cranium Conference and Showcase hosted hundreds of creatives and industry professionals from the nation’s capital and beyond. SHIFTER had the chance to…
Author: Kevin Bourne
Kevin Bourne
Kevin Bourne, also known as "KB The Boss" or simply "KB", is a Toronto-based host/on-air personality, arts & entertainment journalist, TV/film producer, and communications and content strategist. As a commentator and freelancer, he has appeared nationally as a correspondent on CBC News Network and host on CBC Music. He has also appeared locally on CTV, CBC Radio, CityNews, Newstalk 1010, and ByBlacks.com, and in the United States on Fox’s Black digital TV network, Fox Soul. He has covered some of Canada’s top red-carpet events, from the Toronto International Film Festival to the Canadian Screen Awards, and has interviewed everyone from Kevin Hart and "Fast and the Furious" star Tyrese Gibson to Ziggy Marley, Ava DuVernay, Dascha Polanco, Lilly Singh, and Howie Mandel. His years of work as an entertainment journalist led to him being named a Golden Globe® Awards voter and Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-Approved critic and being quoted as a critic in national ad campaigns for Black films and TV shows, both in Canada and the United States. Pivoting into the world of film and television, Kevin co-founded the film, TV, digital content, and live experiences company, SHIFTER Entertainment, alongside his wife and business partner, Koliah. Through SHIFTER he has produced a number of projects, including the Bell Fibe TV1 unscripted reality series A Date In The Life, serving as showrunner, executive producer, writer and co-director. Now, with a number of pilot and feature film scripts written and projects in development, KB is poised to continue to be a champion for Black entertainment and culture alongside his wife and business partner, Koliah.
In his Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning review, Kevin Bourne says it’s “a good but not great potential ending to the M:I franchise that fails to meet the standard set by its predecessors”. One of the most storied franchises in modern cinema is set to return to the big screen with the latest installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning sees Tom Cruise reprise his role as the daring field agent, Ethan Hunt, possibly for the final time if rumors are true. The film is a continuation of Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One, which saw him feud with…
Hip-hop artist, Errol Eats Everything, talks to SHIFTER editor, Kevin Bourne, about new music, football, his journey from Jamaica to Toronto, to New York, and more. Over the past 10 years, Toronto has had one of the hottest hip-hop and R&B scenes in the world, exporting a number of big names like Drake, The Weeknd, Tory Lanez, and Jessie Reyez. Still, there are a number of Toronto artists who continue to fly under the radar despite releasing music that compares to, or even exceeds, that of the most celebrated artists today. One of those names is Errol Eats Everything, a…
Amina has a dilemma, Cassius wins big, while KJ deals with heartbreak. Here’s our All American Season 7 Episode 13 (season finale) recap. All American is back for the season seven finale and it feels a little bittersweet. Sweet because despite complaints from some fans, this season, the first without the original cast, was better than expected. I didn’t expect to connect to the characters as much as I did. If you were looking for season seven to be the same show as previous seasons, you may have been disappointed. If you were looking for Jordan and Layla to be…
Liv returns, Jordan tries to forgive, and Khalil looks for revenge for Jordan. Here’s our All American Season 7 Episode 12 recap. All American is back again with another long-awaited moment as Liv and her baby bump made an appearance on tonight’s episode. This episode has Jordan front and center as he learns to forgive Cassius and the Jeremy clan with Liv playing peacemaker. Khalil is also front and center as he feels responsible for what happened to Jordan. The last few episodes have been some of the best episodes of the season so far, and tonight’s episode continued that…
Amid bankruptcy rumours at Hudson’s Bay, the retailer has found success with its quietly released George Sully Home furniture collection, a new collaboration with the award-winning, Toronto-based designer. George Sully has long been a formidable presence in the Canadian and international fashion industry. Known for his keen eye for innovation and unparalleled ability to anticipate trends, it was clear from the outset that his latest venture, George Sully Home, would leave an indelible mark. Interestingly enough, what was intended to be a major strategic rollout orchestrated by Hudson’s Bay and its PR partners became something entirely unexpected—a surprise drop, overshadowed…
Khalil celebrates his 18th birthday with an unexpected guest and the Jeremy family secret is finally revealed. Here’s our All American Season 7 Episode 11 recap. Call me a glazer, but the writers and producers of All American cooked with this episode. Secrets were revealed, characters like Deion returned, and there were some unexpected, and expected, twists and turns. I actually think I’m enjoying this generation of All American more than the previous one. It seems crazy to even say that. Yes, the previous generation had the upper hand in how it was centered around a diverse group of friends.…
Actor Antonio J Bell talks about his journey from Inglewood to Hollywood, becoming a series regular on The CW’s All American, his real-life similarities to the character Khalil, and more. This interview has been edited for clarity. Kevin Bourne: I’m obviously going to ask you about Khalil and All American, but I want to go back to your journey and what your upbringing was like. Antonio J. Bell: So I grew up in Inglewood, California. I went to high school in Lawndale. I went to elementary school at Lennox Middle School. So just all around the South Bay and Southern…
In our April digital cover story, SHIFTER’s Kevin Bourne talks to content creator and actor, O’Neil Thomas, about his passion for content creation, acting, fashion, mental health. and more. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Kevin Bourne: I have a lot of questions. Obviously, there’s a lot of accomplishments. I want to go back though. I was reading your bio, the fact that family is so big for you. Let’s talk about your upbringing and how your family has contributed to where you are right now with your success. O’Neil Thomas: So my parents, they’re Jamaican. They…
Amina returns from her trip to Baltimore, Beverly enjoys being #1, and Cassius receives an unexpected guest. Here’s our All American Season 7 Episode 10 recap. All American returns after a one week hiatus, and it was worth the wait. The storytelling on this episode was excellent. We get to see tension between Cassius and KJ as he sees a side of his father that he’s never seen before. Amina returns from visiting her grandparents in Baltimore with new information about her mother. We also see more complexity in the relationships between KJ and Tori, and Khalil and Amina. Now,…
Toronto content creator and blogTO video journalist, Taylor Patterson, introduces ICONS, a brand new half-hour satirical workplace comedy. The Toronto media landscape has seen a rise in homegrown comedies as of late. There’s Sasha Leigh-Henry’s Canadian Screen Award-winning comedy Bria Mack Gets A Life, Anthony Q. Farrell’s Shelved, as well as Jasmeet Raina’s Late Bloomer and Jae and Trey Richard’s Office Movers, both of which were renewed for second seasons. Now, there’s a new comedy entering the chat. ICONS is a half-hour satirical workplace comedy from local content creator and blogTO video journalist, Taylor Patterson. The series is set around a…
Toronto has produced a fair share of comedic talent over the years. Among the new crop of Toronto comedians is Scarborough native and 2025 #BlackTikTok Voices To Watch honoree, Hassan Phills. Going back to the 1970’s, Toronto has produced some of the most talented comedians in the world. The first wave started with the launch of the Toronto branch of the Chicago-based Second City. Their Toronto theatre and training centre would be a launch pad for big names like John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Dave Thomas, and future Saturday Night Live stars Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner. Then another wave…
