It’s been a busy year for fashion designer, Amir Zargara. Aside from his usual pop ups that take him to Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal, within the past year he also opened his first store in Ottawa’s Byward Market establishing him as one of the leading designers in the city. His latest project was the Season 5 launch of his clothing line Zargara, extension of the popular lifestyle brand Babes & Gents. The show took place last week which has given us ample time to breakdown the multifaceted presentation, complete with visual art, music, poetry and video direction. Having reviewed Zargara’s…
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.
Last week marked the latest installment of Juno Week, the week-long celebration of Canadian music, capped off by the Juno Awards. This was SHIFTER’s first time covering the awards and it was the experience of a lifetime. In celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, the awards were held in the capital city, Ottawa. A city that’s used to being the political centre of the country got to feel what it’s like to be the cultural centre, and it felt good. Although the Sunday night award show is the main event, having experienced the full week, the mid-week festivities, designed to show…
Michael and Kesean, founders of HEY Magazine shares their story of how one idea sparked something incredible. Their initiative to help the youth is the foundation of the magazine, and what feeds their passion to make a difference. Ep. 2: Michael Morris and Kesean Kenton of Hey Magazine Photos by Jodianne Beckford For more photos of Michael Morris and Kesean Kenton visit jodiannebeckford.com HEY MAGAZINE SOCIAL MEDIA Website: heyouthmag Instagram: heyouthmag Twitter: heyouthmag VIDEO SHOT & EDITED BY: SHAMEEN MILLER Instagram: ShameenM Youtube: ShameenM PODCAST INTRO/OUTRO MUSIC PRODUCED BY: JOE IMPALA Soundcloud: JoeImpala
People often give up when what they’re creating doesn’t work. If you fail, try again!
Growing up in Mississauga, just west of Toronto, Stephen Williams, sometimes referred to as “Luck” or simply “Steve” was a name I kept hearing through a mutual friend. Every once in a while we’d cross paths; at a party at Western University or at a friend’s birthday. It was no surprise when I later heard he was in the music industry. He always struck me as cool and charismatic, yet deep and soulful; a “boss” before it was cool to be a boss. Decades later we reconnected as he just made a major life and career decision- moving to Chicago.…
On March 18th 2017, the world finally got what they wanted- More Life. This can be used in a double sense, meaning that they lived to tell another day or…that Drake’s long awaited playlist was released for the world to listen. This project was almost a year in the making, since Views dropped last April. Always a few steps ahead of everyone else, Drake refers to the project as a “playlist” as it reflects the way listeners consume music today- through streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. Not only does this project reflect Drake’s commitment to innovate and blaze…
Last night, Executive Order 13680, better known as Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, was successfully blocked by a Hawaii federal judge. The state’s attorney general, Doug Chin, stated, “This new executive order is nothing more than Muslim Ban 2.0. Under the pretense of national security, it still targets immigrants and refugees. It leaves the door open for even further restrictions.” A Maryland judge also ruled against the ban. As a proud man of Libyan descent, I welcome this news. Executive Order 137680 would have meant two things for the United States. First, it would…
The “E” Project is a blog turned podcast by Toronto photographer, Jodianne Beckford. Combining intimate photos with in-depth interviews, Jodianne gets into the mind of up and coming creators and entrepreneurs, finding out what inspires them and why they do what they do. The “E” Project is reposted by SHIFTER under a partnership with Jodianne Beckford. For The “E” Project back content visit shiftermagazine.com/e-project. The first episode of The “E” Project featuring photographer and game developer Michael Rousseau can be found below. Enjoy! Photographer and founder of AUXGOD, Michael Rousseau, began the journey of developing a music battle card…
Last night was something else. The 89th Annual Academy Awards started off like many other awards shows with a nice hook to bring you in, with Justin Timberlake performing his nominated song “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from the movie Trolls. From there we had an excellent monologue from Jimmy Kimmel and the awards continued as is it has for years (albeit a lot more entertaining than usual, Kimmel was an incredible host, so sharp and on his toes). Everything seemed to be going well until the Best Picture was announced. In case you’ve somehow missed the video that’s now gone viral…
To close out Black History Month, we asked Toronto cinematographer, Tristan Barrocks, about his short film “Black Man In A World World”, a collaboration with Jodianne Beckford, Johneil Harris, and Cree Barrocks. Here’s what he had to say about his most recent project. Kevin Bourne: So what was the inspiration for the film? Tristan Barracks: Well, first it was the song itself. For some reason it just really spoke to me in a deep and profound way. I felt that it was almost akin to a negro spiritual with a modern twist. There were two questions I asked myself that…
It’s that time of year again folks! All film fan’s favourite time of the year, Oscar season! And with the nominations announced and the ceremony just days away, our team want to share who we believe is going home with those coveted golden statues! As you can see, even within our team we have some categories we believe are 100% locks to win, while others we’re not quite in agreement. What are your predictions? Drop a comment below with yours!
Over the past few years there’s been a content war both in Canada and the United States. The main players in this battle for premium content- big telecommunications companies. In Canada, Bell recently bought the Toronto Argonauts and Rogers has owned the Blue Jays for years to get a hold on sports content. The two came together to purchase Canada’s most important sports organization, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. In the United States, AT&T purchased DirectTV and Sprint recently bought a majority stake in music streaming service Tidal. The latest content war isn’t between big telcos, but their younger counterparts-…
