In time for Black History Month, we spoke with fashion designer, Mandela Legacy Ambassador, and event organizer, Gwen Madiba. Koliah Bourne: So you’re the Nelson Mandela Legacy Ambassador for Canada and North America. What does it mean to you personally to be the ambassador for Mandela’s legacy in North America? Gwen Madiba: For me it’s such a great honour that the family has trusted me to represent them in North America. It’s a real honour. Part of me feels like it’s destiny because my last name is Madiba as well, which is part of Mandela’s name and the title of…
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.
The week of Monday, March 21, 2016, SHIFTER Magazine will be presenting its first article series called The Creators. We’ve brought together a roster of creative entrepreneurs in business, music, fashion, art and entertainment to bring you insight into how to get started in these industries. Our contributors include: SOLA OGUNBITAN, CEO of Role Model Records Sola Ogunbitan is the founder and CEO of Role Model Records, where they don’t aim to be successful, but strive to be significant. Current artists include DJ Lagit, Juliem, Shopé and DruBex. DIMITRIOS SEYMOUR, President of Dimitrios Management Group Dimitrios Seymour- Canada’s Top 100…
It was a few minutes before midnight on Sunday, February 28th, 2016. Some had already shut their eyes and drifted off to dreamland, while some still had theirs glued to their TV screen watching the 88th Academy Awards. All fixated on Julianne Moore as she opened that envelope to announce the winner for Best Actor in a Leading Role. And she finally says the name that most us have been waiting for a presenter to say for several years now, Leonardo DiCaprio. After six nominations, DiCaprio finally brought home his first Oscar and broke the internet while doing it. With…
If you haven’t noticed, television is in a period of nostalgia. Some of our favourite shows from the past are coming back and introducing us to our favourite characters once again. Classics like Full House, Boy Meets World, The X-Files and Twin Peaks, and even newer hits like Heroes, 24 and Prison Break, are being rebooted for old and new audiences alike. The big and small screens are even swapping brands as Rush Hour and Minority Report are coming to television and Baywatch is being made into a movie. What do these reboots say about where creativity is at on…
J’maine Jones. If you are unfamiliar with this name now, WRIN [We Rock It Natural] assures you won’t be for long. The singer, songwriter and actor was as a semi-finalist on Canadian Idol and toured internationally with the Idol team for almost a year but upon his return to ‘The Six’, he made a bold decision to move to the US to further pursue his dreams. In 2014, J’maine walked out onto the historic stage at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem and stood before music legends Micheal Bivins, Dougie Fresh and Gladys Knight to belt out his rendition of Stevie…
Jasin Dollin is an artist and designer from Toronto, Canada, now residing in San Diego California. His motto is he “loves design, from the grand to the gritty, graffiti to fine art”. Jasin is unhindered to create in whatever tool, material or situation inspires him. As a visual artist, Jasin has learned to branch from paper and pen to an array of materials to communicate new concepts, rethink materials and bridge old ideas into new thoughts. For more information about Jasin Dollin check him out on Instagram, Facebook and at JasinDollin.com or click here to read his SHIFTER Magazine creative…
Originally published by hannahroseprendergast.com. Reposted with permission from the author. New York, London, Milan and Paris are all fashion capitals of the world and so lovingly touted as “The Big Four” when referring to fashion week. Toronto Fashion Week, although not part of the quartet, is the second largest fashion week in North America, behind New York. Founded in 2000 by the Fashion Design Council of Canada, Toronto Fashion Week has expanded to showcase over 60 designer runway shows. The semi-annual event takes place in March to show the Fall/Winter collections and again in October for the Spring/Summer collections. Toronto Fashion Week…
Name: Jeff Klarin Home Base: Los Angeles, California, USA Biggest accomplishment so far: My latest interaction with the person that is joyous about possessing something I made. What creativity means to me: Creativity is the space in our lives that allows nature to take the stage. As a species, our purpose is to expand the vision of mankind. The best method to achieve this is compassion. The second best method is wonder. My hope is that any delivery system that one uses to create wonder and illicit compassion is a beautiful expression of existence. Past and present…
Women and their role in film and television has always been a highly talked about topic. More and more people are talking about how much women get paid or whether they’re being offered good roles. So much so, it’s easy to forget about the things they have, and more importantly the strong, powerful and inspirational female characters they’ve played. In celebration of International Women’s Day, let’s remember ten strong-willed and inspirational female characters who have blessed our screens over the years. Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Life isn’t easy, even if you’re the slayer. Buffy had to survive vampires,…
The Life of Pablo is the seventh solo studio album from controversial rapper Kanye West. This is his first project since Yeezus, which dropped in 2013. Overall, it’s a very busy album, as we see shades of the old Kanye, as well as his newer, darker style of production, all with a mix of auto tune, which makes it one that cannot be neglected. The album opens up with Ultralight Beam, which features Chance the Rapper, R&B sensations The Dream and Kelly Price, as well as Gospel singer Kirk Franklin. Essentially, this song represents Kanye’s faith in God. The song…
This February, popular Ottawa radio host, Stuntman Stu, announced on Facebook that he was diagnosed with Leukemia. The community leader that he is, he decided to not only fight the disease for himself, but to use this as an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for research in partnership with the Ottawa Hospital and the Ottawa Senators. According to stustrong.ca: In February 2016 community leader and MAJIC 100 morning show host ‘Stuntman’ Stu Schwartz was diagnosed with Leukemia. He immediately began his treatment at The Ottawa Hospital and within a few short hours inspired the #StuStrong movement. Without hesitation, the…
Directed by Babak Najafi; Screenplay by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Chad St. John and Christian Gudegast; Starring Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Alon Moni Aboutboul, Angela Basset; Music by Trevor Morris After the death of the British prime minister, the world’s most powerful leaders gather in London to pay their respects. Without warning, terrorists unleash a devastating attack that leaves the city in chaos and ruins. Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) springs into action to bring U.S. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) to safety. Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. One does not walk into a movie…
