Avocado Toast the series

Heidi Lynch chats with actor, drag artist and producer Champagna (they/them/he/him and she/her in drag). Champagna and Heidi talk about the experience of being on the Avocado Toast the series set (Champagna joined us as our behind the scenes on set for season 1). Hailing originally from Alberta, Champagna’s background is as a trained actor and now is touted as successful drag queen in Canada. Most recently found a way to merge their acting ability with their drag performance and you can catch them on stage (virtually during our time of pandemic) as the drag queen “Champagna” but also on screen on CBC Gem’s “Queens”. Champagna also has been working with Border2Border Entertainment founder, Charlie David on a web series called “Womb Envy”, on which Champagna is a writer and performer. Champagna talks about what they continue to work on as a performer and artist and how they’re finding a way to keep the art of drag going in the pandemic - especially with the closure of two predominant queer spaces for drag artists in Toronto, “The Beaver” and “The Gladstone”, which is under renovation. You can find out more about Champagna’s work on Instagram @champagna_papi

Perrie Voss chats with film director and photographer, Leah Vlemmiks. Leah chats about her experience on our Avocado Toast the series season 1 set as our 2nd Assistant Director, and how her ability to mulit-task under pressure while staying calm made her such an incredible asset on our set. Leah comes from an Advertising background and has transitioned into film over the past year. Leah also talks about directing a music video for the musician Witch Prophet on their recent music video 'Tesfay', which Leah directed this past summer. Witch Prophet was subsequently a part of the Polaris Finalist screening on CBC. Leah touches on what aspects of storytelling on film speaks to her and one of her favourite directors, Chloé Zhao, who most recently directed Nomadland starring Frances McDormand. Leah and Perrie also discuss their mutual experience of having their parents divorce while they were adults (which led to Elle's parental divorce storyline in Avocado Toast season 1), and the unexpected and profound effect it can have on your life, even as an adult. You can follow Leah's work including her photography on her website www.leahvlemmiks.com and on Instagram @leah_vlemmiks_photo

Heidi Lynch chats with actor and writer, Maika Harper (she/her). Maika is known largely for her role on Mohawk Girls (available on CBC Gem), Kim’s Convenience and Burden of Truth. Heidi and Maika talk about meeting in theatre school, working as an actor and writer as well as being a mother, and the challenges and rewards within that. Maika talks about her recent role on the film The Education of Fredrick Fitzell, and the crossing our fingers that Maika will be able to join us in the cast of season 2 of Avocado Toast the series. You can find out more about Maika’s work on IMDB and and follow her on Instagram @inukinthecity and Twitter @Maikaharper

Perrie Voss chats with Alexander Nunez who plays Jordan’ on Avocado Toast the series. Alex is an actor and filmmaker who’s work includes “The Umbrella Academy", "Grand Army" and will star in the upcoming CBC series "Feudal" which just wrapped filming in the fall of 2020. Alex and Perrie chat about his audition for Avocado Toast and why our production team jumped at the opportunity to make his part bigger during filming. Alex also creates his own work and Perrie and Alex chat about his short 'Diversity Hire' and how he is now in the process of turning it into a series. The two talk about working hard and how to keep going in an industry that can be tricky at times and how you never know how one thing can lead to another. Why it's important to create your own work and believe in what you have to offer when you're hired. Alex is also one of our writers on Avocado Toast season 2! You can follow Alex on Instagram @alexjonunez and you can see another interview Alex and Perrie did on YouTube during filming here and here! and Twitter (because he's wonderful and hilarious @alexander_jnun

Heidi Lynch chats with actor/filmmaker, Scott Cavalheiro (he/him). Scott plays Hunter in Avocado Toast the series (available on OUTtvGo and Amazon Prime), and his list of acting credits are extensive and impressive! Most recently you can catch him on Good Witch also available on Amazon Prime, and a new Christmas classic - Christmas with a View (on Netflix) with a a multitude of other films and tv series on his roster you can check out more of Scott's work check on his IMDB page. Heidi and Scott talk about Scott's production company with his wife Claire Stollery, Stained Tie Films and one of their first films together: "Who Is Hannah" . The two chat about the crossover and comedy and drama as an actor and their mutual love of the series 'Succession'
You can find out more about Scott's work on his website www.scottcavalheiro.com and www.stainedtie.com and follow him on Instagram @scottcavalheiro and @stainedtiefilms and on Twitter @scottcavalheiro

Perrie Voss chats with Charlie David who is one of the producers on Avocado Toast the series. Charlie is the founder of Border2Border Entertainment, which is the production company behind Avocado Toast the series as well as multiple award winning film, television and digital projects. Border2Border promotes diverse, underserved audiences made by people with lived experience – women, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities as key participants. Charlie and Perrie chat about why he started his company and how working as an actor on Dantes Cove pushed him to want to create his own work in the LGBTQ+ space. Charlie speaks about how he chooses the projects he wants to develop and what it means to learn in real time while producing on a project. He also discusses the importance of championing diverse voices and why he cherished his experience on season 2 of Drag Heals .
You can follow Charlie David on Instagram @mrcharliedavid and @border2borderentertainment and Twitter @charliedavid

Heidi Lynch chats with film director Sam Coyle (she/her). Sam is the director of Avocado Toast the series (available on OUTtvGo and Amazon Prime), Hazy Little Thing (available on the Superchannel) and a multitude of other films and music videos. Heidi and Sam talk about Sam's process and how she approaches her work. The two chat about some of Sam's influences this episode which include the film Biutiful written and directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and the novel Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney. Sam also speaks about the independent filmmaking program Attagurl (formerly Attagirl).
You can find out more about Sam's work on her website www.samcoyleproductions.com and www.withwolvesmedia.com and follow them on Instagram @its_sam_coyle and @withwolvesmedia

Perrie Voss chats with cinematographer, director and filmmaker, J Stevens (they/them). J is the co-creator of the web series Slo Pitch which is also streaming on OUTtvGo and KindaTV. You can find out more about J's work on their website www.j-stevens.com and follow them on Instagram @the_j_stevens and @j_stevensphotography.