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![\"MIKAELA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4131567_web1_260410-Cool-Sweepings-00013.jpg\")
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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Cool Sweepings creator and producer Chris Sharpe at the Fort Rouge Curling Club, where the series was filmed. Cool Sweepings is a fictional series about a Jamaican-Canadian curling team based out of Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
Sharpe, founder and creative producer of Black Film Space Manitoba, and his team filmed four episodes of the fictional series inside the Fort Rouge Curling Club in November. The show is scheduled to air this spring or summer on Bell Fibe TV\u2019s streaming service.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my head, as a creator, as a storyteller, I just thought of an idea of adding some Caribbean culture to curling, some Black culture, pop culture, music culture, and Cool Sweepings was born,\u201d Sharpe, 46, told the Free Press.<\/p>\n
It certainly wasn\u2019t born overnight. In fact, Cool Sweepings is nearly two decades in the making.<\/p>\n
Through college and the years that followed, he pitched his vision to countless people until, finally, in 2025, Bell Canada gave him the answer he was looking for.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a believer that an idea is dead when you decide it\u2019s over. Every year, there\u2019s different people that are in these organizations, so, you just keep pitching. And if you believe in something, the right moment will materialize for you,\u201d said Sharpe.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now, here we are making the first-ever Black curling, Jamaican curling, comedy series here in Winnipeg.\u201d<\/p>\n
The story is about a father from Jamaica who realizes his dream of owning a curling club in Winnipeg. Then, when his son hears the rink is falling on hard times and struggling to keep the lights on, he rallies his friends to do whatever they can \u2014 including entering a bonspiel with a cash prize despite their limited on-ice skills \u2014 to save his father\u2019s establishment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis story kind of has some truth to it because Winnipeg used to have the double the amount of curling rinks, and they started closing down all over the country,\u201d said Sharpe. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize that until we were actually making this story. By us coming and adding this youthful, Caribbean culture and all this kind of stuff, it could help curling as well get back to its luster.\u201d<\/p>\n
The main cast and crew are all Manitobans, including the four leading actors \u2014 Nathan Zayac, Joshua Calder, Darryan Edwards, and Dillin Morgan. None of them had much, if any, prior experience with acting \u2014 let alone curling.<\/p>\n
Former Winnipeg police chief Devon Clunis is also involved as an executive producer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have a huge budget to make the production, but in my head, I was like \u2018What can we look for to find the best talent in the city?\u2019 So, I looked at music artists and all four are independent music artists that perform regularly on stage,\u201d said Sharpe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have to make a music video, you have to tell a story in five minutes, so, we cast it for artists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edwards, who performs under the moniker Young Prince and has collaborated with world-renowned rapper The Game, had a blast making his acting debut and thinks this series can make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s very, very important to showcase a side of Winnipeg that maybe isn\u2019t highlighted as much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I think it\u2019s very important for the youth from those communities to see \u2018Oh, shoot, there are people out here that are really trying to push a dream forward from our community and represent it (well).\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Memorizing his lines was a breeze. Stepping on the frozen playing surface? Not so much.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely fell a bunch of times at first, but we had some great instructors which was awesome,\u201d said Edwards.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n
\t\t\tSign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cBut at first, we were falling and couldn\u2019t really throw the rock that far, so it was pretty funny.\u201d<\/p>\n Edwards and Co. will get to show how far they\u2019ve come this weekend when they\u2019re one of the 24 teams competing in the Cool Sweepings Curling Bonspiel at Fort Rouge. The festivites, which run through Sunday, will feature a live DJ, steel drum performances, a Carribean dinner, an after party, and more.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s turning into a great, cultural curling event with a Carribean vibe,\u201d said Sharpe.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re super excited to do the event and we\u2019re gonna film it and then eventually share it with the world when we\u2019re done.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Taylor Allen Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree\/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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