Archive: February 26, 2022

Healthy Hope – Documentary Film Premieres at the Amelia Island Film Festival

Sadly, everyone has been affected by cancer at one point in their lives and we’re all waiting for the day that this disease has a cure. Could it be that this natural product native to the Southeast is part of that solution to fighting cancer?

That’s the premise of the documentary “Healthy Hope” which is premiering at Amelia Island Film Festival on Saturday, February 26 at 10:00 AM. The documentary comes in at just under an hour, and tells the story of the Muscadine grape and then introduces six research doctors from five universities who are making progress on proving the legendary health benefits of the Muscadine Grape.

“After we saw Dr. Patricia Gallagher do a presentation at Wake Forest University on her research of the Muscadine Grape, we decided we needed to share this story,” said Cathy McLaughlin. She and her husband Dan took on the project during the COVID crisis as a way to focus and work through the ups and downs of the isolation. The storyline tells a little of the history of this native Southern grape, then explores the research that has been completed, and then the researchers’ hopes for future studies on the grape.

“What started out as recorded Zoom calls with researchers, moved to onsite visits and filming of the researchers at their universities as COVID restrictions started to ease,” said Dan McLaughlin. “We heard from multiple researchers how the grapes’ extract not only inhibits the growth of cancer by reducing the cancer’s ability to move, but also it kills cancer on its own.” Also, research is showing in animals that it can slow metastatic growth. The grapes contains natural components that increase performance of the mitochondria, which they believe will help decrease fatigue.

“Cathy and I want people to know that the while the Holy Grail for cancer hasn’t been found, there are researchers looking for that cure in all spaces and places. And wouldn’t it be great it it was from a native grape, a natural product?”

A Healthy Hope will premiere at 10:00 AM on Saturday, February 26th 2022 at the Amelia Film Festival. filmamelia.org/program. The film was produced, directed, and edited by Dan and Cathy McLaughlin, owners of CLINNEAM LLC.

FigBytes and Toyota Tsusho Make Inroads on Sustainability Targets

Everybody wants to do their part to make the world a better place. That’s why FigBytes and Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. (TAI) are excited to announce their new collaboration.

“FigBytes is committed to helping organizations use a data-driven approach to making their sustainability goals a reality,” said founder and CEO, Ted Dhillon. “Toyota Tsusho America was already doing great work heading in that direction. Now our tools are going to help them reach their targets, faster.”

FigBytes is an environmental, social, governance (ESG) insight platform that helps companies and governments around the world track, record and report on their sustainability journeys. They go above and beyond just calculating carbon emissions (though to date they’ve tracked 2.5 billion metric tons). The platform is entirely customizable and can track virtually anything across the ESG spectrum – from water to energy to workplace diversity.

“At Toyota Tsusho, we were looking for comprehensive and transformational tools to empower our team members and streamline actions toward our sustainability goals,” said Toyota Tsusho America Vice President, John Jäger. “What is so exciting about FigBytes’ platform is that it can help us sustainably manage an even wider set of initiatives than we have in the past, while optimizing our time and resources.”

Many of FigBytes’ clients come to the platform after using labor-intensive means of tracking their impacts. “We’re able to automate the tracking process for companies, and also create easy to read reports based on that data. Now businesses can use the time they would have spent tracking their impact on implementing the changes they need to make,” explained Dhillon.

Toyota Tsusho America’s first plan of action? Breaking down their bigger goals into more manageable targets. “We’ve set a goal for ourselves of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” said Jäger. “Being able to see what our impact is on a daily basis will give us the power to set actionable goals based on that data. Then from there it’s going to be about actually making those necessary changes in our day to day operations.”

“Tracking, recording and reporting on ESG metrics is the best way for organizations to make good on their sustainability goals,” Dhillon commented. When businesses put data in the driver’s seat they can tell exactly which direction they need to head.

Global Pharmaceutical Quality Summit Amplifies Conversations on Making Quality Pharmaceuticals in India, Sustainably, for the World

New Delhi, 26 February 26 2022: The two-day Global Pharmaceutical Quality Summit 2022 organised by the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) successfully concluded last night. The event saw industry captains and regulators in the ecosystem deliberate on achieving excellence and quality in operations, vaccine development and sustainability. We also witnessed leaders across industries sharing their views on innovation, technology and the potential learnings for the pharmaceutical industry.

The highlight of the day was the panel discussion on the ‘Sustainable end-to-end Operations and Quality Excellence – Path Forward’ that brought together the CEOs of leading Indian Pharmaceutical companies such as Cipla, Dr Reddy’s, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Torrent and Zydus. This session was moderated by Gautam Kumra, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company.

Echoing his views on newer modalities such as biosimilars, Mr Umang Vohra, CEO, Cipla said, “We have developed our technologies internally for generics and now we have to collaborate with the ones who have already done it and then leverage those. The talent required for some technologies is not present in India so collaboration with global partners will help address this issue.”

Speaking about challenges in the digitization journey, Mr G V Prasad, Co-Chairman, Dr Reddy’s said, “While digitalisation is inevitable, there is still a challenge to digitise since underlying processes need to be mastered and understood to enhance efficacy of the digitisation process. Industry leaders will have to be more agile, make data-driven leadership decisions with science and common sense coming together.”

Elaborating on crystalizing his vision on quality, Mr Nilesh Gupta, Managing Director, Lupin said, “Quality and compliance was a very company-specific issue, and it has changed due to forums such as this, which have allowed us to work towards a collective goal. Information sharing has been an enormous support system. We are known to be Pharmacy of the World and we are fortunate to have achieved this position. In the next 5 years it will be great to be known as best in class with the help of forums such as this which promote open dialogue.”

Addressing the issue of severe supply chain shock during COVID-19, Mr Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director, Sun Pharmaceutical spoke about building resilience. “Creating options is important to have a backup. Government PLI schemes are helping to create a self-contained supply chain and helped in efficient supply during the pandemic. Yet, there is a long way to go, and we shall gradually bridge the gap,” he said.

Talking about the biggest trends in operations and quality in the industry, Mr Pankaj Patel, Chairman, Zydus Lifesciences said, “COVID-19 has brought the focus on technology, automation and ushered our digital entry into manufacturing and supply chain. Even on the API front, newer technologies for manufacturing have emerged and entry into the Biosimilar market can be envisaged.”

The panel further discussed Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance.

Earlier, in a special address, Dr Rogério Gaspar, Director, Regulation and Prequalification Department, WHO spoke on the “Future of Pharmaceutical Operations & Quality”. Panel discussion on “Vaccine Development: Design to Delivery in Vaccine Manufacturing” was addressed by Dr Nivedita Gupta, Scientist F and Head, Virology Unit, ICMR and saw participation from Dr Kapil Maithal, President, Vaccines and Diagnostics, Zydus and Dr Sanjay Singh, CEO, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals. This was moderated by Mr Shirish Belapure, Senior Technical Advisor, IPA. Another panel discussion was on “Quality excellence across industries and potential learnings for Pharmaceuticals” which was addressed by Mr Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, Quality Council of India and saw the participation of Dr Ranjana Pathak, President, Global Quality, Medical Affairs and Pharmacovigilance, Cipla, Mr Nandkumar Kulkarni, Senior Director, Integrated Supply Chain, Mondelez and Mr Vijay Kalra, Head, Mahindra Institute of Quality and Chairman, Central Safety Council for Mahindra Group. Mr Naveen Unni, Partner, McKinsey & Company delivered a session on “Sustainability in Operations”.

The final session of the event was on “DnA Roadshow of latest technological advancements in Pharmaceutical Quality & Operations” which saw the participation of Dr Rajesh Kuppuswamy, Health Sciences Industry Advisor, SAP, Ms Lalitha Surabhi, Associate VP, Strategy & Business Development, Caliber and Mr Samuel Samson, Head, Pharmaceuticals and life sciences vertical, Siemens. This was moderated by Dr Navneet Tewatia, Associate Secretary General, IPA. The event concluded with Closing Remarks by Mr Nilesh Gupta and Vote of Thanks by Mr Shirish Belapure.

Real Estate Divorce Specialists in High Demand

Patricia Ewing, Realtor, eXp Realty, has just completed training and is now a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.

Real Estate Divorce Specialists are real estate professionals specializing in divorcing clients. They are trained in the legal and tax aspects of the divorce process as it relates to real estate. They learn obscure legal rulings, regulations, and tax implications. This specific training allows them to help their divorcing clients take advantage of tax laws that are specific in selling a house in divorce.

For example, most people don’t know that, in some circumstances, the spouse who moved out of the family home as long as 6 years ago can still take a $250,000 exclusion when the house is sold, even though the spouse who stayed in the house also took a $250,000 exclusion.

Since divorcing couples comprise a large portion of the real estate market, Real Estate Divorce Specialists are a new and growing trend in the real estate industry. “Over 40% of all marriages end in divorce. The 40 percent is a function of the number of divorces in one year versus the number of weddings in the same year,” according to, “The Ultimate Guide to Your Divorce,” by Carol Wilson, Certified Financial Divorce Specialist. A real estate professional who understands the special problems and laws that govern the dissolution of a marriage can be a great asset at a very difficult time. Often both parties are involved in either buying a house, or selling a house, or both. A real estate professional who understands the special problems and laws that govern the dissolution of a marriage can be a great asset at a very difficult time

“Divorcing couples are going through one of the most stressful times in their lives and they need all the help they can get,” Patricia Ewing says. “They are looking for a professional who not only empathizes with what they’re going through, but who understands the tax and legal implications of dividing real estate in a divorce. As a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist, I can provide information and resources that most other real estate professionals, and even some divorce attorneys, don’t know.”

Unfortunately, couples will continue to get divorced and will need sound advice on the real estate issues within the divorce. A real estate professional specializing in divorcing clients can streamline the process and be beneficial to all parties involved.

Academy of the Arts Launches 500 for 100 Challenge as Alesia Family Foundation Pledges $100,000 to the Academy

Academy of the Arts, a new, non-profit academic and art school in Chicago’s western suburbs, raised nearly $200,000 last week at its first major fundraising event, a concert and reception featuring Broadway performers. It also announced a new campaign called the 500 for $100 Challenge to secure another $600,000 and solidify its projection to begin programming this fall. The school plans to fully open for the 2030 academic year.

Buoyed by a $100,000 grant from Alesia Family Foundation, and with the response thus far to its fundraising efforts, the Academy Board is optimistic about its goals and timeline. Eden Alpert, the daughter of legendary musician and producer Herb Alpert, leads the Alesia Family Foundation and announced the pledge at the Feb. 18, 2022, event.

“The arts and music are a form of therapy and expression,” said Alpert, who also is a managing partner in her father’s Bel-Air, CA, restaurant and jazz club, Vibrato. “To have a space that provides compassion and creativity in our society is a gift all children deserve and need.”

In announcing the grant, Alpert turned to the 300-person concert audience and said, “Let’s keep donating and make this happen. Let’s make a dream come true!”

The event itself was funded in part by a $10,000 donation from AARP, and was supported by in-kind donations from many local businesses – from florists to food and beverage suppliers – and by silent auction donations. The balance of funds raised came through the silent auction, ticket sales and gifts.

Academy Co-Founder Dylan Ladd says the first-year fundraising goal is $2 million, and the Academy’s 500 for 100 Challenge – in which the Academy is seeking 500 individuals to donate $100 per month for one year, with their contribution memorialized on the Founders’ Wall when the school fully opens – will secure one-third of that goal, with foundation grants and in-kind support rounding out the goal. In just five days since the Challenge was launched, 24 donors have committed representing nearly $30,000 in support.

“Getting the support of the Alesia Family Foundation, and of an organization as far-reaching as AARP not only helps us move toward our fundraising goals, but it really legitimizes what we are doing here,” said Academy Co-Founder Dylan Ladd. “It’s all about awareness at this point – once people learn about what we are doing they don’t hesitate to give what they can.”

Ladd’s mission is to build and open the school for grades 6 through 12, offering the core academic areas of math, reading, language arts, social studies and science, along with a range of visual arts and performing arts programs, by the 2030 academic year.

“We have a lot of work ahead before we have our state-of-the-art facility and our first class of full-time students,” Ladd said.

The facility is a planned world-class arts center: A 1,200-seat auditorium with a proscenium stage, fly loft and orchestra pit, an outdoor amphitheater, a modular black box theater and dance studios, and academic classrooms.

Performers participating in the Feb. 18 concert were Julia Murney who last appeared on Broadway in Wicked; Olympic gymnast turned Broadway’s Peter Pan Cathy Rigby; Karen Mason, an Arlington Heights, IL, native who most recently played Mrs. Marsh in Ryan Murphy’s Halston on Netflix; Zonya Love who played Celie in The Color Purple; Chadae Nichol, a Joliet, IL, native who made her Broadway debut in Motown the Musical; and Meecah who is currently on tour with Hamilton.

Eden Alpert is among the Academy’s artistic advisors who include Hamilton composer and arranger Alex Lacamoire, actor Stephen Wallem best known for his role on Netflix’s Nurse Jackie, pop singer Taylor Dayne, choreographer Jack Sippel and dance soloist Keelan Whitmore.

Florida Real Estate News by ABD Development Company for 2022

As the Florida real estate market continues its unprecedented growth, one established builder and community developer is more than ready to keep the pace in 2022. ABD Development Company, based in Davenport, is best known for most recently creating the Providence Golf Club Community southwest of Orlando as well as Toscana Palm Coast in Flagler, Florida.

ABD will be participating in the Parade of Homes events for both of these gated luxury communities this spring and summer. The Flagler Parade of Homes will be held April 23-May 1, 2022 and ABD will present Toscana Palm Coast and its Mediterranean-style homes just five miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The Orlando Parade of Homes will be held during the summer again this year, planned for June 18-26, 2022. ABD will have Providence and its golf course homes on display.

“It is significant to note that the Orlando Parade of Homes will be celebrating its 69th event in 2022 and ABD has been an award winning participant for 29 of those years,” shares Yuval Botansky, President of ABD Development Company. “We are known for having built sold out communities all over the region and we are still going strong. Our custom home models, the Courtyard series of homes especially, are considered to be timeless classics.”

Along with the highly regarded Courtyard floor plan, ABD recently added the extra large FLEX model to its offerings in Providence Golf Club Community. The FLEX is a 2890 square foot home with four bedrooms and three and a half baths that offers multi-generational living, remote work/home office, or just a nice big home for resident families or vacation rentals. Currently available in Providence for home sites in Hampton Landing, the FLEX will also be offered in the upcoming Hampton Green neighborhood as well.

When asked for more information about what else to expect from the brand new Hampton Green homes at Providence Golf Club Community, ABD’s response is to wait and see when it releases sales this summer. The new neighborhood will be on the back nine of the highly rated Providence Golf Club, which is well loved by all who get to enjoy its elegant views and top notch facilities. The Providence gated community features low HOAs, no CDDs, and abundant amenities.

One World Vastu Is Calling You Out for a Farwell and a Welcoming Ceremony

New Delhi, Feb 26, 2022: One World Vastu is a Vastu Shastra and Astrology teachings providing instutute with key objective to provide vastu and Astrology knowledge to those yearning for it. Along with the knowledge and resources, the students also receive proper certification and work opportunity that helps them in forming a career in vastu and astrology related fields.

Lead by the dynamic duo of, “Vastu Acharya and Trainer Sagar Chug” and “Vastu Acharya Eshaa”, One World Vastu is holding a “Convocation Ceremony” for the batch of 2021-2022. This ceremony is held to bid farewell to the last year students and welcome the new students simultaneously.

The main pillars of One World Vastu are its two spirited Acharyas;

Acharya Sagar Chug is a renowned Vastu Shastra Books Author, Vedic Astrologer, Vastu Acharya, Numerologist, Gemstones Expert, Occult Trainer & Life Coach who has been awarded multiple times with awards.

Acharya Eshaa is one of the India’s leading scientific vastu training providers and consultant. She is also known for her Vastu Remedy cards classes in Delhi NCR. Along with that, Acharya Esha has also written the book named “Guide to Vastu Remedy Cards”. With these leading wonderful Acharyas, One World Vastu hopes to help as much as it can by teaching them about the benefits of leading a life full of vedic culture.

This convocation ceremony is also aimed to provide the next generation with a glimpse of the amazing life they can lead by learning about Vedic Culture. The venue for One World Vastu’s convocation ceremony is at Lemon Tree Hotel, Sohna Road, Gurgaon, on the 26th of Feb 2022. The decided timing for this convocation ceremony to take place is 9 am.

Words From Our Acharyas

With the help of this convocation ceremony, One World Vastu hopes to help many people form a better connection with Sanatan Vidya. Therefore, allowing people to utilise many of the benefits that the Vedic Culture and its Vidya has.

“This is a small effort to give every family an opportunity to get connected to Sanatan Vidaya and get all the benifits of our Vedic culture and Vidya to make life easier and full of abundance and happiness. He also aims to make our next generation get connected with these awe-inspiring Vedic treasures.” Says Acharya Sagar Ji.

By doing so, it aims to display the connecting link between the abundance and happiness that Vedic culture provides. This is really great though that he is making efforts connect the next generation with the treasure the Vedic culture holds, in an easier way and also spreading awareness about it.

With the help of this convocation, One World Vastu aims to provide a fitting farewell to their previous batch of 2021-2022 and providing a warm welcome to their new learners.

In the last session that we hold with our students, we get to hear about all of the thoughts they have of us.

To get a better idea let’s hear some words that our students use to describe us. Our students mainly describe our teachings with the words such as “truly mind-blowing”, Easy and Practic Learning, life Changing Event, “enlightening”, “Extraordinary”, and “Vastu Perfect Living Vedic Approach”.

Name of Students That are Honored by Acharya Sagar and Eshaa ji as One World Vastu Acharya are Saurabhh Bajaj, Shubham Kapoor, Ashok Singh, Prachi Dixit, Manoj Gupta, Priyanka Vats, Vaishali Singh, Rakesh Kunar, Sapna Bajaj, Rekha Gard, Ratan Pal, Poonam, Bhavesh, Shivpujan, Shubhra Basu, Nirmal Singla, Ketan, Sushant Singh, Vishwa Bhushan, Sangeeta Chauhan, Arpit S Bhati, Hemant Sharma, Bishwajeet, Biswabushan.

Pure SEO Takes Gold at IAB NZ Digital Advertising Awards

Pure SEO has won Gold at the IAB New Zealand Digital Advertising Awards – under the Data and Effectiveness category – Best Use of SEM and/or SEO. It had led the field with two finalist nominations in the category.

The entry, “SEO WARS: The Tortoise & the Hares,” was based on the advanced search engine optimisation techniques used on the company’s own website, pureseo.com, after a migration from a previous domain. It is a success story of overcoming Google search challenges that often occur when transitioning from a local to a global website.

“What is the best way for an SEO agency to demonstrate that they are the best in New Zealand? The answer is to rank their own website for the most competitive keywords: ‘seo,’ ‘seo nz,’ ‘seo auckland,’ ‘number one seo company nz’ and many more,” says Dallas Rabot, Head of Product at Pure SEO, who led the teams on the project.

“Our competitors had a head start. When we moved from pureseo.co.nz to pureseo.com, we had to start again from the bottom. Fast forward a year and we had catapulted ourselves to first place.

Our in-house team’s expertise in technical analysis, software engineering, content creation and link building achieved this.

‘The aftermath,’ the post-launch period of not only a domain migration, but also a simultaneous technology switch to a new web architecture was a painful process. The methodology and implementation involved, however, was cutting-edge and included an implementation technique that needed to be invented.

The results speak for itself: Slow & steady wins the race,” says Rabot.

Pure SEO also had another finalist entry in the category for its work on a Search Engine Marketing campaign that delivered impressive results. The campaign provided a complete Omni-channel strategy, putting customers at the centre of a diverse network. Multiple channels and devices were utilised to reach customers in a completely new way that was able to link the purchase journey from online to offline and vice versa to maximise impact and return on ad spend.

“SEM is no longer just about driving online store sales or lead forms, it is the whole consumer journey online and offline that we can impact. From browsing online, to discovering products on YouTube, to getting directions to the store to purchase. We can influence all these stages to provide the best possible return for our clients, no matter how big or small they are,” says Graham Gilbert, SEM Team Lead at Pure SEO.

“It is a culmination of over a decade of building up the platforms, processes and culture for our people to succeed. Back in the early days as a young business, we were the recipient of The David Awards, which recognise emerging young businesses that punch above their weight. So being the Gold award recipient of the IAB Awards is a milestone we’re hugely proud of. It shows how far we’ve come and it is very much aligned with where we are going,” says Richard Conway, founder and CEO of Pure SEO.

Pure SEO, a New Zealand independently owned digital and eCommerce marketing agency, was founded in 2009 and has since added its partner services: Digital Popcorn and This Side Up. It provides clients across New Zealand and Australia with a range of services including Search Engine Optimisation, Google Ads and Programmatic, eCommerce marketing, Conversion Rate Optimisation, Content Marketing and Social Media. Pure SEO is a Google Premier Partner 2022, which is awarded to the top performing 3% of agencies in each country.

Haier reaffirms its commitment towards the ‘Make in India’ initiative; inaugurates Deep Freezer Factory at Pune Industrial Park

National, February 2022: Haier, the global leader in Home Appliances & Consumer Electronics and the World’s Number 1 brand in Major Appliances for 13 Consecutive Years today announced the inauguration of its new factory for Deep Freezer manufacturing at its first industrial park in Ranjangaon, Pune. With this development, Haier has strengthened its commitment towards the Central Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative to boost local manufacturing by manufacturing premium and high-quality products to suit the requirements of Indian consumers.

Additionally, the investment will strengthen Haier’s position in India and scale up the annual production capacity of deep freezer products with superior quality to 5 lakh units. Haier has been strengthening its focus to producing premium products through local manufacturing in India. The new Deep Freezer factory will enable the brand to manufacture products that cater to the evolving needs of the local market. The expansion will likewise serve as an open door for better business partnerships, bringing about an expanded growth with increased local production and lesser imports of products.

At the inaugural event, Haier also announced the launch of 4 new SKUs in the commercial freezer segment – HFC-350DM5, HFC-588DM5- Hard top models & HFC-300GM5, HFC-400GM5 – Flat Glass top models, which come equipped with a 5-star rating for up to 50% energy savings and 5 side freezing for enhanced cooling efficiency.

Haier Group signed an MoU with the Government of Maharashtra in the year 2015 to invest INR 600 crore towards setting up its first industrial park in India, which was inaugurated in 2017. In line with Central Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, Haier has contributed significantly by making the Pune Industrial Park a hub for producing world-class, high-quality home appliances and consumer electronics across all major categories. Furthermore, the company is continuously strengthening its focus on Research & Development to enhance innovation and production excellence in the country, articulating the brand philosophy of ‘Inspired Living’.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Satish NS, President, Haier Appliances Indiasaid, “It is a moment of great pride for us to witness the expansion of our industrial park in Punewith the new Deep Freezer facility, which will enable us to enhance our local manufacturing prowess for both, commercial and home freezers segments. The inauguration of this factory will not just scale up our production capacity but will also help us in creating customised solutions specifically for the Indian market in a more time-efficient manner. This development will also decrease our dependence on imports and simultaneously increase exports from India in the near future.”

Haier India’s contribution to the deep freezers Industry in India

Haier India is front-ending a revolution in the deep freezers category, in response to an increased demand for modern home appliances and consumer durables, to suit the fast-evolving lifestyle of consumers.

Haier solutions in deep freezer products

• Haier, in line with its commitment to manufacture energy-efficient appliances, has implemented 5-star energy rating for all the locally manufactured freezers.

• 5 side Freezing: 2X Freezing/Chilling capacity leading to 50% reduction of Pull-Down Time

• Inside Metal Line to avoid damage to Cooling/Evaporator Coil, when defrosting

• Three Layered Door and 70 mm PUF Insulation leading up to 100 hours cooling retention

Haier’s commitment to consistently introduce India-centric innovative products that deliver on the promise of quality to its consumers is a true testament to the brand’s continuing growth and success. In recent years, the company has made considerable investments to expand its extensive distribution and after-sales network across the country to better serve customers everywhere.

Jamaican Actor Musician Everton E-Dee Dennis Wraps New Film, “Temperature Rising,” and Readies New Album

Jamaican actor Everton “E-Dee” Dennis, also known as the Dancehall Celebrity, returns to the silver screen in “Temperature Rising,” an urban drama that stars Paula Jai Parker and Omar Gooding and De’Aundre Bonds.

Currently in post-production, the Oba Aswad-directed film was shot on location in Hollywood and is scheduled for release this year. Dennis, who is from Clarendon parish in Jamaica, plays Jacques who according to Dennis is, “A brutal and glamorous gangster that shows a romantic side.”

Parker and Gooding are film veterans. One of Parker’s biggest roles was as Lexus in the Academy Award-nominated Hustle And Flow; Gooding, younger brother of Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding, is best known for appearances in the movie, Baby Boy and the hit television show, Grey’s Anatomy. Also starring in the movie is DeAundre Bonds from the hit series “Snowfall.”

Everton’s list of movies grew last year with the release of Gangland and Chocolate City 3 to the Starz network. Playing a gangster in many movies is a role Dennis does not mind. “Coming from May Pen, Jamaica, I grew up around Gangsters, so it’s a life I know well,” says the actor.

Currently, Everton is in development with “Out the Gate” the series, based on the hit Caribbean movie that starred Paul Campbell and Oliver Samuels. Musically, Dennis has recently put the finishing touch on his latest album, Elevate, due for release April 8th, and features collaborations with Wayne Wonder, Glen Washington, Future Fambo, and I-Octane. Produced by Grammy-award winning producer Qmillion, the album is released on the Unseen Lab Recordings label.