After 18 years in development, Winnipeg filmmaker Chris Sharpe brings his Black-led curling comedy to television, blending Caribbean culture, Canadian winter sports and original music.
There’s a new curling team in town, and they’re bringing a little Caribbean heat to the ice.
Cool Sweepings, a four-episode Jamaican-Canadian sports comedy created and produced by Winnipeg filmmaker Chris Sharpe, premieres October 30 on Bell Fibe TV1, introducing audiences to a group of friends who discover that saving a curling rink might be a lot harder than they imagined.
Set in Winnipeg, the series follows Chris, a Jamaican-Canadian teenager balancing low-paying jobs while his family’s curling rink faces foreclosure. When his friends Fillmore, Denny and DJ Nate learn about a curling competition offering a $50,000 prize, they convince him to enter.
There’s just one small problem: none of them knows how to curl.
With the help of coach Kyra, the unlikely competitors begin learning the sport while navigating family pressures, rival teams and the inevitable chaos of trying something completely outside their comfort zone.
But behind the comedy is a story nearly two decades in the making.
Eighteen Years, One Yes
For Sharpe, Cool Sweepings represents 18 years of persistence.
The filmmaker, who founded Black Film Space Manitoba, first imagined what might happen if Jamaican-Canadian kids growing up in Winnipeg took on one of Canada's most recognizable winter sports.
It was a premise that brought together two seemingly different cultural worlds, but also reflected the experiences of Black Canadians whose identities and stories extend well beyond familiar representations.
Getting the project made, however, was another challenge entirely.
Over the years, Sharpe continued developing the concept while working across film, television, music and live entertainment. Despite setbacks and repeated rejection, he remained committed to bringing the story to audiences.
The idea even inspired a sold-out, 24-team Cool Sweepings curling bonspiel in Winnipeg, demonstrating that the concept could bring people together beyond the screen.
Eventually, Bell Fibe TV1 gave the project the green light.
“There were challenges, setbacks and moments when giving up would have been easier, but I never stopped believing in this story,” Sharpe shared in a statement announcing the premiere.
“My message to every filmmaker, artist, entrepreneur and dreamer is simple: Never give up on your dreams. One YES can change everything.”
Bringing Music Into the Mix
The production also has a musical dimension.
All four leading actors — Joshua Calder, Darryan Edwards, Nathan Zayac and Dillin Morgan — are recording artists who contributed original songs to the series' soundtrack album.
Blending hip-hop, rap, R&B and Caribbean-inspired influences, the music explores themes of friendship, determination and life in a Canadian winter.
The result is a project that brings together emerging musical talent, independent filmmaking and a distinctly Jamaican-Canadian approach to storytelling.
A Different Kind of Canadian Sports Story
Curling may be one of Canada's most recognizable winter sports, but Cool Sweepings approaches it from a perspective rarely represented in mainstream sports comedy.
Through humour, friendship and a little competitive ambition, the series explores what happens when young people challenge expectations about where they belong and what they can accomplish.
For Sharpe, that means making room for Black Canadian stories within the country's familiar cultural traditions, without losing the humour, music and experiences that make those stories distinct.
Eighteen years after the idea first took shape, his unlikely curling team is finally ready to hit the ice.
Cool Sweepings premieres October 30, 2026, on Bell Fibe TV1.