How to Fail as a Popstar

Season 1 - 8 x 10 minutes | International Premiere
In English, subtitled in French and in English
Episodes 1 & 2

In presence of creator and actress Vivek Shraya and director Vanessa Matsui.

Synopsis

What happens when a star isn’t born? An adaptation of Vivek Shraya's hit play and subsequent book, How To Fail as a Popstar answers this question with hilarity, vulnerability, a healthy dose of imagination, and of course, music. The series tracks the journey of a young queer brown boy growing up in Edmonton trying to achieve pop stardom and what went almost right along the way – from the perspective of the now 40-something trans femme artist that boy became.

Note from the artistic direction

How to fail becoming a popstar or how to succeed in finding one’s voice, is what Vivek Shraya tells us with a lot of tenderness, humor and vulnerability. By recounting his own journey, Vivek makes us go back in time and allows us, for a moment, to dive back into the outdated style of our favorite 90’s TV shows and music videos.

Credits: © Elana Emer (Sphere Media)

Original Title
How to Fail as a Popstar

Written by
Vivek Shraya

Directed by
Vanessa Matsui

Photography
Gayle Yee

Editing
Tiffany Beaudin, Pauline Decroix

Music
Johnny Spence

Cast
Adrian Pavone, Vivek Shraya, Chris D'Silva, Ayesha Mansur Gonsalves, Nadine Bhabha, Aayushma Sapkota, Eric Johnson, Arwen Humphreys

Production
Sphere Media Toronto Inc. 

Sales
Sphere Media Distribution

Broadcast
CBC Gem