‘Cool Sweepings’ series soundtrack streams worldwide after 18 years
Chris Sharpe heard “no” for 18 years as network after network rejected his concept for a Jamaican Canadian curling comedy series with an original soundtrack. The rejections covered the television series, the concept and the overall vision. Sharpe never stopped believing in the idea that combined Black culture, Canadian identity, sports, comedy and music. Growing up, he saw few Black creators producing television shows and films reflecting people who looked like him, especially stories from Manitoba. That absence prompted him to found Black Film Space Manitoba with a vision to create opportunities for Black talent, tell Black-led Manitoba stories and build global hits that could grow into entertainment franchises and universes.
The series follows Chris, a Jamaican Canadian teenager from Winnipeg’s South End who juggles several jobs while helping run his family’s struggling curling rink. When the bank moves to foreclose, his loyal and chaotic crew of Fillmore, Denny and DJ Nate persuade him the rink is worth saving. With no money, no curling experience and a 60-day deadline, they enter a bonspiel offering a $50,000 grand prize. Training disasters, failed fundraisers, viral fame and rivalries with elite curlers who view them as a joke follow. Former curling prodigy Kyra reluctantly agrees to coach them, while Chris’s father Kevon balances cultural pride, money worries and the legacy of the rink he built for the community.
All four lead actors are also recording artists who perform on the soundtrack. Joshua Calder records as SleepyZay, Darryan Edwards as Young Prince, Nathan Zayac as Knathan and Dillin Morgan as Dill The Giant. Sharpe describes the production as having four Will Smiths in one project. He notes that Will Smith showed how an actor could succeed as a recording artist and create music connected to the films he starred in, and that the four young artists bring that same crossover energy to the television series and soundtrack.
‘Cool Sweepings: The Album (Original TV Series Soundtrack)’ is the world’s first curling-inspired album. The 12-track release mixes hip hop, rap, reggae, R&B and EDM from Black Film Space Manitoba. Every song connects to a moment, emotion or chapter of the show. Sharpe produced the album alongside Peter McGimpsey, Serj Bhatti and Gracia Balingene. On the anthem, Sharpe wrote the lyrics and produced, McGimpsey built the beat and Bhatti engineered. The result runs a tight 30 minutes and plays like a mixtape, a movie and a love letter to Winnipeg.
The track listing is: “Intro: The Cool Sweepings Movement” featuring DJ Maxwell Dillin; “Cool Sweepings Anthem” featuring Lyberal; “Minus 40 Interlude” featuring DJ Maxwell Dillin; “Minus 40” featuring SleepyZay, Knathan and Dill The Giant; “Nobody Came To The Party” featuring Young Prince; “Bonspiel Dreams Interlude” featuring DJ Maxwell Dillin; “Bonspiel Dreams” featuring T’ai Pu; “Aisle 7” featuring Jay Evans; “Cool Sweepings Vibes” featuring T’ai Pu and Celeb; “Fort Rouge On The Line Interlude” featuring DJ Maxwell Dillin; “Fort Rouge On The Line” featuring Yvng Chriis; “Outro: One Love” featuring C Sharpe.
Provincial and community partners backed the project, including the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba Film & Music, Moonlite Labs, New Media Manitoba, the Black Screen Office, CurlManitoba, Fort Rouge Curling Club, St. Vital Curling Club, Dynasty Curling and On Screen Manitoba. Supporters such as Devon Clunis, Monica Chertok, Patrick Cairns and Reginald Isume helped carry the 18-year dream across the finish line. The Winnipeg premiere screening at a Cineplex theatre sold out. Sharpe recalled standing in a theatre filled with people experiencing the world of Cool Sweepings, hearing the laughter and watching the audience celebrate a story fought so hard to tell, after years of hearing no and now hundreds saying yes.
National media including CTV News, City News, TSN, CTV’s Your Morning Winnipeg and CBC covered the series. City News called it the “World’s first Black Curling comedy series.” Sharpe states that the series, album, live curling events and merchandise are only the start. “We are not simply producing a television show and releasing an album. We are building an entertainment universe,” he says. “I want Cool Sweepings to inspire other creators, especially young Black Canadians who may not see themselves represented in the film, television, or music industries. I want them to know that where you come from does not determine how far your dreams can go.”
The Cool Sweepings Curling League kicks off November 8 at Fort Rouge Curling Club, alternating Sundays through March 14 from 4 to 6 p.m. The Cool Sweepings Curling Bonspiel takes over the same venue April 16 to 18, 2027, with doors open daily at 9 a.m.
Sharpe closes with a message on persistence: “Never let someone else’s no become the end of your story. Follow your dreams. They always know the way.”
