Sofia Shinas (born January 17, 1968) is a

Greek Canadian Greek Canadians ( el, Ελληνοκαναδοί) are Canadian citizens who have full or partial Greek heritage or people who emigrated from Greece and reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census, there were 262,140 Canadians who claimed Gre ...

singer, songwriter, actress and director."Dream comes true for Shinas". ''

Windsor Star The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays. History The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bo ...

'', May 28, 1994. Shinas entered the entertainment industry as a recording artist and later pursued acting. After graduating from film school, she became a film director. She is best known for her role as Eric Draven's murdered

fiancée An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

, Shelly, in ''

The Crow The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at t ...

'' starring opposite

Brandon Lee Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor and martial artist. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the dark fantasy film ''The ...

Career

Recording artist

In 1992, Shinas released her eponymously titled debut album on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. She co-wrote every song and worked with various producers and remixers, including Steve Peck, Daniel Abraham (record producer), Mitch Kaplan, Mark 'MK' Kinchen,

Roger Sanchez Roger Sanchez (born June 1, 1967) is a Dominican-American house music DJ, remixer and producer. He won a Grammy Award for his remix of "Hella Good" by No Doubt in 2003, and is best known for his song " Another Chance", which was an internationa ...

, Tommy Musto,

Ben Grosse Ben Grosse is an American record producer and mixer, known for his signature sound involving metal and hard rock music. Grosse has mixed and produced numerous albums for popular artists such as Dream Theater, Marilyn Manson, Sevendust, Disturbe ...

and Boris Granich. Her first single, "The Message", reached No. 20 on Billboard's Dance/Club Play chart and was a crossover pop hit, peaking at No. 75 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart. Her second single, "One Last Kiss", didn't chart in the US, but became a minor hit in her native Canada. Her last single, "State of Mind", peaked at No. 16 on the Dance/Club Play chart. She received a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nomination for Most Promising Female Vocalist at the

Juno Awards of 1993 The Juno Awards of 1993, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 21 March 1993 in Toronto at a ceremony in the O'Keefe Centre. Celine Dion was the host for the ceremonies, which were broadcast on ...

. Shinas left the music business to pursue a career as actor and director. She has not released another album.

Film actress

Shinas made her film debut in the 1994 action thriller ''

'', starring

. The box office hit has become a

cult favorite A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...

. Shinas then landed a role opposite

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...

and

Nastassja Kinski Nastassja Aglaia Kinski (; , ; born 24 January 1961) is a German actress and former model who has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States. Her worldwide breakthrough was with ''Stay as You Are'' (1978). She then came to gl ...

in ''Terminal Velocity''. She starred alongside

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in the films '' Soul Man'', '' The Hitcher'', '' Grandview U.S.A.'', ''Red Dawn'', ''Secret Admirer'' and '' The Outsiders''. He has also appeared in '' Gett ...

in the independent action/drama, ''Hourglass'' and in the 1997 action film, ''Dilemma''.

Television actress

Shinas appeared in two episodes of the TV series '' The Outer Limits'' (in the "

Valerie 23 This page is a list of the episodes of '' The Outer Limits'', a 1995 science fiction/ dark fantasy television series. The series was broadcast on Showtime from 1995 to 2000, and on the Sci Fi Channel in its final year (2001–2002). Series overv ...

" and "

Mary 25 This page is a list of the episodes of '' The Outer Limits'', a 1995 science fiction/ dark fantasy television series. The series was broadcast on Showtime from 1995 to 2000, and on the Sci Fi Channel in its final year (2001–2002). Series over ...

" episodes) and an episode of '' The Hunger''.

Film director

Shinas's first feature as director was the thriller, ''My Stepdaughter'', released in August 2015.

Education

In 2008, Shinas graduated from the

USC School of Cinema-Television The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...

in Los Angeles, California where she directed a film titled ''Spring Eternal'' as a thesis project.

Personal life

Fluent in English, Hebrew, and Greek, the director often travels between her Hollywood home and her Canadian hometown. Shinas is an avid supporter of welfare and conservation organizations dedicated to helping endangered species. She is particularly interested in big cats and has worked with tigers in human care.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

*1992: ''Sofia Shinas''

Singles

*1992: "The Message" *1992: "One Last Kiss" *1992: "State of Mind (You Make Me Feel Good)"

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shinas, Sofia 1968 births Living people Musicians from Windsor, Ontario Canadian dance musicians Actresses from Windsor, Ontario Canadian television actresses Canadian film actresses USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Canadian people of Greek descent Film directors from Ontario Canadian women film directors Warner Records artists 21st-century Canadian women singers