From DK Latta of Huffington Post Canada:
Canadian History is Going Hollywood
For a long time, the suggestion that Canadian history could be mined for entertaining TV drama was, at best, scoffed at. At worst, sent the detractors into fits of apoplectic rage (I’ve been labelled a Kool-Aid drinking suicide cultist merely for suggesting Canadian filmmakers could set stories in Canada). Continue reading.
Join Greg and Diane on Mondays as we debate a TV-related issue that’s on our minds. This week: with the Canadian Screen Awards broadcast coming up on March 1, we ponder whether they matter.
Diane said:
“Matter” is such a big word. Every profession has awards, and they tend to matter a lot to the people receiving them. I remember the pride I felt as a young teen for winning Harvey’s Employee of the Month award (less so when I realized it was because I’d done such a good job of the terrible assignment to scrub the insides of the giant garbage cans). The difference with TV and film awards is they’re televised, and the audience cares more about them than hamburger customers do.
I rarely see a show or actor trumpeted for the rest of their career as a Gemini or Canadian Screen Award winner, as you see with Oscars and Emmys, but the size of our country — and therefore the size of our industry and audiences — help explain why the cachet isn’t the same.
It’s nice for people to be recognized for the quality of their work rather than the audience reaction, which can be two very different things. Though the CSAs – come on, can’t they come up with their own official nickname — have a fan award and ratings award too. Not content with being Canada’s answer to the Oscars and Emmys rolled into one, they have to be the People’s Choice and Nielsens, too.
Above all, the awards provide the opportunity for promotion, and the Canadian TV industry needs more of that. Debating winners, snubs, whether the awards matter — it’s a vehicle to get us talking. Do the most worthy shows and people always get nominated and win? Of course not, and it’s too subjective to say anyway, as with all awards. I’m sure there was a Harvey’s employee seething that they lost to someone who scrubbed garbage cans.
Greg said:
First of all, belated congratulations to Diane on her Harvey’s Employee of the Month award. I’ve never gotten any awards outside of those Canadian Fitness Awards they gave out in elementary school and mine read “Participant.”
Like Diane said, “matter” is a subjective word but I think the Canadian Screen Awards matter. A lot. The Brits have their BAFTA Awards and the U.S. have copious awards to pat themselves on the back about, so why not us? Except the CSAs represent something that I think is very important: an acknowledgment that we know how to make great television and feature films. It’s true that we don’t have a funky, cool pet name for the trophy given out, but that’s not a big deal to me. What isa big deal is broadcasting to the country that there are passionate people working in the Canadian television industry that fight incredible odds just to get shows on the air in the first place.
Are the CSAs perfect? No. Sometimes the nomination list comes off like a popularity contest (something any award show is accused of) and the three-night event is often scoffed at for being too bloated. But I’d much rather there be too many than not enough trophies. It’s time for Canadians to stop complaining about the dearth of good television (those baby steps are being taken), and check out the CSAs on March 1. See who wins, make a note of the show they’re nominated on behalf of and then watch an episode of that show. That’s how I found out about Blackstone and it’s a gateway for others to do the same.
From a media release:
Quebecor, in collaboration with C2 Montreal, invites all television and film media creators and designers to a formidable challenge: to pitch “the” big idea that could give rise to a new TV format that’s likely to appeal to producers and — who knows? — possibly reach across the planet!
The P.I.T.C.H competition offers an unprecedented opportunity to put daring, innovation and imagination in the spotlight! Open to all designers — professional or not — aged 18 and older, Canadian citizens residing in Quebec, P.I.T.C.H wants to showcase the breadth and strength of Quebec’s audiovisual creativity. Non-scripted television formats, original and unpublished, as long as the intellectual property is fully owned by the individual submitters, will be eligible.
Three P.I.T.C.H grants will offer something to inspire participants. The first prize consists of a $25,000 development grant offered by the Quebecor Fund. The second prize, offered by Armoza Formats, entitles the recipient to participate in the April 2016 MIPFormats in Cannes. The third prize will be a four-week development course with the QMI Content Creation team.
Will the next La Voix, Les enfants de la télé or L’amour est dans le pré come from Quebec? That’s the P.I.T.C.H competition challenge!
To enter the P.I.T.C.H competition, simply submit an outline of a TV format by April 15, 2015.
Proposals will be evaluated under the supervision of Quebecor. Selected finalists will then be retained for four weeks to work on and submit their presentations to a jury of five public figures from the audiovisual industry in Quebec and abroad during the 2015 edition of C2 Montreal, to be held from May 26 to 28.
For more details, visit www.pitchformat.com.
From Alfonso Espina of The TV Addict:
When you think of secret agents or action heroes, an endless montage of American or British figures are likely to appear in your mind: James Bond, Captain America, Sydney Bristol, Natasha Romanoff, etc. The list goes on and on.
But what if I told you that a synesthete, a journalist, a student, a policeman, and a salesman were among the ordinary citizens who were handpicked by the Allies to become some of the world’s first secret agents? That’s the concept behind Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern’s (FLASHPOINT) new CBC spy series X COMPANY, which is led by a rising English export from the British stage — Jack Laskey. Continue reading.
From Kiva Reardon of The Globe and Mail:
Women Who Act aims for discussions about the women’s careers and their active approaches to the craft of acting.
A bold choice, given that, as Rozema said over the phone in Toronto, “Actors are seen as ‘just being there,’ and not as people of agency.†But it’s especially radical when the focus is on women, as it disperses the myth of feminine passivity. Continue reading.
