Tag Archives: Awards

Baroness Von Sketch Show, Alias Grace and Andrew Phung take home trophies during Night 2 of Canadian Screen Awards

The writers on Baroness Von Sketch Show, Letterkenny, Orphan Black, Odd Squad, and Kim’s Convenience co-star Andrew Phung and Schitt’s Creek‘s Emily Hampshire were among the winners in the Creative Fiction Storytelling categories during Night 2 of the Canadian Screen Awards.

Hosted by Kim’s Convenience‘s Andrew Phung, the non-televised celebration honoured 42 categories in the guest performance, writing, directing, photography, editing, production design, visual effects, sound, limited, variety and sketch comedy.

“On the count of three, I want you to shout out what you had for breakfast!” Phung yelled at the crowd before calling out Schitt’s Creek‘s Daniel Levy for not answering. “Now I want you to shout out your favourite Canadian production, but it cannot be your own project!” He then called his mother on his cell phone for advice on how to host the show.

“Oh my god,” she said. “You should just do your best.”

Special awards were given to the late Denis McGrath (Margaret Collier Award) and Jay Switzer (Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute Award), and Bell Let’s Talk (Humanitarian Award).

Here are the winners in several of the key categories:

Best Supporting Actor, Drama
R.H. Thomson, Anne

Best Supporting Actress, Drama
Allie MacDonald, Cardinal

Best Guest Performance, Drama Series
Steven McCarthy, Mary Kills People

Best Pre-School Program or Series
Paw Patrol, TVO Kids

Best Animated Program or Series
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, YTV

Best Children’s or Youth Fiction Program or Series
Odd Squad, TVO Kids

Best Performance, Children’s or Youth
Ella Ballentine, L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables: Fire & Dew

Best Performance, Animation
Martin Short, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Halloween

Best Writing, Variety or Sketch Comedy
Aurora Browne, Meredith MacNeill, Carolyn Taylor, Jennifer Whalen, Jennifer Goodhue, Monica Heisey, Mae Martin, Zoe Whittall — Baroness Von Sketch Show, CBC

Best Writing, Comedy
Jacob Tierney, Jared Keeso — Letterkenny, CraveTV

Best Writing, Drama Program or Limited Series
Sarah Polley — Alias Grace, CBC

Best Writing, Drama Series
Graeme Manson, Renee St. Cyr — Orphan Black, Space

Best Writing, Children’s or Youth
Adam Peltzman, Tim McKeon — Odd Squad, TVO Kids

Best Writing, Animated
Sean Jara — Mysticons, YTV

Best Supporting or Guest Actor, Comedy
Andrew Phung, Kim’s Convenience

Best Supporting or Guest Actress, Comedy
Emily Hampshire, Schitt’s Creek

Best Sketch Comedy Program or Series
Baroness Von Sketch Show, CBC

Here is the complete list of winners from Wednesday night.

 

 

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The Amazing Race Canada, Still Standing and Rise win at Night 1 of the Canadian Screen Awards

Still Standing, The Amazing Race Canada, Mayday, Rise and CTV National News with Lisa LaFlamme were among the winners during Night 1 of the non-televised portion of the Canadian Screen Awards.

Miguel Rivas, of The Comedy Network’s The Beaverton, served as host for the evening, poking fun at The National‘s four-person panel and holding mock auditions for a co-host. Among the finalists? Chef Matty Matheson, The Social‘s Lainey Lui and Peter Mansbridge. One of the most emotional moments of the night followed Viceland’s Rise being awarded Best Documentary Program. Series producer Michelle Latimer tearfully championed Indigenous Peoples and referenced the effects colonization has had on First Nations people in Canada and around the world.

Fifty categories celebrating non-fiction television—including news, sports, factual, reality, lifestyle, talk and children’s programming—were handed out at Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle during the non-televised event. Karyn Pugliese received the Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism.

Here are the winners in several key categories:

Best News Anchor, Local
Andrew Chang, British Columbia Votes

Best News or Information Program
Terror, Viceland

Best Sports Host
James Duthie, TSN

Best Children’s or Youth Non-Fiction Program or Series
Science Max: Experiments at Large, TVO Kids

Best Variety or Entertainment Special
P.K. Subban: Shots Fired, CBC

Best Writing, Factual
Still Standing, CBC

Best Writing, Lifestyle or Reality/Competition Program or Series
The Amazing Race Canada, CTV

Best Writing, Documentary
Unstoppable: The Fentanyl Epidemic in Canada, CBC

Best Biography or Arts Documentary Program or Series
Rush: Time Stand Still, HBO Canada

Discovery

Best Factual Series
Mayday, Discovery

Best History Documentary Program or Series
The Nature of Things, CBC

Best Documentary Program
Rise, Viceland

Best Host in a Live Program or Series
Rick Mercer, Canada Day 150! From Coast to Coast to Coast

Best Talk Program or Series
The Marilyn Denis Show, CTV

Best Lifestyle Program or Series
Property Brothers, HGTV Canada

Best News or Information Series
The Fifth Estate, CBC

Best Host in a Program or Series
Jonathan Torrens, Your Special Canada

Best Local Newscast
CBC News Vancouver at 6, CBC

Best National Newscast
CTV National News with Lisa LaFlamme, CTV

Best News Anchor, National
Heather Hiscox, CBC News Network with Heather Hiscox

Best Sports Play-by-Play Announcer
Luke Wileman, TSN

Best Sports Program or Series
Aaron Sanchez: Limitless, Sportsnet

Follow the link to the complete list of winners.

Are you happy with the shows and talent who took home hardware tonight? Let me know in the comments below.

 

 

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Canadian Screen Awards’ Beth Janson: “The television industry is turning out some of the best content that we’ve seen”

Now that those pesky Oscars are over and done with, we’re jazzed for the Canadian Screen Awards. Airing this coming Sunday on CBC—and with three non-broadcast award nights this week—the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television celebrates homegrown talent and projects on the big and small screen.

This country has a lot to celebrate. From gripping limited-run series like Alias Grace, Cardinal and The Disappearance to groundbreaking dramas in Pure, 19-2, Mary Kills People and Anne and unique comedies in Kim’s Convenience, Workin’ Moms and Letterkenny, Canada’s content creators are making truly must-see TV.

Beth Janson, CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, thinks so too. With the CSAs just days away, we spoke to Janson about the health of the TV industry, our programming, how to get up and close and personal with your favourite stars and how you can access red carpet coverage on Sunday night.

Is this the Golden Age of Canadian television that so many talk about?
Beth Janson: Yes. The television industry is turning out some of the best content that we’ve seen. It’s extremely diverse which is, to me, reflective of a very healthy industry. We don’t just have a lot of procedurals. We don’t just have a lot of typical sitcoms. It’s really a mix. And I should say that isn’t reflected in our nominations this year just because of where the eligibility period falls, but for the first time we’re seeing a Canadian intellectual property in The Launch being developed here, repackaged and sold overseas. That, to me, is a huge shift and a validation of what we’re going here with our Canadian ideas and our Canadian voices can travel.

Where do you stand on Netflix investing $500 million into Canadian productions?
Netflix made a business decision which I think is the thing that gets lost in the conversation. They see how talented our craftspeople are here. They see how interesting the voices are here. They’re investing in that. I do believe that it’s not related to some sort of deal regarding whether they should be taxed or not. I think that separate and apart from that they see this is a business opportunity, and a way to get in on the ground level with really talented creators too. I think it’s a wakeup call for how we’re thinking about Canadian content. I think that will put some pressure on the way we’ve always done things. I’m ultimately optimistic about it.

Let’s discuss the Best Limited Series or Program at this year’s Canadian Screen Awards. All are deserving and nominees like Cardinal, The Disappearance and Alias Grace are deserving of being on a cable channel like HBO, Showtime or Starz in the U.S. How exciting is it to have projects like these made in this country?
It’s incredibly exciting. Again, I think it reiterates this idea that we create stuff that the world is interested in. It’s not just for our market. In particular, the rise of the showrunner has had a really positive impact in what we’re doing in this country. People who have a very specific point of view. The model is different in that you’re creating a six-part series. There isn’t an expectation that you have to get your second season, sort of? I don’t know if maybe that has something to do with it. It feels more contained. It feels more film-like, so artistic choices are prized in a way that might make a 13-part series producer nervous for whatever reason. I think there are a few factors contributing to the really interesting rise of this format.

The Canadian Screen Awards gala is coming this Sunday on CBC. For those that don’t know: how are the nominees in each category selected?
It depends on the category. The majority of the nominees are selected by membership vote by the branch that you’re in, like the craft categories or the television categories. The editing branch nominates the editing nominees, etc. We still have a few television categories that are selected by a jury, a jury of professionals—136 in TV and digital media and 28 in film—from across the country that come together. And then all the nominees are voted on the membership as a whole.

I’m thrilled that Jonny Harris and Emma Hunter are sharing co-hosting duties on Sunday. How did you come to the decision to have them do it?
I think it’s fun to have co-hosts because there is the opportunity for them to play off each other. There is more opportunity for comedy and they can support each other in the duties. I thought it would make for fun, spontaneous moments. I just wanted to see us shine a spotlight on some of the extremely talented comedians that we have up here. We do comedy better than most people in the world and I wanted them to show what Canada can do.

I wish no ill will on a Howie Mandel or Norm Macdonald, but I think keeping to people who are currently working in this country was the right move.
There was always a fear that you needed someone like that to drive ratings and this is the risk we’re taking. I’m very optimistic that we’ll see very positive results.

The Family Fan Day, where fans of Canadian television can meet their favourite stars this Saturday, is taking place at the Sony Centre for the second year in a row. That venue is so great because it offers fans a more personal experience than at the Eaton Centre.
Yes. The thing about the Eaton Centre is you have a lot of foot traffic and accidental engagement. Again, I said we don’t need that. What we’re doing here is worthy of the trip and it was a massive success. We have a lot of great, big names coming this year. We’re building a stage so we’re going to have performances this year. It will be really great.

You’ve said several times that this country is worthy of celebrating its talent. I agree. I’ve been on the Canadian networks to broadcast the Canadian Screen Awards red carpet to showcase our star system and I’m disappointed they still won’t do it.
The Academy hasn’t been able to sell the idea to anyone, basically. So we just decided to do it ourselves. We will have a correspondent on the red carpet and will be live-streaming that on our Facebook page. Some of the most fun at an awards show is talking to people on the red carpet.

The Canadian Screen Awards gala airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

 

 

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Link: Young ‘Breadwinner’ actress among ACTRA winners

From the Canadian Press:

Link: Young ‘Breadwinner’ actress among ACTRA winners
The star of the Oscar-nominated animated Canadian co-production The Breadwinner was among the honourees at the ACTRA Awards in Toronto.

Toronto actress Saara Chaudry, who voices the lead role of a young girl who helps her family in Afghanistan, won the award for best voice performance at Saturday’s show. Continue reading.

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Emma Hunter and Jonny Harris to host 2018 Canadian Screen Awards

From a media release:

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (the Canadian Academy) and CBC today announced that Jonny Harris of CBC’s Still Standing and Murdoch Mysteries and Emma Hunter of The Comedy Network’s The Beaverton and CBC’s Mr. D, will co-host the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards Broadcast Gala live on CBC on Sunday, March 11, 2018. The Canadian Academy also announced hosts for the three non-broadcast Canadian Screen Awards Galas and Family Fan Day.

The Canadian Academy and CBC also announced their new production partner for the Broadcast Gala: Insight Production Company. This year marks the inaugural year the Canadian Academy will work with the award-winning content producers to deliver one of the country’s biggest award shows. As part of the new partnership, Insight Productions is taking on the task of bringing the “Golden Era of Entertainment” to the Canadian Screen Awards stage.

Also taking on hosting duties during Canadian Screen Week this year are five very talented Canadian stars who will each bring their own flare and personality to the stage at the three non-broadcast Galas during Canadian Screen Week.

  • Canadian Screen Award nominee and co-anchor of The Comedy Network’s The Beaverton, Miguel Rivas, will host the Gala Honouring Excellence in Non-Fiction Programming Sponsored by Boat Rocker Media and Eagle Vision (March 6, 2018);
  • Award-winning actor and improv dynamo Andrew Phung, of CBC’s Kim Convenience, will host the Gala Honouring Excellence in Creative Fiction Storytelling Sponsored by Technicolor and Thunderbird Entertainment (March 7, 2018); and
  • Mind Fudge’s Jon Simonassi and Justine Nelson will serve as “virtual hosts” through the creation of content for the Gala Honouring Excellence in Digital and Immersive Storytelling Supported by the Independent Production Fund (March 8, 2018).

The three off-air Galas will be produced by e=mc2 events who are working with the Canadian Academy for the first time this year.

Additionally, ET Canada’s Carlos Bustamante will host Family Fan Day, presented by the Canadian Academy and the Shaw Rocket Fund, and supported by City of Toronto at the Sony Centre of Performing Arts on March 10, 2018, which coincides with the beginning of March Break in Toronto.

 

 

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