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AMI’s That Sex Show and Bell Fibe’s Vollies among Screen Nova Scotia 2024 award winners

May 12, 2024 Greg David Leave a comment

From a media release:

Screen Nova Scotia hosted its tenth anniversary awards gala on Saturday, May 11th, in the Bruce Guthro Theatre at Casino Nova Scotia in front of a sold-out crowd of industry members and supporters. The annual event celebrates the incredible talent, creativity, and passion that are the trademarks of Nova Scotia’s screen industry. Awards handed out included the ACTRA Maritimes Awards for Outstanding Performances, the Film Crew Excellence Award, the Women in Film & Television – Atlantic Award, the Community Recognition Award, and the Screen Nova Scotia awards for best television, film, and animation. New 2024 awards included the Screen Nova Scotia award for Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting and the addition of a new category from ACTRA Maritimes for Series Ensemble.

The night’s finale was the Screen Nova Scotia Award for Best Feature Film, sponsored by the Director’s Guild of Canada, which went to The Queen of My Dreams from writer/director Fawzia Mirza and producers Marc Tetreault and Jason Levangie (Shut Up & Colour Pictures) and Andria Wilson (Baby Daal Productions). Filmed in Pakistan and Nova Scotia, the film tells the story of a mother, Mariam (Nimra Bucha) and her daughter, Azra (Amrit Kaur) coming of age in two different eras while exploring the characters’ complicated relationships to their home countries and each other.

The third season of the Bell Fibe TV1 series Vollies from Canadian Content Studios was crowned the winner of the Best Scripted Television Series Award. The fresh, funny comedy follows the Essex-West-Essex Fire Department, a small town volunteer fire department that never has any actual fires to fight. The cast of Vollies (Jonathan Torrens, Mary Austin, Brian George, and James Faulkner) also took home the inaugural ACTRA Maritimes Award for Series Ensemble.

Meanwhile, the Best Unscripted Television Series Award went to That Sex Show (featured image above) from Ocean Entertainment. The AMI series, hosted by sex educator Rachele Manett, features experts and members of the disability community discussing the myths and misconceptions surrounding the sex lives of people with a disability.

The Best Documentary Film Award went to Cold Dip from Amy Mielke and Brittany Gavin (A+B Roll Films). The film follows Jessica Wiebe, a Canadian veteran and artist, who practices cold dipping in Nova Scotia as a way to heal physical and emotional trauma. Mielke and Gavin also took home the Best Nova Scotia Director Award from Women in Film & Television – Atlantic.

The new award for Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting went to writer/director Taylor Olson for his 2020 award-winning micro-budget feature Bone Cage, while Best Animated Production was awarded to Toopy and Binoo: The Movie, animated by HH Animation.

Locally filmed TV series proved to be a showcase for N.S. talent, with Kristin Howell (Moonshine) and Shelley Thompson (Sullivan’s Crossing) both taking home ACTRA Maritimes trophies for Outstanding Performances. Britt Loder also won an Outstanding Performances award for her role in the Hallmark movie Christmas Island, while David Rossetti won for his performance in the short film Remnants, which was made in the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative’s Film5 Program.

Songs of Unama’ki (Ruby Tree Films) was the winner of the Best Short Film Award. Directed by Mi’kmaw filmmaker Dawn Wells and Jeff Miller, the film details how the Mi’kmaq of Unama’ki (Cape Breton) are turning to the musical traditions of their ancestors in a race against time to revive their dying language and culture.

The Groundbreaking Performance Award, which celebrates a performer who identifies as being from an underrepresented community and does not yet meet the eligibility criteria for the ACTRA awards for their work in a film or television/web series, went to drag performer Deva Station (Steven MacLeod) for their role in the series Apocalyptic Kitchen. The award recipient is determined by an online voting process, to better engage the wider community outside of the screen industry.

This year’s Film Crew Excellence Award went to art director and production designer Ewen Dickson. A skilled carpenter and member of DGC Maritimes, Dickson has worked in the Nova Scotia film and television industry for over 25 years on countless productions of all sizes, genres, and budgets. A mentor to many, Dickson is known for his skill, generosity, enthusiasm and professionalism. His credits include Kids vs Aliens, Books of Blood, Moonshine, Diggstown, and Hobo with a Shotgun, as well as countless short films.

The 2024 Community Recognition Award recipient was Janet Hawkwood, a former lead instructor of the Screen Arts program at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC). Hawkwood was recognized for her dedication to nurturing, promoting, and elevating the local film scene through mentoring hundreds of emerging filmmakers over her 20 year tenure at the college. She was pivotal in the development of the two-year filmmaking diploma at NSCC that has since served as a launching pad for many individuals who have gone on to create impactful and critically acclaimed work.

This year’s prestigious Industry Champion Award was awarded posthumously to visionary television producer David MacLeod. A passionate industry advocate and a pillar in the local production community for over 30 years, MacLeod will be remembered for mentoring and encouraging an entire generation of Nova Scotian filmmakers. MacLeod was a true trailblazer and instrumental in the early success of Screen Nova Scotia as a founder and long-time board member.

The Screen Nova Scotia Awards were made possible this year due to the generous support of many sponsors, including Platinum Partners at the Directors Guild of Canada, Support4Culture, the Canadian Media Producers Association, and William F. White International Inc. Special thanks to 902 Post, Narrative Environment Studios, and The Hideout Studios for their continued work to ensure another successful event in 2024.

2024 Winners:

– Best Feature Film: The Queen of My Dreams (director Fawzia Mirza / producers Shut Up & Colour Pictures)

– Best Documentary Film: Cold Dip (directors/producers Amy Mielke and Brittany Gavin, A+B Roll Films)

– Best Scripted Television Series: Vollies S3 (Canadian Content Studios)

– Best Unscripted Television Series: That Sex Show S1 (Ocean Entertainment)

– Best Short Film: Songs of Unama’ki (Ruby Tree Films)

– Best Animated Series: Toopy and Binoo: The Movie (HH Animation)

– Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting: Taylor Olson, Bone Cage

– Groundbreaking Performance: Deva Station (Steven MacLeod), Apocalyptic Kitchen

– ACTRA Maritimes Awards for Outstanding Performances: Britt Loder (Christmas Island); David Rossetti (Remnants); Kirstin Howell (Moonshine S3); Shelley Thompson (Sullivan’s Crossing S1)

– ACTRA Maritime Series Ensemble: Vollies (Jonathan Torrens, Mary Austin, Brian George, and James Faulkner)

– WIFT-AT Award for Best Nova Scotia Director: Amy Mielke and Brittany Gavin (Cold Dip)

– Film Crew Excellence Award: Ewen Dickson, Art Director/Production Designer

– Community Recognition Award: Janet Hawkwood, NSCC Screen Arts Program (retired)

– Industry Champion Award: David MacLeod, Producer

Featured, Industry News

Canadian screenwriters and independent producers reach terms on new Independent Production Agreement

May 7, 2024 Greg David Leave a comment

From a media release:

Today, the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) jointly announced the successful conclusion of negotiations, resulting in an agreement in principle on the terms for a new Independent Production Agreement. The CMPA-WGC Independent Production Agreement establishes the terms, conditions, and rates for writers, story editors, and story consultants.

“We are pleased to have reached a fair agreement with the CMPA that will protect the livelihoods of our screenwriter members and maintain stability in the Canadian film and television industry,” said Victoria Shen, WGC Executive Director. “We feel the new agreement includes important protections for Canadian screenwriters and balances the concerns of our producer partners.”

“We are proud to have come to terms on an agreement that truly values the important alliance that exists between Canadian screenwriters and independent producers,” said Sean Porter, the CMPA’s Vice-President of National Industrial Relations and Counsel. “I want to thank the individuals on both sides of the bargaining table for their commitment to finding solutions that serve to benefit the future of our sector and Canadian storytelling on screen.”

The terms for the new three-year Independent Production Agreement will be sent to the CMPA’s Board of Directors, and distributed by the WGC, for ratification. The current agreement expired on December 31, 2023.

Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Chef Shawn Adler cooks up tasty and traditional treats on APTN’s Pow Wow Chow

May 6, 2024 Greg David Leave a comment

I’m fascinated with the behind-the-scenes of creating food. Whether it was The Heat with Mark McEwan back in 2006 or Carnival Eats with Noah Cappe, it’s interesting to find out how food is prepared, quickly and on-location, for people.

That fascination continues with Pow Wow Chow. The documentary series, debuting Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on APTN, hits the road to follow two Indigenous chefs preparing food for crowds at Pow Wows across the country.

Featuring Indigenous chefs Shawn Adler of the Pow Wow Café and Flying Chestnut Kitchen, and Bob Chilblow of Chiblow Fish, their partners, family, and road crews, each instalment of Pow Wow Chow digs into the dishes being created, as well as spotlighting the Pow Wows themselves.

“Going behind the scenes is interesting,” Adler says during a recent phone call. “People don’t have that perspective without a TV show, and it definitely makes for some interesting watching.”

Adler and his partner are a sight, driving a small yellow school bus from location to location, unloading it, prepping, cooking, selling, cleaning up, packing up and doing it all over again. It can be a logistical nightmare, but one Adler has nailed down with experience.

Produced by InterINDigital and Sandbay, Pow Wow Chow is educational as well. Viewers learn about the Pow Wow Trail, which stretches from B.C. to Nova Scotia, celebrating Indigenous culture as multiple generations come together to enjoy food, honour traditions, forge a sense of community and practice spiritual healing.

“APTN is aired all across Canada,” Adlet says. “I don’t think a lot of non-Indigenous folks have ever been to a Pow Wow, maybe they have heard the term before, and don’t really understand what happens. Beyond the food vending, there is the drumming, the dancing, the singing, all of the craft vendors and it’s a family-oriented cultural practice.”

“I hope that people tune in and garner a little more of an understanding of life on the Pow Wow Trail.”

Pow Wow Chow airs Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on APTN.

Image courtesy of Sandbay Entertainment.

Children Ruin Everything, Featured

CTV announces 16 episode order of original comedy Children Ruin Everything

May 6, 2024 Greg David Leave a comment

From a media release:

CTV announced today a 16-episode order of Canadian Screen Award-nominated comedy CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING from New Metric Media. With production beginning today in Toronto and Hamilton, Ont., Meaghan Rath (BEING HUMAN) and Aaron Abrams (BLINDSPOT) return for 16 half-hour episodes, alongside Logan Nicholson, Mikayla SwamiNathan, Canadian Screen Award-winner Ennis Esmer, Nazneen Contractor, Dmitry Chepovetsky, Veena Sood and Lisa Codrington. Part 1 of Season 4 set to air during CTVs 2024/2025 schedule. CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING is created by Emmy® Award-winner Kurt Smeaton (SCHITT’S CREEK).

A comedic love letter to childrearing, CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING follows parents Astrid (Rath) and James (Abrams), as they raise their three young children and struggle to hold on to their pre-kid life, while discovering all of the little ways that raising kids has reshaped their world. Each episode explores how the demands, needs and whims of the little weirdos they love so dearly shape and change their lives.

The fun and fumbles of raising kids continues for Astrid (Rath), who now faces the pressure of being the sole bread winner, and James (Abrams), who struggles with his new role of stay-at-home dad. Parenting is more challenging and funnier than ever with tween Felix (Nicholson) asserting more independence and attitude, seven-year-old Viv (SwamiNathan) dealing with friend drama at school, and Morris, a toddler who steals. Meanwhile, Astrid’s sister Dawn (Contractor) and her husband Bo (Chepovetsky) fuss over their surrogate’s pregnancy, Bo’s business find new success under Marla’s (Codrington) watchful eye, and James’s best pal Ennis (Esmer) finally commits to a relationship. The complications of work and child-rearing may pull Astrid and James in different directions but they always end up on the same page – even if that page is dog-eared and stained with jam.

The sophomore season of CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING garnered seven nominations for the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards, including back-to-back Lead Performer, Comedy for Meaghan Rath and Best Supporting Performer, Comedy for Ennis Esmer – who won the award in 2023. The series also leads the nominees for the 28th Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) Screenwriting Awards this month.

The first three seasons of CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING are currently available for streaming on CTV.ca and the CTV app with no subscription or sign-in required, and Crave. In the U.S., CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING airs on The CW. The first two seasons are also available on Netflix in Canada, the U.K., and German-speaking territories, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg.

CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING is from award-winning comedy entertainment studio New Metric Media and is created and executive produced by Smeaton and executive produced by Chuck Tatham (MODERN FAMILY, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT), multiple Canadian Screen Award-winner Mark Montefiore (LETTERKENNY, SHORESY, BRIA MACK GETS A LIFE, WHAT WOULD SAL DO?), and Meaghan Rath, with Alyson Richards (The Retreat) serving as Producer.

Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Brandon Gonez checks in for Season 2 of CBC’s Canada’s Ultimate Challenge

April 26, 2024 Greg David Leave a comment

There is a lot of reality competition series vying for eyeballs, and one of the most interesting is kicking off its second season on Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Canada’s Ultimate Challenge—produced by the same folks behind The Amazing Race Canada—is equal parts The Amazing Race, Survivor, and in some cases, Wipeout, making for an entertaining watch. And, serving as host is Brandon Gonez.

Gonez, who joins the series for Season 2, is well-known to audiences. Aside from founding his own online news and entertainment company, Gonez Media, he was a reporter and anchor at CP24 and Your Morning. What made him join the ranks of Jon Montgomery, Arisa Cox and Sharleen Joynt?

“I’ve had the opportunity to travel across many parts of this country as a local reporter, but now I get to showcase them,” he says. “I was like, ‘Let’s do it!” And the opportunity to host allows Gonez to show a side of him folks may not have seen when he was a reporter.

“I like to laugh, I like to giggle, and I like to get real,” he says with a laugh. “You get to feel all of those highs and lows with this gig. My job is to be the audience, to ask that question, to get to the bottom of a fight that may be unfolding.”

Each episode of Canada’s Ultimate Challenge features four strangers thrust together into a team and facing off against other teams in a country-wide obstacle course. The challenges are, of course, designed to award winners and losers, but they also demand teamwork. And, that can be tough when you have a bunch of alphas yelling rote catchphrases into the camera and at each other.

A prime example is Sunday’s return, set in St. John’s. After Gonez introduces the team members to each other they have to work together to hoist one competitor down a rope anchored at the iconic Signal Hill, to a location down the hill. Once there, they look through binoculars at nautical flags being flown on a boat, memorize them and the order they are in, get hoisted back to the top of the hill and recreate the flags in order from dozens of combinations. All bragging and posturing drops, replaced by sweat, hard work and confusion.

Each leg features one team eliminated from the competition, with the winning competitors receiving a VIP trip to cheer on Team Canada at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Future locations this season include Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Ottawa, Hamilton, Canmore, Revelstoke and Vancouver Island, offering larger-than-life settings and drama for viewers and competitors.

“When you have a show called Canada’s Ultimate Challenge, you have to go big or go home,” Gonez says. “Each part of the country that we visit, you’re going to feel that on-screen. Our landscapes, cities and towns are so different depending on which region you’re in. This country is full of ups and downs, from mountains to fields, and you’re going to see that, and feel that range of emotions as well.”

Canada’s Ultimate Challenge airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Image courtesy of CBC.