The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is pleased to announce the ten Academy Special Awards which celebrate exceptional contributions to the Canadian television and digital media industries.
"This year's Academy Special Awards celebrate a widely diverse range of Gemini winners-from inventors and entrepreneurs to filmmakers and actors. They are exceptional representatives of the multitude of talented people who work in the Canadian television and digital media industries," says Helga Stephenson, ACCT Interim CEO.
The 2024 Academy Award Recipients are:
(In alphabetical order by Award title)
Academy Achievement Award: Christina Jennings
Christina Jennings is one of Canada's most accomplished producers of high quality original content for film, television and multiple platforms. She established Shaftesbury in 1987 and has built the company into a position of unique leadership and strength as a top creator and distributor in Canada and worldwide, with programming broadcast in more than 120 countries.
Academy Board of Director's Tribute for Outstanding and Enduring Contributions to Canadian Television: Paul Bronfman
Paul Bronfman is the Chair/CEO of Comweb Corp. (founded in 1988) and William F. White International, as well as Chair of Pinewood Toronto Studios. Over the years he has built a group of integrated entertainment firms dedicated to providing expert production services, studio facilities, and equipment to the Canadian and international film and television industry.
Canada Award: The Storytelling Class
Produced by John Paskievich and John Whiteway (Sedna Productions) this 60-minute documentary is about Winnipeg's Gorden Bell High School, probably the most culturally varied school in the city, with 58 different languages spoken by the student body. Many students are children who have arrived as refugees from various war torn areas of the world.
Earle Grey Award: Cedric Smith
Actor Cedric Smith's wide-ranging career won him a Gemini Award in 1993 for his leading role in Road to Avonlea but he is truly one of Canada's iconic actors who has done it all from Night Heat to Street Legal. Some of his most memorable TV movie performances include: Love and Hate: The Story of Colin and Joanne Thatcher and Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story.
Gemini Humanitarian Award: Mark Terry
Mark Terry has produced over 20 TV series and documentaries, but none more impressive than two of the most internationally influential docs in the history of environmental policy - The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning (2009) and The Polar Explorer (2011) - both of which were invited by the United Nations Environment Programme to screen for world leaders.
Gemini Special Award for Exceptional Service to the Canadian Television Industry:
The Actors' Fund of Canada
The Actors' Fund of Canada is not just for actors: it is the lifeline for Canada's entertainment industry. Since 1958 the Fund has provided emergency financial aid to over 10,000 workers in film and television and other entertainment industry sectors to help with their recovery from an illness, injury or other circumstances causing severe financial hardship.
Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism: Lloyd Robertson
As Chief Anchor and Senior Editor of CTV News, Lloyd Robertson is the leader of the country's most-watched newscast, CTV National News with Lloyd Robertson. One of the most accomplished journalists in North America Robertson joined CTV in 1976 and has been broadcasting for more than 50 years; in 1998 Robertson became a Member of the Order of Canada.
Margaret Collier Award: Bob Carney
This six-time Gemini Award winning writer and producer, Bob Carney began his career writing on the CBC series The Great Detective. He played a key role in creating and producing the newsroom drama E.N.G and acted as co-executive producer on 26 episodes of Due South. He co-executive produced the second season of Flashpoint for CTV and CBS, and 11 Cameras for CBC.
Outstanding Technical Achievement Award: David F.E. Corley
David Corley is one of Canada's least known inventors, yet one of his most important inventions-the Corley color pattern test-arguably changed television everywhere. In 1962, he and his wife Susan started a TV production company D and S Corley Limited (DSC Labs) in the basement of their Etobicoke bungalow, and have been inventing ever since.
Outstanding Technical Achievement in Digital Media Award: NFB Digital Distribution Initiative
The National Film Board of Canada is cultivating new forms of entertainment through groundbreaking interactive productions such as Waterlife, HIGHRISE/Out My Window and pioneering new directions in 3D stereoscopic (S3D) production with films like Ora. In the last year, NFB productions were viewed more than 10 million times on various platforms.