Tuesday, August 25, 2009

March to The Geminis, 2009 Edition

SO THIS MORNING the nominees for the 24th Annual Gemini Awards were announced. The 758 Awards, recognizing excellence in Canadian English Language TV, will be handed out over something like 17 nights in October and November.

The list of awards is truly astounding, and odd (I mean, what is the distinction between Best Lifestyle and Practical Information segment and Best News Magazine Segment? And really, considering the crash in the MOW and Miniseries market in the last couple of years, can we really field TEN nominees between two categories to warrant a prize? Shouldn't the choice be hard?) Anyway.

I won't torture you by listing all the awards, but if you're so inclined you can browse them here. Below is a list of the craftier awards that should be of interest to writerly types:



Best Dramatic TV Series


Being Erica
p. David Fortier, Aaron Martin, Ivan Schneeberg, Jana Sinyor
(Temple Street Productions)

The Border
p. Peter Raymont, David Barlow, Brian Dennis, Janet MacLean
(White Pine Pictures)

Flashpoint
p. Anne Marie La Traverse, Bill Mustos
(Flashpoint Season 1 Inc., PINK SKY ENTERTAINMENT INC., AVAMAR ENTERTAINMENT INC.)

The Tudors
p. Sheila Hockin, Morgan O'Sullivan
(Peace Arch Television Ltd., PA Tudors II Inc., TM Productions)

ZOS: Zone of Separation
p. Paul Gross, Mario Azzopardi, Malcolm MacRury, Andrea Raffaghello, Frank Siracusa
(Whizbang Films, Sulari Productions Inc.)


Best Comedy Program or Series



Best Dramatic Mini Series

Burn Up
p. Tom Cox, Stephen Garrett
(Seven 24 Films Inc., Kudos Film and Television)

Diamonds
p. Jennifer Kawaja, Liz Jarvis, Phyllis Laing, Philo Pieterse, Julia Sereny, Carrie Stein, Simon Vaughan, Nick Witkowski
(Sienna Films, Rough Cut Pictures Inc., Rough Productions Litd., Love Reigns (Pty) Ltd.)

The Last Templar
p. Michael Prupas, Robert Halmi Sr., Robert Halmi, Jr., Irene Litinsky
(Templar Productions (Muse) Inc.)

XIII
p. Jay Firestone, Thomas Anargyros, Edouard De Vesinne
(Prodigy Pictures, Cipango)

Best TV Movie

Celine
p. Laszlo Barna, Steven Silver
(Barna-Alper Productions Inc.)

Elijah
p. Blake Corbet, Gigi Boyd, Kevin Eastwood, Christopher Leeson, Lisa Meeches, Mary Anne Waterhouse
(Anagram Pictures Inc., Eagle Vision (Manitoba))

In a World Created By a Drunken God
p. Kirstie McLellan Day, Larry Day
(Pyramid Productions Inc.)

Of Murder and Memory
p. Ilana Frank, Semi Chellas, Daniel Iron, David Wellington
(Thump Inc., Oasis International)

The Secret of the Nutcracker
p. Joe Novak, Matt Gillespie, Shirley Vercruysse
(Joe Media Group Inc.)

The Terrorist Next Door
p. Pierre Sarrazin, Suzette Couture, Richard Lalonde, Susan Murdoch
(Sarrazin Couture Entertainment, Forum Films Inc.)


Best Animated Program or Series


Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series (man that one rolls off the tongue, don't it?)

Instant Star 4
p. Linda Schuyler, David Lowe, Stephen Stohn, Stephanie Williams
(Epitome Pictures Inc.)

The Latest Buzz
p. Steven DeNure, Neil Court, Kevin May, Brent Piaskoski, Beth Stevenson
(Decode Entertainment Inc., DECODE/Buzz Productions Inc.)

Life with Derek
p. Christina Jennings, Daphne Ballon, Jeff Biederman, Suzanne French, Scott Garvie, Laurie McLarty
(Shaftesbury Films Inc.)

Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series

Mark De Angelis, David Guy Mackenzie, George Westerholm
The 29th Annual Genie Awards

Adam Reid, Max Reid
Billable Hours
A Manson for All Seasons

Matt Alden, Dana Andersen, Sheldon Elter, Jeff Halaby, Howie Miller, Ryan Parker
CAUTION: May Contain Nuts - Season 1
Episode 3

Mark McKinney
Less Than Kind
Careers Day

Kenny Hotz, Derek Harvie
Testees
Memory Loss

Best Writing in a Dramatic Series

Mark Ellis, Stephanie Morgenstern
Flashpoint
Haunting the Barn

Lori Spring
Murdoch Mysteries
I, Murdoch

Floyd Kane
Soul
Fathers and Daughters

Brad Wright
Stargate Atlantis
The Shrine

Michael Hirst
The Tudors
Episode 205


Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series

Richard Clark
Grossology
The New Recruits

Victor Nicolle, Sandy Flanagan, Dennis Heaton
Jibber Jabber
"Night of the Werewolf"/"Enter the Jelly"

Sean Jara
The Latest Buzz
The First Impressions Issue

Jeff Biederman
Life with Derek
Just Friends

Steven Westren
My Friend Rabbit
Frog On A Log


Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini Series


Donald Martin
Celine

David Vainola
Diamonds

Tony Marchant
Diverted

Blake Corbet
Elijah

David Wolkove
XIII
Day of the Black Sun

Best Writing in a Documentary Program or Series

Robert Cornellier, Paul Carvalho
Black Wave The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez

Sheona McDonald
Capturing a Short Life

Tracy Deer
Club Native

Araz Artinian
The Genocide in Me

Larry Weinstein, Harvey Sachs
Toscanini: In His Own Words

Congrats to all the nominees.

UPDATE - but on a personal note - boo to whichever juries handled the Best Comedy and Best Comedy Writing nominations. Shutting out Corner Gas -- a well made show that's both critically and popular with Canadians, in its final season, doesn't really help the cause of, you know, making us seem very in touch with the Canadian psyche.

16 comments:

Frank "Dolly" Dillon said...

Wow. Arguably the most interesting series ZOS (disclosure, I worked on it briefly) got two nominations.

DMc said...

Heh heh heh, oh Frank, you're gonna get me yelled at by crazy strangers in a bar again!

-- I must say, I thought the same thing.

someguy said...

Hurm, bit of an eff you for the final season of Gas...

DMc said...

Fudge -- I had a huge brain fart and didn't think that last season of GAS was eligible this year. For some reason I thought it would be in Next year's crop.

That is a pretty egregious oversight.

Actually, there's a whole bunch of oversights at work. Some of that's inside stuff not to be talked about I guess, but others --

I think the Jury system is pretty flawed. Indiv juries having so much power and no criteria for serving (the chair just picks the jury) makes it too variable from year to year. You look at that comedy nom list and it's clear the type of people who were on that jury.

It speaks to the time old problem with the Geminis -- too many categories, flawed process, doubtful results...

wcdixon said...

I can't imagine GAS getting no nominations....like ZERO. It had to have been on some kind of production/airdate cycle to not be eligible for this years awards...HAD to be. No?

wcdixon said...

Oh, and did you add/make up the titles after Terrorist Next Door in the TV Movie category...just to see if anyone was reading with attention?

Frank "Dolly" Dillon said...

just noticed the incredible exclusion of Tassie cameron and mark and stephanie from the flashpoint best series nod.

DMc said...

Heh, yeah, no -- it appears I improperly formatted the heading for "Best animated program or series." Fixed now.

I checked the rules. The nominating period ended April 30, 2009, and the last Corner Gas aired two weeks before that.

It was indeed eligible, and overlooked.

Bad, bad form. Ugh. Great. Just what we need. Another controversy over the fucking Geminis.

DMc said...

The Best Series/producer nominations are, I guess, at the discretion of the Executive Producers.

I was Co-Executive Producer of Across the River to Motor City as well as co-creator, and yet I was excluded from the Best Dramatic Miniseries credits last year.

I agree it's pretty scandalous. But then again, I think who you choose to list, and who you choose to admit, and why says an awful lot. An awful, awful, awful lot.

someguy said...

I thought for sure once they were off the air gas would clean up! Maybe that only work when you're cancelled.

deborah Nathan said...

I'm sure a number of us have sat on these juries and there's a great deal of conflicts of interest. As in people connected with some of the shows submitted.

Also, the jury is not the deciding factor. The jury only narrows the field from the hundred entries to a manageable number which then are voted on by another committee and I was never aware who sat on that committee.

DMc said...

Mmmm, that might have once been the case, but I've been on about five juries in the last five years and chaired two. (not two years ago because I would have been in a conflict of interest in most of the drama categories I was asked to judge, and not this year because I was away.)

They've changed the weighting process now so that the vote of the Jury counts for the majority of the award, and the votes count for some smaller minority. In effect, the jury picks the winner.

wcdixon said...

Nothing...like ZERO, for Little Mosque as well --- really very interesting.

Unknown said...

Testees? Really? The Geminis are an embarassment. 99 categories is a lot of 350.00 tickets for a boring show and a passable meal.

Gustav said...

I like a free drink and a catered party as much as the next WGC member but leave the attention hogging paranoia to the producers, actors, directors, and other damaged personalities, lolz.

"Actually, there's a whole bunch of oversights at work. Some of that's inside stuff not to be talked about I guess, but others --"

Inside stuff = interesting but classified? Bah! Why bring it up at all.

DMc said...

...cause it's my blog, Gustav.

Hey the minute you want to put yourself out there and try to big up writers, and the minute you want to take the shit I take on a weekly basis from people, then feel free to come back and ding me for trying to be circumspect.

Acknowledging that there are things you can't talk about is infinitely more honest than just pretending that everything's on the level.

If you walked a few steps in my shoes, you'd probably agree. Or maybe you wouldn't.

Whatever. Next.