The nominees for the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards were announced today in 141 film, television, and digital media categories by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (the Canadian Academy). The Awards will be presented in Toronto over five days during Canadian Screen Week (March 23-29), including the Canadian Screen Awards Broadcast Gala, which airs live on CBC and the CBC Gem streaming service on Sunday, March 29 at 8 p.m. (9 p.m. AT/9:30 p.m. NT).
The CBC hit series Schitt’s Creek leads both television and overall Canadian Screen Award nominations with 26 in total. These include: Best Comedy Series; Best Writing, Comedy; and Best Directing, Comedy, as well as multiple acting nominations in Best Lead Actor, Comedy; Best Lead Actress, Comedy; Best Supporting Actress, Comedy; and Best Supporting Actor, Comedy. Leading the film categories, François Girard’s The Song of Names received nine nominations in total, including Achievement in Art Direction, Achievement in Costume Design, and Achievement in Visual Effects.
“Whether our nominees are household names or not as well known, we are privileged to celebrate their achievements at the Canadian Screen Awards,” said Beth Janson, CEO, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. “Supporting these voices has never been more important, and we are proud to be at the heart of those efforts.”
“What was a moment is now a full-on movement, with Canadians and the content they create finally giving a voice to the vibrant communities they represent,” said John Young, Chair, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. “We are honoured to bring well-deserved attention to these incredible creative works.”
A select rundown of category nominees follows. To see the full lists of film, TV and digital media nominees, click here.
2020 CSA animation, VFX, game and immersive nominees:
FILM: Best Animated Short
Docking – Trevor Anderson, Alyson Richards
Giant Bear | ᓇᓄᕐᓗᒃ – Neil Christopher, Daniel Gies, Emily Paige
Pinch – Diego Maclean
Shannon Amen– Chris Dainty, Maral Mohammadian, Michael Fukushima
Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days – Regina Pessoa, Abi Feijó, Julie Roy, Reginald de Guillebon
FILM: Achievement in Visual Effects (Sponsor: SPIN VFX)
Astronaut – Sam Javanrouh, Helen Thach
Brotherhood -Adam Jewett, Steve Ramone, Michelle Brennan, Tim Sibley, Aneesh Bhatnager, Saikrishna (‘Sai’) Aleti, Peter Giliberti, Alex Basso, Arminus Billones, Marshall Lau
Road to the Lemon Grove– Steven Sangster
Sympathie pour le diable | Sympathy for the Devil– Benoît Brière, Kinga Sabela
The Song of Names – Marc-Antoine Rousseau
TV: Best Animated Program or Series
Corner Gas Animated-The Comedy Network (Bell Media) (Moving Mountoons II Inc.) Brent Butt, David Storey, Virginia Thompson
Cupcake & Dino: General Services– Teletoon (Corus Entertainment) (Entertainment One) Olivier Dumont, Randi Yaffa, Pedro Eboli, Luciana Eguti, Paulo Muppet, Mark Satterthwaite, Tristan Homer
Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood– Family Channel (DHX Media) (9 Story Media Group) Vince Commisso, Kevin Morrison, Angela C. Santomero, Tanya Green, Julie Soebekti, Sarah Wallendjack
Total Dramarama– Teletoon (Corus Entertainment) (Fresh TV Inc., Elliott Animation) Tom McGillis, Jennifer Pertsch, George Elliott, Brian Irving, Wren Errington, Sonia Santarelli
Wild Kratts– TVOKids (TVO) (9 Story Media Group) Vince Commisso, Martin Kratt, Chris Kratt, Blake Tohana, Nora Keely, Cheryl Knapp
TV: Best Pre-School Program or Series
Abby Hatcher –TVOKids (TVO) (Spin Master Hatching Productions Inc.) Rob Hoegee, Jennifer Dodge, Ronnen Harary, Laura Clunie, Jamie Whitney, Frank Falcone, Mary Bredin, Toni Stevens, Jonah Stroh, Tracey Dodokin, Cynthia Taylor
Dino Dana – TVOKids (TVO) (Sinking Ship Entertainment) J.J. Johnson, Blair Powers, Christin Simms, Matthew J.R. Bishop
PAW Patrol – TVOKids (TVO) (Spin Master Paw Productions 6 Inc.) Jennifer Dodge, Ronnen Harary, Keith Chapman, Ursula Ziegler-Sullivan, Laura Clunie, Toni Stevens, Jonah Stroh, Matt Beatty, David Sharples, Damian Temporale, Sarah Williams
Rusty Rivets – Treehouse TV (Corus Entertainment) (Spin Master Riveting Productions 2 Inc.) Jennifer Dodge, Ronnen Harary, Laura Clunie, Toni Stevens, Jonah Stroh, Jaelyn Galbraith, Jane Sobol
True and the Rainbow Kingdom – CBC (CBC) (Guru Studio) Frank Falcone, Mary Bredin, Jeremy Larner, Bill Schultz, Mimi Valdés, Pharrell Williams, Dominique Bazay
TELEVISION CRAFT: Best Direction, Animation
Abby Hatcher “When Abby Met Bozzly” – TVOKids (TVO) (Spin Master Hatching Productions Inc.) Kyran Kelly
Corner Gas Animated “Bush League” – The Comedy Network (Bell Media) (Moving Mountoons II Inc.) Stephen Evans, Mateusz Garbulinski
PAW Patrol “Mighty Pups Super Paws: When Super Kitties Attack” – TVOKids (TVO) (Spin Master Paw Productions 6 Inc.) Charles E. Bastien
True and the Rainbow Kingdom “Happy Hearts Day” – CBC (CBC) (Guru Studio) Harold Harris
Wild Kratts “The Real Ant Farm”– TVOKids (TVO) (9 Story Media Group) Chris Kratt, Chris Roy, Louis Champagne
TELEVISION CRAFT: Best Writing, Animation
Corner Gas Animated “Doctors without Boarders” – The Comedy Network (Bell Media) (Moving Mountoons II Inc.) Kate Hewlett
Corner Gas Animated “Hedge Your Debts” – The Comedy Network (Bell Media) (Moving Mountoons II Inc.) Diana Frances
Go Away Unicorn! “Claus Out, Unicorn!” – YTV (Corus Entertainment) (Sonar Entertainment) Alex Ganetakos
Go Away Unicorn! “You Rule, Unicorn!” – YTV (Corus Entertainment) (Sonar Entertainment) Evan Thaler Hickey
Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series “The Three Mustardteers” – Netflix (Netflix) (TPBA1 Productions Inc.) Mike Smith, JP Tremblay, Robb Wells, Norm Hiscock, Michael Rowe
TELEVISION CRAFT: Best Sound, Animation
Let’s Go Luna! “Amazing Man” – TVOKids (TVO) (9 Story Media Group) Mike Mancuso, Joe Tetreau, Ryan Eligh, Matt McKenzie, Dante Winkler
PAW Patrol “Mighty Pups Super Paws: When Super Kitties Attack”– TVOKids (TVO) (Spin Master Paw Productions 6 Inc.) Richard Spence-Thomas, Kyle Peters, Patton Rodrigues, Ryan Ongaro, Tim Muirhead, Mitch Connors, Luke Dante
Supernoobs “Noob and Improved”-Family Channel (DHX Media) (DHX Media) Mike Mancuso, Joe Tetreau, Ryan Eligh, Paul Talbott, Dante Winkler, Eric Mattar-Hurlbut
Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series “The Three Mustardteers”– Netflix (Netflix) (TPBA1 Productions Inc.) Brian Power, Jeremy Van Slyke, Matt Dawson, Bob Melanson
Wild Kratts “The Real Ant Farm” – TVOKids (TVO) (9 Story Media Group) Richard Spence-Thomas
TELEVISION CRAFT: Best Visual Effects
D-Day in 14 Stories –History (Corus Entertainment) (Yap Films) Will Garrett, Terry Rose, Joel Skeete, Deji Odontu, Ryan Moser, Xiang Jiang, Noah Conti, Farhad Hosseinpouri, Liam Campbell, Dan Rojaz
Dino Dana “Dino Territory / Prehistoric Predator” – TVOKids (TVO) (Sinking Ship Entertainment) Matthew J.R. Bishop, Michael Griffith, Steve Lowry, Ila Soleimani, Curtis Hsiung, Bruno Tacchino, Aravindan Rajasingham, Kelly MacFarlane, Stephen Curran, Holden Mohring
Killjoys “Last Dance” – Space (Bell Media) (Temple Street) Michael Gibson, Danny McNair, Anthony Patterson, Lara Osland, Andre Miranda, Chris Doe, Rachad Meya, David Bouhs, Jay Stanners, Mohsin Kazi
Vikings “What Happens in the Cave” – History (Corus Entertainment) (Take 5 Productions Inc.) Dominic Remane, Michael Borrett, Bill Halliday, Tom Morrison, Leann Harvey, Jim Maxwell, Warren Lawtey, Ovidiu Cinazan, Kieran McKay, Maria Gordon
TELEVISION CRAFT: Best Original Music, Animation
Abby Hatcher “Peepertime Blues” – TVOKids (TVO) (Spin Master Hatching Productions Inc.) Ryan Carlson, Brendan Quinn
Let’s Go Luna! “Bob the Plant” – TVOKids (TVO) (9 Story Media Group) Amin Bhatia, Chris Tait, Ari Posner, Kris Kuzdak
PAW Patrol “Mighty Pups Super Paws: When Super Kitties Attack” – TVOKids (TVO) (Spin Master Paw Productions 6 Inc.) Brian Pickett, Graeme Cornies, James Chapple, David Kelly
Rusty Rivets “Secret Agent Rusty / Moon Walkin’ Rusty” – Treehouse TV (Corus Entertainment) (Spin Master Riveting Productions 2 Inc.) Asher Lenz, Stephen Skratt
The Daniel Tiger Movie: Won’t You Be Our Neighbour? – Family Channel (DHX Media) (9 Story Media Group) Brian Pickett, Graeme Cornies, James Chappie, David Kelly
TELEVISION PERFORMANCE: Best Performance, Animation
Agent Binky “Pets of the Universe” – Treehouse TV (Corus Entertainment) (Nelvana Limited) Paul Braunstein
Corner Gas Animated – The Comedy Network (Bell Media) (Moving Mountoons II Inc.) Brent Butt
Corner Gas Animated – The Comedy Network (Bell Media) (Moving Mountoons II Inc.) Eric Peterson
Cupcake & Dino: General Services – Teletoon (Corus Entertainment) (Entertainment One) Mark Little
Esme and Roy – Treehouse TV (Corus Entertainment) (Nelvana Limited) Patrick McKenna
DIGITAL MEDIA: Best Production, Interactive
Clit Me (National Film Board of Canada) Hugues Sweeney, Noémie Beaulac, Stéphanie Dupuis, Maude Fraser-Jodoin, Laurence Gélinas, Audrey Malo, Léa Martin, Vincent Paradis, Catherine Sabourin
KENK: The Interactive Graphic Novel – (Pop Sandbox Inc.) Alex Jansen, Richard Poplak, Jason Gilmore, Nick Marinkovich, Adam Putter
Super Queeroes – (CBC Arts) Peter Knegt, Mercedes Grundy, Oliver Skinner, Reiko Milley, Eleanor Knowles, Jeff Hume, Lucius Dechausay, Kiah Welsh, Jonathan Busch, Allison Cake, Andrew D’Cruz
Un/tied Shoes – (National Film Board of Canada) Evie Ruddy, Tracey Lebedovich, Nicholas Klassen
DIGITAL MEDIA: Best Immersive Experience – Non-Fiction
Anthropocene VR– (Mercury Films) Nicholas de Pencier, Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky
Dino Quest – (Sinking Ship Interactive) J.J. Johnson, Blair Powers, Ronald Ruslim, Gavin Friesen, Alex Bethke, Kevin Gan, Mark Cautillo, Javier Plana, Sarah Imsirek, Alex Gordon, Sean Hamilton, Leisha-Marie Riddel, Britney Coates, Jason Lean, Adriano Bertuzzo, Christopher Coey, Geordie Telfer
They Should Be Flowers– (Smallaxx) Karen Chapman
Traveling While Black– (Felix & Paul Studios) Roger Ross Williams, Felix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphael, Ayesha Nadarajah, Stephane Rituit, Bonnie Nelson Schwartz, Ryan Horrigan, Jihan Robinson, Lina Srivastava, Sebastian Sylwan Best
DIGITAL MEDIA: Immersive Experience – Fiction
Afterlife– (Signal Space Lab) Luisa Valencia
Glacial Reality– (Studio Element) Jean-François Dugal
Gymnasia– (Felix & Paul Studios) Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski, Felix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphael, Dana Dansereau, Loc Dao, Rob McLaughlin, Stephane Rituit, Patrick Watson
DIGITAL MEDIA: Best Video Game Narrative
East of the Rockies– (National Film Board of Canada) Joy Kogawa, Rob McLaughlin, Jason Legge, Dirk van Ginkel
Lightbearer– (Compulsion Games) Alex Epstein, Mark Slutsky, Lisa Hunter
Roger & James in They Came from Below– (Compulsion Games) Alex Epstein, Lisa Hunter, Mark Slutsky
