Alliance for Children and Television Reveals the 2009 Awards of Excellence Winners!
The Alliance for Children and Television (ACT) honoured Canada’s top English-language children’s programs at the 2009 Awards of Excellence Gala. The jury of Canadian and international industry creators, craftspeople and professionals selected the following award winners:
– Grand Prize for Best Program – All Categories: Johnny Test produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment broadcast by Teletoon (sponsored by Main Sponsor CBC).
– Special Jury Award: Mighty Jungle II produced by Halifax Film a DHX Media Company, broadcast by CBC (sponsored by Shaftesbury Kids).
– Award of Excellence, All Genres, Ages 3-5 category: Are We There Yet?: World Adventure produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment broadcast by Treehouse (sponsored by Hit Entertainment).
– Award of Excellence, All Genres, Ages 6-8 category: Mark’s Moments produced and broadcast by TVO (sponsored by Sinking Ship Entertainment).
– Award of Excellence, All Genres, Ages 9-12 category: Booky and the Secret Santa produced by Platt Productions & Shaftesbury Films and Television broadcast by CBC (sponsored by Family Channel).
– Award of Excellence, All Genres, Teens category: Degrassi: The Next Generation produced by Epitome Pictures broadcast by CTV (sponsored by Muse Entertainment Enterprises).
– Award of Excellence, Animation, Ages 3-5 category: My Friend Rabbit produced by Nelvana Limited and broadcast by Treehouse & QUBO (sponsored by Epitome Pictures).
– Award of Excellence, Animation, Ages 6-8 category: Wapos Bay (Raiders of the Lost Art) produced by Wapos Bay Productions broadcast by APTN and SCN (sponsored by 9 Story Entertainment).
– Award of Excellence, Animation Ages 9-14 category: Storm Hawks produced by Nerd Corps Entertainment, broadcast by YTV (sponsored by marblemedia).
– Award of Excellence, Interstitials All Ages category: Roll Play produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment, broadcast by Treehouse (sponsored by TVOKids).
– Award of Excellence, Best Original Cross-Platform Content Tied Into a Children’s Program: www.anashinteractive.com (Anash and the Legacy of the Sun-Rock) produced by Reel Girls Media (sponsored by the Bell Fund).
In addition to granting awards for the best programs, the ACT presented two special awards celebrating the remarkable work of two homegrown creators:
The prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award was handed to Patricia Ellingson of TVO who has enjoyed an exceptional career in children’s programming in Canada. ACT’s Board of Directors is recognizing Patricia Ellingson for her commitment to excellence in children’s programming, as well as her leadership and guidance in developing TVO Kids. Winners of this prestigious prize, are chosen for the quality of their contributions, their leadership, their ability to innovate and inspire and their commitment throughout their career to young Canadians (sponsored by the Independent Production Fund).
The Emerging Talent Award went to Christin Simms, writer, script-writer and creative producer for Sinking Ship Entertainment. Christin has already demonstrated exceptional talent and promise in the children’s programming industry, notably in the development, story editing and writing of the new prime time animated series, Producing Parker (Breakthrough/CanWest Global) and most recently, in writing, story editing and creative producing on Sinking Ship’s pre-historic adventure series “Dino Dan” for TVO and Nickelodeon (sponsored by Corus Entertainment).
At the post-Gala reception marking its 35th anniversary, ACT officially launched An Alliance Devoted to Kids, a short history written by Robert Roy, one of the Alliance’s founding members back in 1974. All Gala attendees received a complimentary copy.
The Alliance for Children and Television (ACT) positively affects Canadian children’s lives by using advocacy, recognition, research and training to enrich the screen-based media they experience.
More specifically, the ACT Awards of Excellence support creators and encourage the celebration of the best kids’ programming in English and French Canada. ACT provides opportunities for creative and professional development through workshops, seminars and special events, such as Media-Jeunes and the Children, Youth & Media Conference. ACT also conducts studies on Canadian youth programming to better understand the media’s impact on our young people. Lastly, ACT is at the forefront in lobbying governments and drawing attention to the cause of children’s screen-based entertainment.
For more information on the ACT please visit our website at: http://www.act-aet.tv/.
