Sheridan’s talented faculty and alumni have once again been recognized with nominations for the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards. Continuing the College’s record of success, over 50 graduates received nominations across more than two-dozen categories.
This year, they are joined in the 2020 Canadian Screen Award nominees’ circle by the Netflix series Blown Away, where Sheridan’s glassblowing program took a leading role.
Blown Away has been nominated for Best Reality/Competition Program or Series, along with Best Direction, Reality/Competition and Best Production Design or Art Direction, Non-Fiction.
Sheridan students and alumni built the hotshop featured in Blown Away, and Sheridan’s Head of Glass, Koen Vanderstukken, served as a series consultant. Assistants in the program’s first nine episodes were students and alumni of Sheridan’s glass program, and contestant Benjamin Kikkert is Sheridan grad.
“It is an honour to see Blown Away, a series produced in collaboration with Sheridan’s students, faculty, and alumni, receive such critical acclaim,” said Sheridan President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Janet Morrison, who served as a guest evaluator on Blown Away. “It’s fitting to see the series recognized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television since the awards have celebrated many of our alumni over the years. We are so proud of all our alumni nominated for screen awards. Our grads truly are the best ambassadors of the talent our programs nurture, and it’s wonderful to see their influence in Canadian media.”
The Canadian Screen Awards celebrate Canadian productions and talent in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes in film, television and digital media. The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television will present the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards on March 29th in Toronto.
Sheridan Alumni 2020 Canadian Screen Award nominees
Media Arts grads - Media Arts grads Calvin Thomas (’08) and Yonah Lewis (’08) have earned joint nominations in three categories for their work on the feature White Lie: Achievement in Direction, Best Motion Picture and Original Screenplay. Randy Daudlin (Computer Graphics ’91) is up for Achievement in Make-up for his work on the feature, Goalie, and the series Cardinal – Helen. Dashendra Naidoo (Media Arts ’06) has been nominated twice in the Achievement in Sound Editing category for her work on Lucky Day and Run This Town. She shares the nomination for Lucky Day with Tyler Whitham (Media Arts ’06) and Sheridan faculty member Stephen Barden (Media Arts ’95), and the nomination for Run This Town with J.R. Fountain (Media Arts ’01). Peter Giliberti (Animation ’97) will vie for Achievement in Visual Effects for his work on the Arabic-language short Brotherhood. Shannon Amen, from Academy Award-nominated producer Michael Fukushima (Animation ’85) is nominated for Best Animated Short. Lisa Barley (Journalism ’10) is nominated for Best Picture Editing, Reality/Competition for The Amazing Race Canada - "Canada Get More Maps." Animation alumni directed four of the five series vying for Best Direction, Animation: Charles Bastien (’93) for PAW Patrol, Christopher Roy (’97) for Wild Kratts, Kyran Kelly (’93) for Abby Hatcher, and Mateusz Garbulinski (’01) and Stephen Evans (’01) for Corner Gas Animated. Matthew Shoychet (Advanced Television and Film ’12), who helmed the documentary series The Accountant of Auschwitz, is up for Best Direction, Documentary. In the category of Best Editing in a Feature Length Documentary, Eamonn O’Connor (Advanced Television and Film ’04) has been nominated for his work on Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band. Four alumni were nominated in the category of Best Picture Editing, Reality/Competition: Chris Donaldson (Media Arts ’07), Jeffrey Perry (Advanced TV & Film ’06) and Ryan Monteith (Media Arts ’00) for Big Brother Canada, and Jesse Scheer (Media Arts ’06) for We Day 2018. In the category of Best Short Documentary, Christopher Auchter (Computer Animation ’05) is nominated for Now is the Time. In the category of Best Writing, Children’s or Youth, Cole Bastedo (Media Arts ’04) is nominated for Holly Hobbie while Vivian Lin (Advanced TV & Film ’06) is nominated for Bajillionaires. Supinder Wraich (Advanced TV & Film ’09) has earned three nominations for her work on The 410: Best Lead Performance, Web Program/Series and Best Writing, Web Program/Series. The series is also up for Best Web Program or Series, Fiction Nicole Power (Music Theatre Performance ’11) is up for Best Supporting Actress, Comedy for her role on Kim’s Convenience.
- Premier’s Award winner Stephanie Gorin (Media Arts ’81) has been nominated in the category of Best Achievement in Casting for Anne with an E. Three grads are up for Best Sports Opening: Curry Leamen (Media Arts ’08) and Matt Dorman (Media Arts ’08) for FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 Opening and Chris Nasso (Graphic Design ’95) for Bob Cole’s Final Game. Grads are nominated for three of the four series up for Best Visual Effects: Maria Gordon (Computer Animation ’98) and Kieran McKay (Computer Animation ’09) for Vikings, Jay Stanners (Animation ’89) and David Bouhs (Advanced TV & Film ’16) for Killjoys – Last Dance, and Bruno Tacchino (Animation ’01) for Dino Dana – Dino Territory. Joseph Facciuolo (Media Arts ’05) is up for Best Sound, Non Fiction for Engraved on a Nation: On The Line. Nine Media Arts alumni are vying for Best Sound, Animation: Luke Dante (’16), Tim Muirhead (’98), Ryan Ongaro (’12), Patton Rodrigues (’12) and Kyle Peters (’08) for PAW Patrol, Steve Copley (’87) and Clive Turner (’85) for Frontier and Tyler Whitham (’06) and Scott Shepherd (’89) for Anne with an E. The Marilyn Denis Show, featuring the work of Film and Television alumni John Simpson (’05), has been nominated for Best Talk Program or Series. Cupcake & Dino: General Services has been nominated in the category of Best Animated Program/Series. Luciana Eguti (Animation ’04) was part of the team to work on the series.
- Four series powered by Sheridan alumni have been nominated for Best Pre-School Program or Series: Toni Stevens-Fleishcmann (Media Arts ’85) worked on three of the series, including Abby Hatcher, PAW Patrol and Rusty Rivets. Frank Falcone (Computer Animation ’92) worked alongside Stevens-Fleishcmann on Abby Hatcher, as well as True and the Rainbow.
- Open Gym (The finals) is up for Best Sports Program or Series. Jeffrey Rocchi (Media Arts ’02) was part of the team to help power the program.
- Carmen Albano (Art ’96) served as an executive producer on Detention Adventure, nominated for Best Web Program or Series.
- Lucius Dechausay (Advanced TV & Film ’03) has earned a nomination in the category of Best Production, Interactive for his work on Super Queeroes.
- Animation alumni Alex Gordon (’00) and Leisha-Marie Riddel (’10) are part of the team behind Dino Quest, which has been nominated for Best Immersive Experience, Non-Fiction.
- Kim’s Convenience is nominated in the category of Best Comedy Series. Kevin White (Film & Television ’03) served as executive producer on the series.