Sheridan alumni nominated for more than 60 Canadian Screen Awards

Sheridan graduates have earned 61 nominations for this year’s Canadian Screen Awards, a recognition of their significant contributions to producing excellence in Canadian film, television and digital media.

The nominations cover a full range of genres, including news, documentary, sports, fiction and animated programming. In addition to the alumni named on the ballot, Blown Away — the glass-blowing reality show featuring students from the Bachelor of Craft and Design (Glass) program as assistants — earned three nominations: Best Reality/Competition Program or Series, Best Direction, Reality/Competition and Best Sound in a Lifestyle, Reality or Entertainment production.

Sheridan President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Janet Morrison says the breadth of work alumni are nominated for is a testament to the legacy of Sheridan’s programs in the Faculty of Animation, Arts and Design, which have long prepared graduates to fuel Canada’s media landscape. “Our graduates are leaders in screen-based industries who are consistently sought after by the best and biggest employers in the business. It is exciting — and an inspiration to our current students — to see them represented in such a broad range of nominations that demonstrate their expertise in specializations from sound editing to animation and acting.”

The 2023 Canadian Screen Awards will be presented in a series of genre-based celebrations throughout Canadian Screen Week from Tuesday, April 11 to Friday, April 14, 2023, with events culminating in a gala on April 16 that will be broadcast on CBC and CBC Gem.

Alumni who have been nominated for their work on films are:

• For Achievement in Cinematography, Christopher Lew (Media Arts ’13) received a nomination for his work on Riceboy Sleeps.
• For their work on Tehranto, Keenan Lynch (Media Arts ’15) and Faran Moradi (Media Arts ’14) are nominated for Achievement in Cinematography and Achievement in Editing, respectively.
• Tom Bjelic (Media Arts ’90) and Jill Purdy (Media Arts ’96) are nominated for Achievement in Sound Editing for their work on the film Crimes of the Future. Mark Zsifkovits (Media Arts ’96) earned a nod for Achievement in Sound Mixing on the film.
• Gabriel Chiang (Computer Animation ’08) is nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects for his work on Bones of Crows.
• Walker Grimshaw (Bachelor of Film and Television ’18) is recognized in the category of Best Original Music in a Feature Length Documentary for work on Dear Audrey.

Alumni who have been nominated for their work on television and digital media are:

• For Best Direction, Animation, Riccardo Durante (Animation ’90) for Big Blue; Charles E. Bastien (Animation ’86) for PAW Patrol; Wayne-Michael Lee (Bachelor of Animation ’10) for Pinecone & Pony; for his work on Total Dramarama.
• Carmen Albano (Art Fundamentals ’96) is nominated for work on Detention Adventure in the category of Best Writing, Children's or Youth, as is Joe Kicak (Advanced TV & Film '08). Also nominated for Detention Adventure is Gayle Ye (Media Arts ’14) in the category of Best Photography, Comedy.
• Anna Bigos (Media Arts ’04) is nominated for Best Picture Editing, Factual, for her work on Arctic Vets. Also nominated in the category is Vitold Vidic (Media Arts ’02) for his contributions to How I Got Here.
• In the category of Best Picture Editing, Documentary, Nathan Shields (Media Arts ’01) is nominated for Evil by Design: Surviving Nygard.
• For Best Picture Editing, Reality/Documentary, Alex Mastronardi (Advanced Television and Film ’10) for Wall of Bakers.
• Jane MacRae (Advanced Television and Film ’07) is nominated for Best Picture Editing, Children's or Youth for work on Holly Hobbie. Also nominated in the category are Nathan Martinak (Advanced Television and Film ’14) and Courtney Goldman (Advanced Television and Film ’08) for their work on Odd Squad Mobile Unit, and Joe Kicak (Advanced TV & Film '08) for Detention Adventure.
• Dave Johnson (Media Arts ’13) is nominated for Best Sound, Fiction for Hudson & Rex, while Robert Ainsley (Media Arts ’08) is nominated in that category for Sort Of.
• Timothy Muirhead (Media Arts ’98), Luke Dante (Media Arts ’16), Kyle Peters (Media Arts ’08), Ryan Ongaro (Media Arts ’12) and Patton Rodrigues (Media Arts ’12) are nominated for Best Sound, Animation, PAW Patrol.
• Brianna Trush (Interior Design ’10) and Jennifer Luckas (Applied Photography ’07) are nominated for Best Production Design or Art Direction, Fiction, for their work on The Hardy Boys - An Unexpected Return and Sort Of, respectively.
• In the category of Best Achievement in Make-Up, Sasha Pawluk (Advanced Special Effects Makeup ’17) for Coroner - Death Goes On.
• For Best Visual Effects, Steven Murphy (Illustration ’93) for History by the Numbers - The Roaring 20s and Joe Kicak (Advanced TV & Film '08) for Detention Adventure.
• James Wallace (Computer Animation ’00) and Jeff Robinson (Computer Animation -Digital Character Animation ’03) have been nominated for Best Visual Effects for work on Odd Squad Mobile Unit - Odd Together Now.
• Ceréna Sierra (Music Theatre ’12) is nominated for Best Original Music, Comedy for Sort Of.
• For Best Sports Feature Segment, Nigel Akam (Media Arts ’93) is nominated for work on Left Behind and Owen Ewers (Media Arts ’97) is nominated for Naked.
• In the category of Best Sports Opening, Matthew Dorman (Media Arts ’08) and Curry Leaman (Media Arts ’08) are nominated for work on Grey Cup Opening. Joining them in the category is Timothy Thompson (Animation ’01) for his work on broadcasts at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
• Karen LeBlanc (Theatre Arts Performance '89) is nominated as a Best Supporting Performer, Drama, for Departure.
• For Best Performance, Sketch Comedy (Individual/Ensemble), Paolo Santalucia (Theatre and Drama Studies ’11) and Chris Robinson (Theatre Arts-Technical Production ’88) are nominated for Pillow Talk.
• Tanner Sawatzky (Advanced Television and Film ’16) is nominated in Best Achievement in Casting, Non-Fiction for Race Against the Tide.
• Theatre Arts Performance alumna Sharron Matthews (’89) is nominated for Best Web Program or Series, Fiction for Mary & Flo on the Go!
• John Simpson (Media Arts ’05) is nominated for Best Talk Program or Series for The Marilyn Denis Show.
• For Best Animated Program or Series, Frank Falcone (Computer Animation ’92), President of Guru Studio, is nominated for Big Blue along with series creator Gyimah Gariba (Bachelor of Animation ’13).
• Falcone is also nominated for Best Pre-School Program or Series for Pikwik Pack. Toni Stevens (Media Arts ’85) is also nominated in that category for PAW Patrol.
• In the category of Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series, Carmen Albano (Art Fundamentals ’96) and Joe Kicak (Advanced TV & Film '08) are nominated for Detention Adventure and Jan Caruana (Theatre and Drama Studies ’00) is nominated for The Next Step.
• Andrew Lau (Animation ’98) is nominated for Best Web Program or Series, Non-Fiction for Being Black in Canada: My Journey Here. Ryan Johnston (Journalism, New Media ’01) is also nominated in the category for his work on the Being Black in Canada series for an episode entitled Being Black in Canada at The Olympic Games. Johnson is also nominated for Best Live Production, Social Media, for The Extra Hour - Beijing 2022 Olympic Games.
• For Best Immersive Experience, Michael Fukushima (Animation ’85) is nominated for The Orchid and the Bee.
• Craig D. Adams (Illustration ’04) is nominated for Best Video Game for work in JETT: The Far Shore.

Sheridan’s award-winning alumni from across the Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design have a long history of success at the Canadian Screen Awards and other top awards competitions including the Oscars and Emmys.

In banner photo, a camera and sound crew capture the action on set of Blown Away, the glass-blowing reality show that features students from Sheridan's Bachelor of Craft and Design (Glass) degree. Season 3 of Blown Away is nominated for Canadian Screen Awards for Best Reality/Competition Program or Series; Best Direction, Reality/Competition; and Best Sound in a Lifestyle, Reality or Entertainment production. Photo by David Lyles.