CSAs 2023 – It’s a Wrap
by Ralph Lucas – Publisher
(April 17, 2023 – Toronto, ON) The 2023 Canadian Screen Awards wrapped on Friday and a highly edited version of this year’s awards was broadcast last night on CBC and CBC Gem. It was an interesting rethink of award shows. Over the past several years traditional award shows with winners taking the stage to thank their family, friends, co-nominees, managers etc., have seen a steady decline in ratings. Last night, much of the hour was given over to lame interstitial segments with host Samantha Bee stitching together pre-produced interviews or other video footage and the occasional clip from one of the actual award shows, which were held last week at downtown Toronto’s Meridian Hall.
The concentration seemed to be on the big name stars and I think the balance was wrong. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a small town to make a film. Sit through the end credits next time you take in a movie. I was pleased when in the first interview with Icon Award-winner, Catherine O’Hara, recorded at her home in Los Angeles, Amy Poehler said the award trophy looked like an angel. This was after she suggested it could be used to hold a roll of toilet paper. But I too likened the trophy to an angel and suggested in this 2021 article, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television needed to find a name for the award.
This year was a great year for sweeps and in my opinion not enough attention was paid to the two projects that deserved more of the spotlight. Clement Virgo’s 2022 feature Brother swept the film awards section of the CSAs taking a record 12 awards, more than any other film in Canadian Screen Awards history. The series, The Porter, was also recognized for its excellence with a record 12 Canadian Screen Awards, the most for any television show in Canadian Screen Awards history. Of special note, two awards were given posthumously. The late Martha Henry was recognized for her work in Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women. And, Christopher Plummer was given a Best Supporting Actor – Drama Canadian Screen Award for his work in Departure.
Last week we detailed the winner in the Cinematic Arts Awards section. Following are the winners for The Comedic & Dramatic Arts Awards.
Best TV Movie
Swindler Seduction
CTV Life Channel (Bell Media)
(Muse Entertainment Enterprises Inc.)
Shane Boucher, Jonas Prupas, Caitlin Delaney, Jesse Prupas, Colton Haynes, Piers Vellacott, Sara Murray
Best Direction, TV Movie
Under The Christmas Tree
CTV Drama Channel (Bell Media)
(Neshama Entertainment)
Lisa Rose Snow
Best Lead Performer, TV Movie
Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
CBC (CBC)
(Melbar Entertainment Group)
Martha Henry
Best Performing Arts Program
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Starwalker
APTN/CBC (APTN/CBC)
(Insight Productions)
Lindsay Cox, Gilles Paquin, John Brunton, Tracy Galvin, Jennifer Paterson, Kim Wheeler
Radius Award, presented by MADE | NOUS
Simu Liu
Best Writing, TV Movie
Miracle in Motor City
CTV Drama Channel (Bell Media)
(Cineflix Productions)
Rhonda Baraka
Best Writing, Drama Series
The Porter – Episode 104
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Marsha Greene
Best Photography, Drama
The Porter – Episode 108
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Jordan Oram
Best Sound, Fiction
Transplant – Rumination
CTV (Bell Media)
(Sphere Media)
Mario Auclair, Sylvain Brassard, Christian Rivest, Guy Pelletier, Claude Champagne, Guy Francoeur, Gaël Poisson-Lemay, Simon Pelletier, Simon-Pierre Fortin Leclerc
Best Original Music, Drama
The Porter – Episode 101
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Jonathan Goldsmith
Best Original Music – Original Song
The Porter – Episode 104 – “Songbird”
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Jonathan Goldsmith, Kaïa Kater
Earle Grey Award, presented by eOne
Peter MacNeill
Best Picture Editing, Drama
Sponsor | Rolling Pictures
The Porter – Episode 101
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Sandy Pereira
Best Direction, Drama Series
Sponsor | Playback
The Porter – Episode 101
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Charles Officer
Best Guest Performance, Drama Series
The Porter – Episode 102 / Episode 103
CBC (CBC)
Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures
Alfre Woodard
Best Supporting Performer, Drama
Departure
Global (Corus Entertainment)
(Shaftesbury, Deadpan Pictures)
Christopher Plummer
Best Lead Performer, Drama Series
Transplant
CTV (Bell Media)
(Sphere Media)
Hamza Haq
Best Drama Series
The Porter
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Jennifer Kawaja, Ian Dimerman, Bruno Dubé, Marsha Greene, Annmarie Morais, Charles Officer, R.T. Thorne, Arnold Pinnock, Bruce Ramsay, Aml Ameen, Alfre Woodard
Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute Award
Jennifer Podemski
Best Production Design or Art Direction, Fiction
The Porter – Episode 101
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Réjean Labrie, Jon Van Winkle, Sara McCudden
Best Costume Design
The Porter – Episode 102
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Heather Neale
Best Achievement in Make-Up
The Porter – Episode 102
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Tracy George, Krista Hann, Alisha Talbot
Best Visual Effects
Sponsor | SPINVFX
Detention Adventure – Negative Space
CBC Gem
(LoCo Motion Pictures, Broken Compass Films)
Joe Kicak, Sebastian Harder
Best Achievement in Hair
The Porter – Episode 102
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media, Inferno Pictures)
Heather Streilein, Tremaine Thomas
Best Stunt Coordination | Meilleure coordination des cascades
Pretty Hard Cases – Crystal Ball
CBC (CBC)
(Cameron Pictures)
John Stead, Anita Nittoly, Dejah Dixon-Green, Nova Zatzman, George Tchortov
Best Achievement in Casting, Fiction
Transplant
CTV (Bell Media)
(Sphere Media)
Andrea Kenyon, Randi Wells, Jason Knight, John Buchan
Academy Icon Award, presented by CBC
Catherine O’Hara
Best Host, Live Entertainment Special
The 2022 JUNO Awards
CBC (CBC)
(Insight Productions)
Simu Liu
Best Live Entertainment Special
Sponsor | Bespoke Audio Visual
The 2022 JUNO Awards
CBC (CBC)
(Insight Productions)
Allan Reid, Mark Cohon, John Brunton, Lindsay Cox, Simu Liu, Pam de Montmorency, Tracy Galvin, Kristine Pleau, Jennifer Paterson, Luciano Casimiri, Leonard Chan, Julie Kim, Kristeen Von Hagen, Orin Isaacs, Alex Nadon, Mike Langevin
Best Picture Editing, Comedy
Sort Of – Sort Of 2gethr
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media)
Marianna Khoury
Best Original Music, Comedy
Sort Of – Sort Of Who She Is
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media)
Ceréna, Emily Persich (EARTH TO EMILY), Moël, Terrell Morris, SVDP, Vivek Shraya
Best Writing, Comedy
Sort Of – Sort Of I Love You
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media)
Bilal Baig, Fab Filippo
Best Writing, Variety or Sketch Comedy
TallBoyz – Don’t swear in front of the song
CBC (CBC)
(Accent Entertainment)
Guled Abdi, Vance Banzo, Tim Blair, Franco Nguyen
Humanitarian Award, presented by Paramount+
Ryan Reynolds
Best Guest Performance, Comedy
Sort Of – Sort Of Amsterdam / Sort Of I Love You
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media)
Amanda Brugel
Best Direction, Variety or Sketch Comedy
TallBoyz – Don’t swear in front of the song
CBC (CBC)
(Accent Entertainment)
Bruce McCulloch
Best Direction, Comedy
Sponsor | Cinespace Studios
Sort Of – Sort Of Janazah
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media)
Fab Filippo
Best Photography, Comedy
Pretty Hard Cases – Pencil Skirts
CBC (CBC)
(Cameron Pictures)
Kristin Fieldhouse, csc
Best Performance, Sketch Comedy (Individual or Ensemble)
This Hour Has 22 Minutes
CBC (CBC)
(IoM Media Ventures Inc., 22M-Hour Productions (NS) 29 Inc.)
Mark Critch, Trent McClellan, Aba Amuquandoh, Stacey McGunnigle
Best Sketch Comedy Program or Series
TallBoyz
CBC (CBC)
(Accent Entertainment)
Guled Abdi, Vance Banzo, Tim Blair, Franco Nguyen, Susan Cavan, Thea Gagliardi, Paula J. Smith, Bruce McCulloch
Best Supporting Performer, Comedy
Children Ruin Everything
CTV (Bell Media)
(New Metric Media Inc.)
Ennis Esmer
Best Lead Performer, Comedy
Sponsor | Canada Media Fund
Sort Of
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media)
Bilal Baig
Best Comedy Series
Sort Of
CBC (CBC)
(Sphere Media)
Jennifer Kawaja, Bruno Dubé, Bilal Baig, Fab Filippo
Here’s to another great year of filmmaking and television production. Northerstars™ looks forward to the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards and the introduction of Angel (L’ange d’Or) award.
Ralph Lucas is the founder and publisher of Northernstars.ca. He began writing about film and reviewing movies while in radio in Montreal in the mid-1970s.
