Canadian Screen Awards reveal Academy Special Award winners

Semi Chellas, David Cronenberg, Alanis Obomsawin, Alan Sawyer & W5 honoured
 
TORONTO, November 5, 2013 – The Academy Special Award winners for the 2014 CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS were announced today by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
 
“The Academy is proud to celebrate these exceptionally talented Canadians, and to recognize their successes at home and on the world stage,” says Academy Chair Martin Katz. “We are especially pleased to champion Canada’s most creative filmmakers and writers as well as our hardnosed journalists, uncompromising humanitarians and world-class digital innovators.”

Margaret Collier Award — For a Writer’s Exceptional Contribution to Canadian Television sponsored by Halfire-CORE Entertainment
SEMI CHELLAS 
You’ve heard her words on Mad Men, Rookie Blue and The Eleventh Hour: three-time Gemini Award winner and Emmy-nominated writer and screenwriter Semi Chellas is the deserving recipient of this year’s Margaret Collier Award. Born in Palo Alto, raised in Calgary and based in Toronto, Chellas was co-creator of the critically acclaimed prime-time Gemini Award winning series The Eleventh Hour, recently wrote the TV movie Murder on Her Mind and also authored the Gemini/Emmy nominated Dead Aviators for Showtime/CBC, as well as directed a series of short films. She is Co-Executive Producer of Mad Men.

Lifetime Achievement Award (FILM & TV) — For Exceptional Contribution to the Canadian Film & Television Industry
DAVID CRONENBERG
Innovative Toronto filmmaker, screenwriter and actor David Cronenberg has reimagined the cinematic landscape with such groundbreaking body horror and sci-fi films as Rabid, Videodrome, Dead Ringers andCrash. With his films tallying more than $230.7 million at the worldwide box office, Cronenberg, the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, has been rewarded for his unique, imaginative and progressive artistic vision with the Cannes Film Festival’s Carrosse d’Or; the Légion d’honneur in France and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. "David Cronenberg: Evolution" – a Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) exhibition honouring his work, opens October 30.

Humanitarian Award (FILM & TV) — For Exceptional Contributions to Community & Public Service
ALANIS OBOMSAWIN
Born in New Hampshire and raised in Québec, Order of Canada Officer Alanis Obomsawin is an Abenaki-Canadian documentarian credited with chronicling First Nations culture and history for more than 40 years. This year’s Humanitarian Award winner has been previously honoured with The Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement and a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. Obomsawin’s latest documentary -- 2013’s Hi-Ho Mistahey! -- premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this past September.
 
Digital Media Trailblazing Award (posthumously) — For an Outstanding Achievement in
Canadian Digital Media sponsored by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC)
ALAN SAWYER 
Emmy-Award winning trans-media storytelling consultant and interactive content creator Alan Sawyer is this year’s Digital Media Trailblazing Award recipient for his efforts in advancing the development of and interaction between digital platforms and more traditional media. Sawyer was interested in the policy implications of changing media and media consumption and worked with the CRTC and other organizations to improve our understanding.  Sawyer was also a matchmaking liaison between producers, broadcasters and emerging digital media companies, and a teacher, mentor and friend to many who worked in this still emerging field.
 
Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism (TV) — To Honour Exceptional Contributions in Canadian Television Journalism
W5
W5, the longest-running newsmagazine/documentary program in North America, is the recipient of this year's Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism. A forerunner and direct inspiration of CBS' acclaimed 60 Minutes, W5 was launched by CTV News in 1966 and has been hosted by a number of prominent journalists, including Michael Maclear, Henry Champ, Helen Hutchinson, Eric Malling and the current lineup of Lloyd Robertson, Sandie Rinaldo, Kevin Newman, Lisa LaFlamme, Victor Malarek and Tom Kennedy. W5 airs Saturday nights at 7 p.m. on CTV.