ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) Montreal kicked off the road to its 15th annual ACTRA Awards in Montreal ceremony in a spirited, lively manner recently, as its list of nominees was unveiled at a breakfast reception that took place at the Willian Gray Hotel in Old Montreal.
The actual ceremony is scheduled for June 12 at the Gesu, located at 1200 Bleury Street. It will be emceed by Montreal comedian Wassim El-Mounzer.
Established in 1943, ACTRA boasts over 30,000 members across Canada, including over 4,000 from Montreal, united by a common bond of working in English-language recorded media. Its mission is to promote and protect the economic, professional, and social interests of its membership, as well as promote and maintain the highest professional standards of its members, and reach agreements with employers as representatives of the members.
During the breakfast, representatives from ACTRA and QELPC (Quebec English Language Production Council) stressed the importance of organizations such as the two above-mentioned ones towards the recognition of how vital English language productions are to both the English-speaking culture in particular, and the Quebec community in general, especially in their determination towards building a Canadian star system.
“This is an opportunity for the world to see that English production needs to be supported and sustained in Quebec, because our artists want nothing more than to live and work in this incredible province,” said Jen Viens, who is Chair of the Organizing Committee.
“No one should have to move away from home in order to tell our stories,” added Debra Kouri, Executive Producer at Poutine Studios, who is also a member of the QELPC board of directors.
The nominees represent outstanding performances in five different categories (TV, film, stunts, dubbing, and video games). The nominees are:
Outstanding Performance in TV: Ayisha Issa (Transplant, Season 4), Francois Arnaud (Heated Rivalry), Guillaume Cyr (The Sticky), Jack Molloy Legault (It: Welcome To Derry), Sarah Booth (Plan B, Season 2), and Sophie Nelisse (Heated Rivalry).
Outstanding Performance in Film: Alex Rice (Meadowlarks), Caroline Dhavernas (Best Boy), Kaniehtiio Horn (Seeds), Roc Lafortune (The G), Russell Yuen (Rich Kid), and Victoria Diamond (Lethal Lookalike: The Viktoria Nasyrova Story).
Outstanding Performance in Stunts: Erick Meslier (The Last Frontier), Felix Famelart (The Last Frontier), Marie-Eve Beckers (The Last Frontier), Marc-Andre Brisebois (The Last Frontier), Maxim Savaria (The Last Frontier), and Maxime Laurin (Frankenstein).
Best Performance in Video Games: Daniel Brochu (The Outlast Trails), Don Shepherd (The Outlast Trails), Olivia Lepore (Lost Records: Race & Bllom), Tristan D. Lalla (Tales of Kenzera: Zau), Victoria Berkoff (The Outlast Trails), and Wyatt Bowen (Monster Hunter Stories).
Special awards will also be presented to the following individuals for their outstanding achievements and contributions: Jacob Tierney (Award of Excellence), Duy Nguyen (Walter Massey Breakthrough Artist), and Kirwan Cox (Community Builder Award).
Tickets for the June 12 ceremony are available at legesu.com.
story and photos by Stuart Nulman
