Alumni from The Creative School receive 17 Canadian Screen Awards at prestigious awards show

The Creative School is home to a diverse and innovative talent pool paving the way in the Canadian film and entertainment industry. The Canadian Academy, which produces the Canadian Screen Awards (external link, opens in new window) , brings together the screen-based industry annually to celebrate the country’s top talent in the film, television and digital sectors. At this year's film awards event which premiered April 4th through 10th, alum across The Creative School programs won an impressive 17 awards this year, honouring achievement and creativity.

An award-winning feature film debut

The coming-of-age film Scarborough achieved meteoric success, winning five Canadian Screen Awards (CSA), including best motion picture. The film follows the tumultuous lives of three children growing up in a low-income neighbourhood in Scarborough, a large and diverse suburb of Toronto, and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021. Since its premiere, the film has garnered international recognition.

For their work creating Scarborough, Co-directors Rich Williamson (Image Arts' 08) and Shasha Nakhai (Journalism' 09) won the achievement in direction, achievement in casting and best feature film award. Nakhai also brought home the CSA's most prestigious award for best motion picture, marking a pivotal success for the co-directors feature film debut.

The award-winning film was adapted from Performance alum Catherine Hernandez's 2017 novel of the same name and was shortlisted for the 2017 Toronto Book Awards and the 2018 Edmund White Award. Hernandez also wrote the screenplay for Scarborough, winning herself an award at the CSA's for adapted screenplay.

Bolstering the Canadian film and entertainment industry

The globally renowned and industry-leading children and family entertainment studio, Sinking Ship (external link, opens in new window) , was founded in 2004 by three RTA graduates, J.J Johnson, Blair Powers and Matt Bishop and also saw success at the 2022 CSA's. The studio swept the best performance in a children's or youth show category accounting for all nominations, with the Family Channel show Lockdown actor Saara Chaudry taking first place. Writing for the Sinking Ship hit kids show Odd Squad Mobile Unit episodes Mission O Possible and Nature of the Sandbeast, Mark De Angelis and Eric Toth were awarded best writing for a children’s or youth show.

Radio and Television Arts (RTA) alums Mark J.W Bishop ('98) and Matthew Hornburg ('98) co-founded the global entertainment company Marble Media (external link, opens in new window)  which received a record-breaking ten nominations at the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards. They won the award for best production design or art direction, non-fiction for their work in the Netflix hit series Blown Away episode Mirror, Mirror.

Alumni from across The Creative School's programs brought home awards from various categories, including best live sports event, best talk program or series, and best video game narrative, highlighting the faculty's diverse and significant talent. Read on to see the full roundup of the Canadian Screen Award winners and alumni of The Creative School.

Performance

Adapted Screenplay - Catherine Hernandez, Scarborough

Image Arts

Achievement in Direction - Rich Williamson (‘08) & Shasha Nakhai (Journalism ‘09), Scarborough

Achievement in Casting - Achievement in Direction - Rich Williamson (‘08) & Shasha Nakhai (Journalism ‘09), Scarborough

Best First Feature Film Award - Shasha Nakhai (Journalism ‘09), Rich Williamson (08), Scarborough

Journalism

Best Motion Picture - Shasha Nakhai (‘09), Scarborough 

RTA School of Media - Sport Media

Best Live Sports Event - Brian Spear (‘93), 2021 Stanley Cup Final Game 4

RTA School of Media - Media Production

Best Writing, Animation - RTA Wall of Famer and co-founder of Headspinner Productions, Michelle Melanson ('90), Happy House of Freightenstein

Best TV Movie -  Kim Bondi (‘96),  I Was Lorena Bobbitt

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Sinking Ship Entertainment (external link, opens in new window) , Co-founders J.J Johnson (‘02), Blair Powers (‘02) and Matt Bishop (‘02)

Best Writing, Children's or Youth  - Mark De Angelis, Eric Toth, Odd Squad Mobile Unit - Mission O Possible / Nature of the Sandbeast, TVOKids (TVO)

Best Performance, Children's or Youth  - all nominees in this category included sinking ship

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Mark J.W. Bishop (‘98) and Matthew Hornburg (‘98) Co-founders of Marble Media had a record-breaking year with 10 Canadian Screen Awards nominations

Best Production Design or Art Direction, Non-Fiction - Mark J.W. Bishop (‘98) and Matthew Hornburg (‘98), Blown Away - Mirror, Mirror, Netflix (Netflix)

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Best Talk Program or Series - Steven Banks (‘08) @steven_banks1, Shreya Khanna (‘15) @shreyakhanna_, Craig Macrae (‘06), Will Reid (‘15) @wreid, Artists & Icons: Indigenous Entertainers in Canada - Global (Corus Entertainment) - Artists & Icons: Indigenous Entertainers in Canada (external link, opens in new window) 

Best Animated Program or Series - Virginia Thompson (‘89), Corner Gas Animated @CornerGas, CTV Comedy (Bell Media)

Best Children's or Youth Non-Fiction Program or Series - Marney Malabar (‘81), All-Round Champion, TVOKids (TVO) 

Best Live Production, Social Media - Randall Thorne R.T. Thorne (‘00), The 24th Annual Toronto Film Critics Association Awards (C'mon Mort Productions)

Best Video Game Narrative - David Evans (‘90), The Vale: Shadow of the Crown (Falling Squirrel Inc.)

Best Sound, Fiction - David McCallum (‘96), Vikings - The Last Act, History (Corus Entertainment) (Take 5 Productions Inc.)

The Creative School at Ryerson University

The Creative School is a dynamic faculty that is making a difference in new, unexplored ways. Made up of Canada’s top professional schools and transdisciplinary hubs in media, communication, design and cultural industries, The Creative School offers students an unparalleled global experience in the heart of downtown Toronto.