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A couple of weeks ago, I was in Toronto for the Canadian Screen Awards, which annually honour the best in our country’s film and television productions.
I was on the red carpet, interviewing celebrities about their favourite books and reading habits for the Free Press’s new BookTok videos.
It was a weirdly high-stress but also very exciting situation; people really like talking about books, I discovered. (Check out Heated Rivalry star Robbie G.K. talking about Agatha Christie and Project Hail Mary here.)
And Heated Rivalry was one of the reasons (along with comedian Mike Myers, who received the Academy Icon Award) it was the most highly attended media room/red carpet in CSA history; the packed press room can probably largely be attributed to the appearance of key players from the internationally popular Crave show.
Cast and crew of Heated Rivalry pose on the red carpet at The Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto in May. (Chris Young / The Canadian Press files)
The queer hockey romance — which broke the record for CSA wins, taking home all 16 of the awards it was nominated for, including Best Drama, Best Writing and Best Directing — catapulted the awards into the limelight to a degree probably never before experienced.
I mean, I love Paul Gross as much as the next right-minded straight Canadian woman, but screaming fans were not lining up on the sidewalk hours before the ceremony when Due South was nominated the way they did for Heated Rivalry stars Hudson Williams and Robbie G.K..
I’m sure People magazine did not turn up to interview Scott Thompson or Kevin McDonald on the red carpet, even at the height of Kids in the Hall’s popularity.
But it isn’t just Heated Rivalry that’s captured attention outside our borders. The night’s other big winners, Arctic-set comedy North of North and time-travel buddy film Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, have both garnered substantial notice in the U.S.
North of North (which won Best Comedy as well as Best Lead Performer in a Comedy for Anna Lambe) is a co-production of CBC, Netflix and APTN, giving it a broader reach than many Canadian sitcoms.
Nirvanna, from director Matt Johnson (BlackBerry) was rapturously received by American critics, who called it “an instant cult-classic comedy” and “an early contender for the funniest and most charming movie of the year.”
Paul Gross and his 2004 Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role probably did not sneak out the theatre back door to avoid a throng of American paparazzi. (J.P. Moczulski / The Canadian Press files)
To be clear, it’s not the international attention that makes these productions worth talking about — all three are empirically excellent — but the undeniable buzz outside our borders can only bring more welcome attention to the incredible work being done in the film and TV industry here.
And what makes these three examples particularly meaningful is that all of them are set quite prominently, even defiantly, in Canada.
Toronto is not standing in for New York in Nirvanna the Band…; as a matter of fact, one might argue the city is partly the star of the film.
North of North, created by Inuit filmmakers Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Barilis, is filmed in Nunavut, despite the logistical difficulties that can present, and features a cast and crew that is almost entirely made up of Indigenous Canadian people.
And the micro-budgeted Heated Rivalry — which was passed on by HBO until the U.S. streamer realized the error of its ways and picked it up for distribution (the show is now the company’s most popular scripted acquisition) — has created a cottage industry (pun intended) for tourism in Hamilton and Guelph, Ont., where the series was shot.
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For my part, I was just as excited to meet Sophy Romvari, director of the heartbreaking film Blue Heron, as I was to talk to the more recognizable actors and performers.
But there’s no denying the lustre a little star power gives an event; it’s high time the Canadian industry got to bask in that glow.
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