Sheridan alumni nominated for record number of Canadian Screen Awards

Sheridan graduates have been nominated for more than 75 Canadian Screen Awards, this year – the highest number of nominations alumni have earned since the prestigious awards were introduced in 2013.

The nominations cover a full range of genres, including news, documentary, sports, fiction and animated programming. For many years Sheridan alumni have had a strong representation at the CSAs, a recognition of their talent and trailblazing contributions to Canadian film, television and digital media. 

“To see so many alumni honoured with CSA nominations this year is a testament to Sheridan’s tradition of training artists who form the foundation of Canada’s media and entertainment landscape,” says Mark Jones, Dean of the Faculty of Animation, Arts and Design. “The nominations also inspire our current students and pave the way for them as they work toward forming the next generation of storytelling excellence.”

In addition to the many alumni nominated, a project associated with Sheridan’s Screen Industries Research and Training Centre (SIRT), an integral part of Generator at Sheridan, was also recognized. SIRT worked with Cream Productions on the Survivorman VR game, which is nominated for Best Immersive Experience – Fiction. Survivorman VR provides users with immersive experiences that simulate real-world survival scenarios guided by renowned survival expert Les Stroud.

The 2024 Canadian Screen Awards will be presented throughout Canadian Screen Week May 28-31, 2024.

Alumni nominated for their work on films are:

In the category of Achievement in Make-Up, Ashley Vieira (Advanced Special Effects Makeup ’13) was nominated for the film Blackberry. Karlee Morse (Advanced Special Effects Makeup ’13) received two nominations in the category for The Hyperborean and Polaris. Joining them in the category is Erin Pidgeon (Advanced Special Effects Makeup ’11) who is nominated for Zombie Town.

For Achievement in Sound Editing, Alex Bullick (Media Arts ’02) and Jill Purdy (Media Arts’ 96) are nominated for Infinity Pool. J.R. Fountain (Media Arts ’01) joins them in the category for his work on PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie. Fountain’s work on PAW Patrol has also received a nomination for sound mixing.

Also nominated for Achievement in Sound Mixing are Tyler Bogaert (Bachelor of Film and Television ’18) and Ian Rankin (Media Arts ’92) for The Young Arsonists.

For best Adapted Screenplay, Alexandra Weir (Animation ’08) is nominated for North of Normal.

Alethea-Anne Arnaquq-Baril (Illustration ’05) is nominated for the Ted Rogers Best Feature Length Documentary award for her role as a producer on Twice Colonized.

Priscilla Galvez (Advanced Television and Film ’14) is nominated for Best Live Action Short Drama for Motherland.

Michael Fukushima’s (Animation ’85) film Miserable Miracle is nominated for Best Animated Short.

In the category of Best Sound Design in a Feature Length Documentary, Steven Copley (Media Arts ’87), Steven Hammond (Media Arts’ 87) and James Lazarenko (Media Arts ’08) are nominated for Swan Song.

In categories focused on television, nominated alumni are:

For Best Picture Editing in a reality/competition series, the nominees include Alexandra Mastronardi (Advanced Television and Film ’10), Keith Ross (Media Arts ’06), Ryan Monteith (Media Arts ’00) and Ellora Dela Fuente (Advanced Television and Film ’17) who are all nominated for Big Brother Canada - Episode 1. Joining them in the category is Kyle Power (Media Arts ’11) for Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. The World - Comedy Queens.

For Best Picture Editing in a comedy, Gloria Tong (Media Arts ’04) is nominated for Bria Mack Gets A Life - Bria Mack Gets a Job.

In the category of Best Sound, Fiction, Jill Purdy (Media Arts '96) received a nomination for The Spencer Sisters - The Scholar’s Snafu, alongside Rob Ainsley (Media Arts ‘08) for Sort Of - Sort Of Hospital Again.

For Best Picture Editing, Children’s or Youth programming, Shelley Therrien (Advanced Television and Film ’11) is nominated for The Hardy Boys - At The Old House.

Marc Brenzil (Advanced Television and Film ’02) is nominated for Best Picture Editing, Animation for Daniel Spellbound - The Tickle Pit.

Ryan Ongaro (Media Arts '12), Kyle Peters (Media Arts '08), Katie Pagacz (Bachelor of Film and Television '22), Luke Dante (Media Arts '16), Timothy Muirhead (Media Arts '98) and Patton Rodrigues (Media Arts '12) were all nominated for Best Sound, Animation for PAW Patrol - Aqua Pups Save a Floating Castle.

Rachael Zerafa (Bachelor of Film and Television '20) is nominated for Best Sound, Documentary or Factual for The Man Who Stole Einstein's Brain.

Jennifer Luckas (Applied Photography '07) is nominated for Best Production Design or Art Direction, Fiction for Sort Of - Sort Of The Worst Yoda.

Terry Kalinich (Art Fundamentals '97) is nominated for Best Visual Effects for SkyMed.

Curry Leamen (Media Arts '08) and Matthew Dorman (Media Arts '08) are nominated for Best Sports Feature Segment for Staring Back.

Paolo Santalucia (Theatre and Drama Studies '11) is nominated for Best Performance, Sketch Comedy (Individual or Ensemble) for Pillow Talk.

Tanner Sawatzky (Advanced Television and Film '16) is nominated for Best Achievement in Casting, Non-Fiction for The Amazing Race Canada.

Cory Doran (Theatre and Drama Studies '05) is nominated for Best Performance, Animation for Super Wish.

Supinder Wraich (Advanced Television and Film '09) is nominated for Best Supporting Performer, Comedy for Sort Of.

Lucius Dechausay (Advanced Television and Film '03) is nominated for Best Web Program or Series, Non-Fiction for Here & Queer.

Philip Street (Animation '94) is nominated for Best Web Program or Series, Non-Fiction for Indigenous Futures: How these teens are reclaiming their joy.

Christopher Yip (Advanced Television and Film '19) is nominated for Best Direction, Web Program or Series for two episodes of Streams Flow From A River: Benny and the Jets and Frank Liquor & Laundromat.

Patrick McKenna (Hotel and Restaurant Management '82) is nominated for Best Lead Performance, Web Program or Series for Pink Is In. He also received a nomination for Best Supporting Performance, Web Program or Series for 1 Man's Treasure.

Ryan Johnston (Journalism-New Media '01) is nominated for Best Sports Feature Segment for Knuckle Hop Arctic Winter Games. He is also nominated for Best Live Production, Social Media for Soccer North Live - Men’s & Women's World Cup.

Pietro Gagliano (Art Fundamentals '02) is nominated for Best Video Game for Little Learning Machines. Also nominated for Best Video Game is Dave Evans (Media Arts '00) for Return to Grace.

Christopher Giroux (Advanced Television and Film '09) is nominated for Best TV Movie for Christmas Island.

Juliette Hagopian (Crafts and Design - Metal & Jewelry '86) is nominated for Best TV Movie for The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story.

Jeff Lemire (Illustration '05) is nominated for Best Drama Series and Best Direction, Drama Series for Essex County.

John Simpson (Media Arts '05) is nominated for Best Talk Series for The Marilyn Denis Show.

Mackenzie Lush (Theatre and Drama Studies '00) is nominated for Best Animated Program or Series for Pinecone & Pony.

Toni Stevens (Media Arts '85) is nominated for Best Pre-School Program or Series for PAW Patrol.

Chris Pozzebon (Advanced Television and Film '08) is nominated for Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series and Best Writing, Children’s or Youth, for his work on The Hardy Boys. Cole Bastedo (Media Arts '04) joins him in both categories with nominations for Home Sweet Rome.

Vivian Lin (Advanced Television and Film '06) is also nominated for Best Writing, Children's or Youth for Popularity Papers.

Kyle Lawson (Journalism-New Media '08) is nominated for Best Sports Program or Series for SC with Jay Onrait.

Gurjeet Mann (Media Arts '95) is nominated for Best Factual Series for Bollywood.

Rob McCallum (Advanced Television and Film '06) is nominated for Best Direction, Documentary Program and Best Writing, Documentary for Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe.

Wayne-Michael Lee (Bachelor of Animation '10) is nominated for Best Direction, Animation for Pinecone & Pony.

HeeJung Yun (Animation '02) and Paul Riley (Animation '83) are nominated for Best Direction, Animation for Rosie's Rules. Dianna Basso (Art Fundamentals '02) and Joey So (Animation '96) are also nominated in the category for Rubble & Crew.

Stefanie McCarrol (Journalism-New Media '10), Kyle Parry (Media Arts '11) and Anastasia Trofimova (Digital Communication '09) are all nominated for the Barbara Sears Award for Best Visual Research. McCarrol for her work on Black Life: Untold Stories; Parry for Dark Side of the Ring; Trofimova earned the nod for work on Ice-Breaker: The '72 Summit Series.

Ashley Spires (Illustration '06) is nominated for Best Writing, Pre-School for Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe.

Keenan Lynch (Media Arts '15) is nominated for Best Photography, Documentary or Factual for Black Community Mixtapes and also for Dark Side of the Ring.

Chris Mutton (Advanced Television and Film '04) is nominated for Best Picture Editing, Drama for Essex County. Also nominated in the category is Wesley Finucan (Advanced Television and Film '04) for The Love Club: Tara, and for Best Picture Editing, Reality/Competition for The Big Bake - Creepy Carnival.

Sheridan’s award-winning alumni from across the Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design have a long history of success at the Canadian Screen Awards and other top awards competitions including the Oscars and Emmys.