ACTRA AWARDS IN TORONTO 2006 ANNOUNCEMENT OF NOMINEES

Ten Award Nominees Announced by ACTRA Toronto
Sarah Polley to receive Award of Excellence

For Immediate Release: Toronto, February 7, 2006 – Karl Pruner, President of ACTRA Toronto Performers, is pleased to announce the nominees for the 2006 ACTRA Awards in Toronto to be presented at The Carlu on February 24, 2006.

ACTRA Toronto’s 2006 Award of Excellence will be presented to Sarah Polley – actor, writer, director, activist and one of “Canada’s treasures”. In addition two ACTRA Awards for Outstanding Performance will be presented to ACTRA Toronto members. 

The Nominees for the ACTRA Awards in Toronto 2006 are:

Outstanding Performance – female:
Paula Boudreau             The Tournament (TV series)
Wendy Crewson            The Man Who Lost Himself (TV movie)
Megan Follows              Shania: A Life in Eight Albums (TV movie)
Victoria Snow                Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story (TV movie)
Samantha Weinstein      Big Girl (short film)

Outstanding Performance – male:
Shawn Ashmore           Terry (TV movie)
Tom McCamus              Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story (TV movie)
Michael Miranda            Lives of the Saints (TV mini series)
Joe Pingue                    Leo (short film)
Dov Tiefenbach              The Dark Hours (feature film)

“Again our juries were challenged by judging across genres, choosing finalists from different types of production such as drama, comedy, feature films, short films, television movies, television series and miniseries.” said ACTRA Toronto President Karl Pruner.

Sarah Polley was selected to receive the Award of Excellence by ACTRA Toronto’s governing council.
“Sarah Polley is one of Canada’s treasures. She is a commanding actor who has taken on varied and challenging roles while becoming one of our most recognizable Canadian stars,” Pruner continues.  “But Sarah is so much more than an actor. We admire her fierce commitment to Canadian culture and her strength in speaking her mind. We are thrilled that she is to receive ACTRA Toronto’s 2006 Award of Excellence.”

Sarah Polley began her career as a child actor and shot to fame as the star of Road to Avonlea.  At age nine she garnered a Gemini Award for her performance in the CBC/Disney movie Lantern Hill and later another for her performance in the CBC series Straight Up. An actor of extraordinary subtlety and range, Ms. Polley made a transition from child to adult star with her critically acclaimed performance in Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter, winner of the 1997 Grand Prix at Cannes.

Ms. Polley’s numerous acting credits include Exotica, Sugar, The Event, eXistenZ, Last Night, Luck, Dawn of the Dead, The Hanging Garden, Love Come Down, The Law of Enclosures and The Planet of Junior Brown. She won a Best Actress Genie Award and an ACTRA Award nomination for her performance in My Life Without Me. She won another Genie Award as director of the short film she wrote, I Shout Love, which also earned an ACTRA Award for its star, Kristen Thomson.

Ms. Polley spoke out on the crisis of the Canadian film industry during the Heritage Committee’s 2005 review of feature film, appearing on behalf of ACTRA Toronto. She is an ongoing advocate for child performers and spearheaded a series of ACTRA Toronto workshops designed for young actors.

The Awards Gala evening will be hosted by Peter Keleghan. Adrian Truss is the scriptwriter. The awards show will feature a performance by ACTRA member and singer Tabby Johnson. The ACTRA Award statuette is by sculptor Adrienne Alison.

The annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto recognize outstanding performances by ACTRA Toronto members and celebrate accomplishment and excellence in our industry. The ACTRA Awards were re-instituted in 2003 as part of ACTRA’s 60th Anniversary.

The ACTRA Awards in Toronto take place on Friday, February 24, 2006, at The Carlu.

Many thanks to the generous sponsors of The ACTRA Awards in Toronto 2006:

Gold Sponsors
ACTRA National, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, CTV, Deluxe I Sound & Picture, Goodmans LLP

Silver Sponsors
ACTRA Performers’ Rights Society, Beefeater Orange & Uphoria, By David’s Inc.,
Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA),
City of Toronto Film & Television Office, Pebblehut, Serendipity Point Films, Shaftesbury Films

Bronze Sponsors
Barna-Alper Productions, Breakthrough Films & Television,
Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish LLP, Don Carmody Productions, Grant Thornton LLP, KBSH Capital Management, Rhombus Media, Sleeman Breweries Ltd., Temple Street Productions, Unionville Insurance (a division of C G & B Group), United Steel Workers

Supporters
100 Percent Film & Television Inc., Gary Goddard Agency, PLAYBACK, Ricochet Water,
RBC Royal Bank, Toronto Film Studios, Writers Guild of Canada

Friends
AMI Artist Management, The New Leaf Flowers & Gifts

ACTRA Toronto Performers is the largest organization within ACTRA, representing more than 13,000 of Canada’s 21,000 professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada.  As an advocate for Canadian culture since 1943, ACTRA is a member-driven organization that continues to secure the rights and respect for the work of professional performers.

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For media inquiries please contact:
Carol Taverner, Public Relations Officer, ACTRA Toronto Performers

Dir: (416) 642-6751   ctaverner@actratoronto.com

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