Moose TV is funniest at Indie Awards

Ottawa: Producer Ernest Webb grabbed the best comedy Indie Award for Showcase Television’s Moose TV, before he paid an emotional tribute to his father.

‘My biggest thanks is for my father. This one is for him,’ Webb told the inaugural Indie Award audience at the CFTPA Prime Time in Ottawa conference on Feb. 20, as he and fellow producers at Rezolution Pictures cheered and hugged on stage after they beat out Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie in the comedy category.

Webb, who was raised in the Cree community of Chisasibi in Quebec, recalled in 1986 going to Montreal to work as an announcer and producer for CBC North, which beams programming to the Arctic, and having a proud viewer back home in his father.

‘He would never say it out loud to me, but my mother said my father would watch all three broadcasts that we did each day,’ explained Webb, clutching his trophy backstage after receiving his tribute.

Another big winner on the night was Sarah Polley’s debut feature Away from Her, which won for best film.

Foundry Films’ Daniel Iron, the film’s coproducer with The Film Farm’s Simone Urdl and Jennifer Weiss, said every producer in the juried competition deserved recognition for waging a struggle against insurmountable odds to finance and make movies in Canada.

‘I assumed the award, from producers, was for best financing plan,’ Iron said when accepting his award.

Also earning hardware at the Prime Time conference was Shaftesbury Films’ In God’s Country, taking top prize for best TV movie, while Durham County by Back Alley Film Productions and Muse Entertainment won for best primetime drama series.

In the best kids and youth program or series competition, ZIJI Film & Television’s Generation XXL prevailed, while the best documentary program or series award went to Mountainside Films’ Saving Luna.

‘It sounds funny to thank a whale,’ the doc’s producer Suzanne Chisholm said when accepting her award, in reference to the titular character.

Other winners included WestWind Pictures’ Designer Guys, going home with the best lifestyle or reality series trophy, and Smiley Guy Studios, coming out tops in the best convergent new media category for the Odd Job Jack website. Rounding out the winners was October 1970 (Barna-Alper Productions/Big Motion Pictures), earning the trophy for best miniseries.

Following is the complete list of Indie Award winners

• Best Children’s and Youth Program or Series
Generation XXL – ZIJI Film & Television
• Best Comedy Program or Series
Moose TV – Rezolution Pictures
• Best Convergent New Media
www.oddjobjack.com – Smiley Guy Studios
• Best Documentary Program or Series
Saving Luna – Mountainside Films
• Best Feature Film
Away from Her – Foundry Films, The Film Farm
• Best Lifestyle or Reality Program or Series
Designer Guys – WestWind Pictures
• Best Miniseries
October 1970 – Barna-Alper Productions, Big Motion Pictures
• Best Primetime Drama Series
Durham County – Back Alley Film Productions, Muse Entertainment
• Best TV Movie
In God’s Country – Shaftesbury Films
• Jury’s Choice Award
Radiant City – Burns Film

CFTPA special award winners

• CFTPA Entrepreneur of the Year
Jamie Brown, Frantic Films
• CFTPA Mentor of the Year
Mary Anne Waterhouse and Blake Corbet, Anagram Pictures
• Kodak Lifetime Achievement Award
Michael MacMillan, Seaton Mclean, Ted Riley and Peter Sussman

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This story has been amended to acknowledge Muse Entertainment’s participation on Durham County.