Canadian Screen Week will be taking place between April 4 – April 10, 2022 this year and today The Canadian Academy of Cinema & Television have announced 2022 Special Award recipients. New this year is a Changemaker Award to honour those in Media who have lent their voices against systemic racism. Also Toronto’s Maitreyi Ramakrishnan who is making waves starring in Netflix’s NEVER HAVE I EVER, will be receiving a Radius Award!

The Canadian Academy’s 2022 Special Award honourees are:

The Changemaker Award is presented to Kayla Grey, Kathleen Newman-Bremang, and Amanda Parris.

Kayla Grey is the host and co-executive producer of TSN’s The Shift with Kayla Grey Powered by Dell XPS, appears regularly as an anchor of SportsCentre, and reports courtside for TSN’s live coverage of the Toronto Raptors. Grey reported on the Toronto Raptors’ historic NBA championship run for TSN in 2019, and also joined CTV’s fan-favourite series The Amazing Race Canada as an official race correspondent for The Amazing Race Canada: Ride Along. In 2019, Grey was awarded the ByBlacks magazine People’s Choice Award in the TV Personality category. Grey was also honoured on Chatelaine’s 2020 Women of the Year list, named one of Refinery29’s Powerhouse Women of 2020, and Woman of the Year in Post City Magazine. She has also been recognized by Women of Influence as one of the Top 25 Women of Influence in Canada for 2021. A graduate of Toronto’s College of Sports Media, Grey began her broadcasting career as an analyst for the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and various university varsity sports. She then moved to Winnipeg as a Digital Broadcast Journalist for Global News, and to Prince Rupert, BC to become a senior reporter for CFTK-TV news. The Toronto native joined TSN in 2015 as an on-air update anchor for TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto. She became the first Black woman to host a flagship sports highlight show in Canada when she made her SportsCentre debut in 2018.

Kathleen Newman-Bremang is a Toronto-based writer, editor, and producer. Her writing has appeared in publications like Refinery29, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Lainey Gossip, Corduroy Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The Kit. For six seasons, she was the celebrity and entertainment producer on Canada’s #1 daytime talk show The Social and has contributed to many high-profile productions like eTalk: Live at the Oscars and co-created the Crave original series Cravings: The Aftershow. She is currently the Deputy Director, Global at Refinery29 Unbothered, a vertical made for and by Black women. Through Unbothered, she oversees content across the UK, U.S., and Canada, and writes about pop culture, race, feminism, and the intersection of all three, while championing other Black women writers to do the same. Her essay “For Black Women In Media, A Dream Job Is A Myth” was a finalist for a National Magazine Award. Her column What’s Good has spotlighted many Canadian creators of colour and their series and films. Newman-Bremang has profiled stars like Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Fefe Dobson, Angela Bassett, Issa Rae, Yara Shahidi, and Joshua Jackson, and furthered conversations about representation in Canadian television, accountability in Canadian media, and the importance of hiring Black and Indigenous creators behind the scenes of film and TV productions. She’s a co-host of the popular R29 Unbothered podcast Go Off, Sis, a mentor for Canadian Journalists of Colour, and a frequent culture commentator for various national CBC and CTV broadcast programs. She was the 2021 winner of CBC’s inaugural Canada Listens where she defended Kardinal Offishall’s seminal album Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1 and advocated for more inclusion in Canada’s music coverage. 

Amanda Parris is an award-winning playwright, columnist, and TV and radio host. Parris was the host of the award-winning series CBC Arts: Exhibitionists from 2015-2020. At the time, it was the only show on television dedicated to telling stories about Canadian artists across all mediums. She also created Black Light, an award-winning column for CBC Arts, that showcases, historicizes, and critically engages art and popular culture created by Black people. Parris’ debut play Other Side of the Game (2019) was awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama and is currently being taught in classrooms across the country. Her latest theatrical work, The Death News (2020), was part of Obsidian Theatre’s groundbreaking project 21 Black Futures and, in 2021, she made her directorial debut with her award-winning short film The Death Doula. Amanda has been named one of Grenada’s Top 40 individuals under the age of 40, one of Toronto’s Most Inspiring Women by Post City, a Local Hero of Toronto Film by NOW Magazine, and received the Rising Star Award from AfroGlobal Television. In 2022, Parris’ scripted digital series Revenge of the Black Best Friend, which follows a self-help guru whose singular mission is to cancel the entertainment industry’s reliance on token Black characters, will premiere on CBC Gem.

Honouring a Canadian whose work is making waves globally, the Radius Award, presented by MADE | NOUS, is presented to Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan — named on the 2021 TIME100 Next, an annual list of individuals who are shaping the future of their fields and defining the next generation of leadership, listed as one of the best actors of 2020 by the New York Times, and ambassador of Plan International Canada — has won the hearts and minds of a global audience. Her natural talent in acting and comedy was revealed through her breakthrough starring role as Devi Vishwakumar in Mindy Kaling’s hit show Never Have I Ever. Captivating international audiences with fast-paced comedic and heart-wrenching dramatic skills, Ramakrishnan’s multifaceted acting talent has been recognized by the 2021 Gracies, awarding her Actress in a Breakthrough Role — Comedy. Additionally, she was recently recognized by the 2021 Annual Asian American Awards for Breakout in TV and was nominated for Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series by the Independent Spirit Awards. Ramakrishnan is soon to appear on screens in 2022 in Pixar’s Turning Red, voicing the role of Priya. She is currently filming the third season of Never Have I Ever.

For an exceptional lifetime of work that has had a profound impact on the media industry at home or abroad, the Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to Bob Cole.

Bob Cole, a Hockey Hall of Famer and Canadian icon, has been captivating hockey audiences with his electrifying voice for more than five decades. Joining Sportsnet in June 2014, Cole continued to call games on Saturdays for Hockey Night in Canada — as well as during the Stanley Cup Playoffs — until stepping away from the microphone in 2019. A Gemini Award winner, Cole began his broadcast career in St. John’s, Newfoundland as an announcer on the radio station VOCM in 1954. Cole later joined the CBC in 1969 as radio play-by-play announcer for Hockey Night in Canada before transitioning to the show’s television broadcast in 1973. Following Foster Hewitt’s retirement, Cole became the voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens on Hockey Night in Canada. Over the course of his celebrated career, Cole called play-by-play for the 1972 Summit Series radio broadcast and was the lead hockey announcer for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City where Canada defeated the United States in the gold medal men’s hockey game. Following his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996, Cole was a recipient for the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for excellence in hockey broadcasting in 1996 and has been honoured with nine Gemini Award nominations with a win for Best Sports Play-by-Play Announcer in 2007.

For an exceptional body of work in broadcast journalism, the Gordon Sinclair Award For Broadcast Journalism is presented to Rassi Nashalik.

Rassi Nashalik is a recently retired Inuk media personality who grew up in a little outpost camp called Sauniqturaajuk outside of Pangnirtung, Nunavut and is currently living in Yellowknife, NT. Until her retirement in 2014, she pioneered and hosted CBC North’s Igalaaq, an Inuktitut daily television newscast for audiences primarily in northern Canada. Over her 19 years at CBC, Nashalik travelled extensively throughout the North, hosting celebrations such as the creation of Nunavut, the first Nunavut election, the Arctic Winter Games, and the Canada Games. In 2003, she received an English Television Award for Living Hope, an hour-long television show on suicide in the North, and in 2021 she became the first Inuk woman inducted into the CBC News Hall of Fame. Prior to her work with CBC, she worked as a manager of the Inuktitut section of the language bureau for the Government of the Northwest Territories, an interpreter translator for the Arctic Co-operatives Federation Ltd., and as a community health representative in Pangnirtung. A lifelong volunteer, Nashalik has served as an elder to advise on the Yellowknife staging of the “Walking With Our Sisters” exhibition to honour murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, a YWCA Board member in Yellowknife between 2013 and 2019, and has been a member of the RCMP G Division Commanding Officers Indigenous Consultative Committee providing an Indigenous lens to policing in the North and advising on reconciliation for the past three years. In 2018, Nashalik was honoured to be one of the elders to light the ceremonial Qulliq for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry (MMIWG) in the North. She also participated in a Missing Inuit Women gathering to vet the MMIWG final report recommendations. Nashalik is currently adjunct to the University of Alberta School of Public Health where, as an elder-in-residence, she liaises with northern students and provides a link to Inuit culture and traditions.

For their extraordinary impact on the growth of the Canadian media industry, the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute Award is presented to Vince Commisso and John Galway.

Vince Commisso is President and CEO of 9 Story Media Group, one of the industry’s leading creators, producers, and distributors of top-quality content for young audiences around the world. With facilities in Toronto, New York, Dublin, and Bali, the 9 Story family of companies has produced thousands of episodes of best-in-class kids and family programming. Commisso began his career in 1992 at Nelvana, where he rose through the ranks to become Supervising Producer, garnering one Emmy® and two Gemini nominations. In 2002, he co-founded 9 Story Entertainment, an animation company that would utilize leading edge technologies to develop and produce compelling animated children’s content with international appeal. Since earning an Emmy® Award on the company’s very first show, Peep and the Big Wide World, the 9 Story family of companies has gone on to earn countless other awards, including seventeen Emmy® Awards and two Oscar® nominations.

An MBA graduate, John Galway’s career has ranged from film festivals to film and TV development, production, and financing. After leadership positions at TIFF, Ontario Creates, The Canadian Media Fund, and Telefilm Canada, he joined The Harold Greenberg Fund as President and Board Member. As President, he was responsible for the strategic and financial management of the organization, as well as industry and board relations. During his time at the Fund, he oversaw investments of more than $40 million and helped develop over 1500 feature film projects. In addition to the main feature film development and production programs, Galway oversaw partnerships with film festivals, scriptwriting labs, and film promotion initiatives as well the support of documentary and short film projects. In 2021, he launched Corrib Entertainment to develop and produce fiction and non-fiction properties and to consult on film industry projects. He is the co-Founder and Executive Director of the Toronto Irish Film Festival. He has facilitated producer delegations to the Jerusalem Film Festival (partnering with the Israeli Government and the Jerusalem Foundation), the Galway Film Fleadh (partnering with Screen Ireland), and an Ireland-Canada co-production lab (partnering with Screen Ireland and the Canadian Embassy). Galway is also the Facilitator of the Producer’s Lab at the Whistler Film Festival.

Nominees for this year’s Awards will be announced on Tuesday, February 15, 2022.

(Photo credit: Netflix)

2021 is about manifesting your desires and Twitter has just launched a campaign with various athletes and entertainers, some of whom manifested their own destinies! Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Niall Horan, Demi Lovato and several more are known to have Tweeted out their biggest wishes in life … and they made it happen!

Representing Canada are Liu who notoriously Tweeted at Marvel about being considered for the role of Shang-Chi, and also Blind Gamer Steve Saylor.

Also included in the campaign are:

• Megan Thee Stallion
• Issa Rae
• Niall Horan
• Demi Lovato
• Bubba Wallace
• Patrick Mahomes
• Leonard Fournette 
• Michaela Onyenwere
• Diamond DeShields

Taking over Yonge & Dundas Square and also Union Station are new billboards for the campaign and it encouragers others to Tweet out their dreams. The platform also will be donating $1 million to each of these stars’ favourite charities.

To join-in on the fun, Tweet your dream with the hashtag #Manifestations!

(Photo credit: Twitter Canada)

Oscar Isaac stars in Marvel Studios’ MOON KNIGHT! Your first glance at the Trailer for this Series arriving March.

Synopsis:

The series follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt. 

“Moon Knight” stars Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke and May Calamawy. Mohamed Diab and the team of Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead directed the episodes. Jeremy Slater is the head writer, and Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Mohamed Diab, Jeremy Slater and Oscar Isaac are the executive producers. Grant Curtis, Trevor Waterson and Rebecca Kirsch serve as co-executive producers.

Marvel Studios’ MOON KNIGHT arrives March 30, 2022 on Disney+.

(Photo/video credit: Disney)

The Toronto Film Critics Association have announced their 2021 Award Winners today. Winning top honours of Best Film is DRIVE MY CAR, a Japanese Drama written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. The Film is Japan’s official entry at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Runners-up were LICORICE PIZZA and THE POWER OF THE DOG.

The Rogers Best Canadian Film Award will award one winner $100,000 from Rogers Communications Inc., with two runners-up each receiving $5,000. Finalists in this category are Beans, directed by Tracey Deer; Night Raiders, directed by Danis Goulet; Scarborough, directed by Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson. The winner will be announced at their upcoming (date TBD) Awards Gala.

List of winners below:

Best Film

DRIVE MY CAR

Runners-up: LICORICE PIZZA

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Director

Jane Campion (THE POWER OF THE DOG)

Runners-up: Hamaguchi Ryusuke (DRIVE MY CAR)

Denis Villeneuve (DUNE)

Best Actress

Olivia Colman (THE LOST DAUGHTER)

Runners-up: Penelope Cruz (PARALLEL MOTHERS)

Kristen Stewart (SPENCER)

Best Actor

Denzel Washington (THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH)

Runners-up: Benedict Cumberbatch (THE POWER OF THE DOG)

Andrew Garfield (TICK, TICK…BOOM!)

Best Supporting Actress

Jessie Buckley (THE LOST DAUGHTER)

Runners-up: Kirsten Dunst (THE POWER OF THE DOG)

Ruth Negga (PASSING)

Best Supporting Actor

Bradley Cooper (LICORICE PIZZA)

Runners-up: Ciaran Hinds (BELFAST)

Kodi Smit-McPhee (THE POWER OF THE DOG)

Best Screenplay

DRIVE MY CAR

Runners-up: LICORICE PIZZA

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Animated Feature

FLEE

Runners-up: ENCANTO

THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES

Best Documentary

SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)

Runners-up: FLEE

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

Best Foreign Language Film

DRIVE MY CAR

Runners-up: PETITE MAMAN

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Best First Feature

THE LOST DAUGHTER

Runners-up: PASSING

PIG

SHIVA BABY

More to come here.

I was a bit reluctant to start Season Two of Netflix‘s CHEER, not because I didn’t love the first season, but because I remember having a very hard time leaving it all behind. I fell in love so much with Coach Monica Aldama and the Navarro College Cheer Team so much that I felt sad with the Series ending on such a high note. Like millions of other fans who were drawn into Greg Whiteley‘s phenomenal Docu-Series, I followed all my favourites on Social Media and still am following them, eager to see where life has brought them since Season One brought them so much recognition. But alas, catching-up again with them was well worth it.

CHEER Season Two goes to some dark places in which the first season only began to scratch the surface. Many of these talented athletes come from a deep place of unhappiness in their life journeys and cheerleading has given them an all-or-nothing outlet and purpose. But after finding fame with the success of Season One and winning Daytona’s National Cheerleading Championship in 2019, some of Navarro‘s stars have gone on to do some lucrative things. Aldama for one competed on Dancing with the Stars and released a Memoir. Some of the athletes landed high-profile gigs in modelling and TV. But opportunity has created a strain on some of the deep familial bonds between Aldama and the team and Whiteley explores this. Add to this the 2020 National Cheerleading Championships being cancelled amidst the pandemic, meaning a full year of practice went in vain, plus former team member Jerry Harris set to go on trial for sexual assault and child pornography charges, life hasn’t been the happy ending we got last time.

Whiteley takes us right up to the 2021 National Cheerleading Championships and with that, we see some team members move on to new things in their lives and some new promising athletes enter the picture. But more than ever, we see Aldama and the team faced with some difficult challenges. For one, they no longer are the underdog. We meet Navarro Cheer’s toughest opponent in Trinity Valley Community College‘s Cheer Team, which now is under the guidance of Vontae Johnson, who is tough as nails and driven to win. We get some of the stories of this team, including the talented Jada Wooten who goes on a bit of a growth journey in her time with the team. She’s full of fire but her journey becomes about channeling it. And with this, the team and Aldama must overcome this bit of a rough patch, including some internal feuding and power struggles. The emotions run strong and we see Aldama and the team at their most vulnerable. Whiteley really does a phenomenal job seeing this through the bigger lens, asking the tough questions, and is there to confront them. There are tears, gray area and in that, authenticity.

This second season gets a bit more time over nine episodes to tell this phase in Navarro Cheer‘s story, capturing the bright, shiny veneer of this young adrenaline-packed sport, but also the complex feelings in these big personalities, keeping us invested. We genuinely feel for Aldama and her team and live to see them thrive once again. It would be cruel not to have a third season of this.

CHEER Season Two is streaming now on Netflix.

New year, new fears! SCREAM slashes its way to the top spot at the Box Office this weekend with $31.5 million from 3,664 theatres for Paramount Pictures. This fifth film in the Franchise gets 76% on the Tomatometer.

Second spot goes to reigning champ SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME with $21.4 million from 3,925 theatres for Sony Pictures. Its four-week domestic run sees it at $705 million.

Third spot goes to SING 2 with $8.5 million from 3,581 theatres for Universal Pictures, for a total $122 million earned over four weeks.

THE KING’S MAN takes fourth with $2.9 million from 2,510 theatres for 20th Century Studios.

THE 355 rounds this Top Five out with $2.3 million for Universal Pictures/eOne Films, a two week total of $8.9 million.

BILLY TALENT have been active for almost 30 years now and this Toronto-based rock outfit are showing no signs of stopping. They are priming the release of their sixth studio disc, CRISIS OF FAITH which has them trying some new things with a Progressive Rock sound more than Synth than ever before. If their single “End of Me” (ft. Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo) reaching #1 on the Billboard Canadian Rock Chart is any indication, fans are still very much in love, and their success is a testament to their lasting legacy.

Our Justin Waldman (@DubsReviews) had the pleasure of chatting with Billy Talent Bassist Jon Gallant, and he tells us about navigating touring and releasing an Album during the pandemic. “I think the timing really helped us really perfect the record. It was ready for a really long time and we just got to sit with it and even improve it. That’s actually how we got the Rivers Cuomo guest appearance”, says Gallant. “Ben (Kowalewicz, Lead Vocalist) said this reminds us of a Weezer song, why don’t we send it Rivers and see if he would sing on it? If it wasn’t for COVID, that wouldn’t have happened.”.

Gallant also tells us about a track called “Reactor” on the upcoming Disc which comments on the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and how it was eerily prophetic. He explains, “That song was actually written long before all the major riots happening in 2019 and all the stuff that was happening with the George Floyd tragedy. It was actually written before all that stuff. It has the bridge ‘I can’t breathe’ in it which wound-up being prophetic with what happened.”.

On being able to tour once again in support of this Album, Gallant doesn’t hold back. “It’s one of the reasons we kept pushing the release date back we didn’t want to put-out what we feel is such a fantastic album and then not be able to do any kind of touring around it. We’re really, really excited to get back on the road. It’s been too long. It’s really hard to comprehend or put my head around because the way things are going now in Ontario and it feels like we’ve taken some steps backwards. I just want to get out there and play some shows.”.

Check-out the full chat below:

Warner Music Canada release CRISIS OF FAITH January 21, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Music Canada/Mr. Will Wong)

The Hot Docs Podcast Festival kicks-off January 25 – 28, 2022, celebrating excellence in audio storytelling. Exciting live podcast presentations and provocative conversations are slated for the event. This is the sixth edition of the Festival.

HEADLINING EVENT LINEUP
All times listed in EST

Tuesday, January 25

7:30 PM

Opening Night Event: The Secrets We Keep: CBC Podcasts Storytelling Showcase

We all have a secret or two. Why are some hard to keep, and others hard to share? What are we still afraid to talk about in 2022? Are some secrets best kept hidden? Building on the theme of their highly entertaining and richly subversive CBC podcast, The Secret Life of Canada, co-hosts Leah Simone Bowen and Falen Johnson return to the festival on opening night with a star-studded storytelling showcase.

Come join some of Canada’s top podcasting talent for a night of eye-opening revelations.

Featuring stories by:
• Elamin Abdelmahmoud, Amil Niazi and Kevin Fallon (Pop Chat)
• Ryan Thorpe (White Hot Hate)
• Anna Maria Tremonti and Farzana Doctor (the all-new CBC podcast, Welcome to Paradise)

Wednesday, January 26

6:00PM

Michael Lewis in conversation with Ira Glass
Michael Lewis’ first book, Liar’s Poker, about working on Wall Street in the ‘80s, turned him into a literary icon. When he went into the studio to record a new audiobook version of Liar’s Poker, he thought a lot about how much Wall Street has (or hasn’t) changed. He also thought about his own
evolution as a writer. Those musings became a new podcast series called Other People’s Money, which is being released as a companion to Liar’s Poker. In this celebration of two of the greatest non-fiction storytellers of our time, Lewis, whose other books include Moneyball and The Big Short, is joined by Ira Glass, creator and host of public radio’s This American Life, to discuss their award-winning bodies of work and how they learned to stop imitating others and write like themselves.

8:00PM

Sneak preview: Thunder Bay, the Crave Original Documentary Series
Award-winning Anishinaabe podcaster, journalist and writer Ryan McMahon returns to the Hot Docs Podcast Festival stage to share a preview of the upcoming Crave Original documentary series based on his hit CANADALAND podcast, Thunder Bay. This gripping investigative series directed by award-winning filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and executive produced by Canadaland’s Jesse Brown, follows McMahon on his quest to uncover the truth behind the recent deaths of multiple Indigenous people in Thunder Bay, Ontario—a city known as the homicide and hate crime capital of Canada. Examining the failings and the injustices of the city’s social systems and institutions, the four-part series sheds light on
our country’s complicated relationship with colonialism, while examining the consequences of a broken system in which some can thrive, while many others, disproportionately struggle to survive.

Thursday, January 27

6:00PM

Virtual: Telling Hidden Stories: Invisibilia in Conversation with Resistance’s Saidu Tejan-Thomas & Bethel Habte

NPR’s Invisibilia is one of the most popular and innovative podcasts in the medium’s history. Founded by audio icons Alix Spiegel (This American Life) and Lulu Miller (Radiolab), the show is now led by two of the
most dynamic young voices in audio storytelling: Yowei Shaw and Kia Miakka Natisse. At this live virtual event, Yowei and Kia join forces with Saidu Tejan-Thomas and Bethel Habte, the host and producer of Gimlet’s acclaimed Resistance (recently named one of the 10 Best Podcasts of 2021 by The New York Times), and the for a one-of-a-kind meeting of curious minds. As they discuss the stories and ideas that fascinate and excite them, Kia, Yowei, Saidu and Bethel will explore their common passion for telling
hidden, sometimes overlooked, stories—and their commitment to producing socially engaged work that speaks to a new generation of passionate audiophiles.

8:00PM
Back Issue Live with The New Yorker’s Kelefa Sanneh
Remember when tasteless critics panned Mariah Carey’s Glitter? (#JusticeforGlitter!) When Beyoncé gave us EVERYTHING? Tracy Clayton and Josh Gwynn do, and these are just a few of the formative pop
culture moments they’ve dissected on their brilliant and delightful podcast Back Issue. In this first-ever live edition of their show, Tracy and Josh team up with New Yorker staff writer Kelefa Sanneh for an unforgettable night of conversation, trivia and pop culture nostalgia. As they dig deep into the
fascinating stories at the heart of Major Labels, Kelefa’s groundbreaking new history of the past 50 years of popular music, they’ll revisit some of the biggest songs and videos of the 90s/00s and reckon with some of culture’s biggest questions: How did we let this happen? And why do we still love this? As Tracy and Josh often say: “Nostalgia is more than just a feeling.”

Friday, January 28

8:00PM

Full Release Live with Samantha Bee
Every week on Full Release, her wildly popular podcast, Samantha Bee sits down for unscripted, in-depth conversations with the best and brightest people about how to navigate the ever-changing world and what to laugh about along the way. In this first-ever live virtual episode of the show, the brilliant comedian and satirist joins the Festival for a one-of-a-kind meeting of minds with a surprise special guest.

CREATORS FORUM EVENT LINEUP
Exclusive access to these events is granted with the purchase of a festival pass.

Wednesday, January 26
9:30AM

How to Build a Career in Podcasting (without Selling your Soul)
How do you build a career in podcasting without selling your soul? How do you acquire job security and creative freedom in an industry that has historically underpaid workers and undervalued the voices of women and people of colour? Answering these questions has been integral to the mission of Media Girlfriends, a Toronto-based podcast production company, founded by journalists of colour, that’s devoted to amplifying historically misrepresented voices. In this candid conversation, the studio’s three
co-founders will discuss their strategies for navigating the podcast landscape as freelancers, their efforts to build supportive and inclusive teams on their podcasts, and how they’ve worked to achieve a sense of
agency, aligning the work they do with their personal values.

Featuring:
• Garvia Bailey, award-winning journalist and co-founder of Media Girlfriends
• Nana aba Duncan, Media Girlfriends co-founder, Associate prof, Carleton Chair of Journalism, Diversity
and Inclusion Studies at Carlton University’s School of Journalism
• Hannah Sung, award-winning journalist and co-founder of Media Girlfriends

11:00AM
Launching an Investigative Podcast: A “Stolen” Case Study with Gimlet’s Lydia Polgreen and Connie Walker

As the managing director of Gimlet Media, one of the studios at the heart of Spotify’s growing podcast empire, Lydia Polgreen is responsible for bringing audio storytelling of the highest quality to millions of listeners around the world. Connie Walker is one of the studio’s most accomplished hosts—a Canadian success story whose acclaimed podcast, Stolen, caught the eyes and ears of fans and critics alike. In this candid discussion of both the craft and business of podcasting, Polgreen and Walker will use Stolen as a case study to explore the process of building an ambitious, journalistically rigorous podcast at a major studio. They’ll discuss the joys—and the institutional challenges—of bringing timely, socially engaged narrative journalism to a big global audience.

Featuring:
• Lydia Polgreen, Managing Director, Gimlet Media
• Connie Walker, Investigative reporter, host of Gimlet Media’s Stolen, previously: Finding Cleo (CBC)

1:00PM
Creatives Crossing Into the Podcasting Space with Director X & Taj Critchlow

In recent years, podcasting has become a truly cross-platform medium, attracting big-name talent from across the world of arts and culture—and inspiring exciting new projects in other media. In this intimate
session with two of the world’s most influential music video creators—Toronto’s own Director X and Taj Critchlow—explore what it takes to translate your skills from another creative medium into this exciting
and endlessly inventive art form. Sharing lessons from their hit podcast, ARTchitects: the architects of ART podcast (also co-hosted by Karena Evans), and their collaborations with superstars with Drake, Rihanna and Kanye West, X and Taj will discuss the power of podcasting to nurture your creativity and expand your audience.

Featuring:
• Julien Christian Lutz, aka Director X, filmmaker, music video director and Co-Founder and Managing
Partner of Fela, new age production company creating globally celebrated content.
• Taj Critchlow, talent manager, producer, creative consultant, and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of
Fela.
• Jordan Sowunmi (Moderator), Lead, Music Editorial and Content Strategy at TikTok, co-founder of Boosie Fade and the podcast, Catch Up.

2:30PM
How to Pitch with CBC Decision-Makers
In this special presentation from Canada’s largest podcast studio, decision-makers Chris Oke and Ilina Ghosh will pull back the curtain on one of the most difficult and important skills every podcaster needs to master: how to pitch. Using examples drawn from some of the CBC’s most popular and award-winning narrative series, this will be a practical guide to building proposals, presentations and teasers that will excite potential collaborators and help get your projects in front of the right people.

Featuring:
• Chris Oke, Senior Producer, CBC Podcasts
• Ilina Gosh, Producer, CBC Podcasts

4:00PM
How to Make a Good Talk Show: A Masterclass with Canadaland
Aspiring podcasters often underestimate the amount of work that goes into making a good conversation show—the best ones sound so effortless. But even the most informal, off-the-cuff-sounding chat pods require immense planning and expertise, and few studios understand this better than Canadaland, the scrappy, Toronto-based indie behind some of the country’s most popular podcasts on politics, media, and current events. In this special Masterclass, Fatima Syed, host of The Backbench, and more veteran
producers reveal the nuts and bolts of how a good chat show gets made— and how to make them dynamic, structured, and topical enough to engage a large audience.

Featuring:
• Jonathan Goldsbie, co-host of Wag the Doug podcast and editor at Canadaland
• Tiffany Lam, producer, Canadaland
• Fatima Syed, host, Canadaland’s The Backbench
• Kieran Oudshoorn (Moderator), Managing Editor of Podcasts, Canadaland

Thursday, January 27
9:30AM

Masterclass in Audience Engagement
“If you have a big social following, your podcast audience numbers are guaranteed. If you’re a celebrity, no doubt people will tune into your show. Having a show that’s outside the mainstream means only only a few listeners will tune in (likely your friends and family).” All of these are misconceptions in how to establish, engage with, and grow your audience in podcasting. As the classic saying in podcast audience engagement goes, “It’s an art, not a science.” At this masterclass, leading insiders from Acast dig into the most interesting audience engagement trends and strategies they’ve seen and executed with creators of all backgrounds.

Featuring:
• Tiffany Ashitey, Director of Partnerships, Acast US
• Trace Gaynor, Associate Partner Manager, Acast USA
• Becky Celestina, Partner Manager, Acast USA
• Sophia Lepage, Associate Partner Manager, Acast Canada

This Creators Forum session is guest curated by Acast as part of Acast Day: Seen and Heard: Elevating
Diverse Voices & Stories.

11:00AM
Aclass: Indigenous Voices

Get Indigenous podcasters’ perspectives on creating and developing audio-first stories, and the challenges and successes they’ve encountered along the way. Is podcasting a means to activism? Hear from Ryan McMahon (Red Man Laughing, Thunder Bay), Pam Palmater (Warrior Life), Nick Estes (The
Red Nation Podcast), and Falen Johnson (CBC’s The Secret Life of Canada) as they walk you through their journeys into the medium, how they’ve found and grown their audiences, and what their unique creative processes look like. They also discuss the current state of Indigenous podcasting along with
where it’s headed in the future

Featuring:
• Nick Estes, a journalist, historian, and host of The Red Nation Podcast. He is a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.
• Falen Johnson, award-winning playwright and co-host of CBC’s The Secret Life of Canada. She is Mohawk and Tuscarora (Bear Clan) from Six Nations Grand River Territory.
• Ryan McMahon, award-winning Anishinaabe podcaster, journalist and writer, host of the Red Man Laughing and Thunder Bay podcasts
• Dr. Pam Palmater, a Mi’kmaw laywer, professor and activist, host of Warrior Life.
• Narisa Ladak (Moderator), Creator Network Director, Acast Canada.
This Creators Forum session is guest curated by Acast as part of Acast Day: Seen and Heard: Elevating Diverse Voices & Stories.

2:30PM
Communicating Challenging Concepts Through Creation with AsapSCIENCE

How do you make your podcast more accessible when it covers an “inaccessible” topic? AsapSCIENCE creators Greg and Mitch are popular Toronto-based YouTubers, TikTok stars, podcasters, and queer science educators who are making the subject of science digestible, inclusive, and fun with the help of their podcast Sidenote. Joined by Acast’s Heather Gordon, Greg and Mitch will discuss their journey into podcasting, and how they’re taking advantage of cross-platform storytelling to break down knowledge barriers and make the typical esoteric language used in the science community more accessible to all.

Using TikTok as a case study, they’ll also discuss how to create unique content for digital platforms that will resonate with related—though distinct—audiences.

Featuring:
• Gregory Brown, co-creator of AsapSCIENCE, co-host of Sidenote podcast
• Mitchell Moffit, co-creator of AsapSCIENCE, co-host of Sidenote podcast
• Heather Gordon (Moderator), Managing Director of Acast Canada

This Creators Forum session is guest curated by Acast as part of Acast Day: Seen and Heard: Elevating Diverse Voices & Stories.

4:00 PM
Freedom Through Fandom
From Swifties bashing Jake Gyllenhaal to the BTS Army disrupting a Trump rally, to Britney Spears fans rallying to #SaveBritney, we know the power of fandom. We also know that podcasting can offer a space for fandom to thrive. When it’s coupled with the viral nature of social media, there’s even an ability to create a groundswell of awareness and change. Ira Madison III (Keep It!), Hannah Sung (Media Girlfriends), and Vanessa Zoltan (Harry Potter and the Sacred Text) all have experience with fandom— whether through reporting, social engagement, or being an actual fan. Join this roundtable discussion moderated by Amil Niazi (CBC’s Pop Chat) as the panelists dive into the intricacies of fandom—when it’s used for good, when it’s used as an activism tool, and when it turns ugly. They will cover how podcasting plays an integral role as a source of information.

Featuring:
• Ira Madison III, television writer, host of Crooked Media’s Keep It!, former critic at The Daily Beast and GQ Magazine
• Hannah Sung, award-winning journalist and co-founder of Media Girlfriends, podcast production company
• Amil Niazi (Moderator), showrunner, CBC’s Pop Chat This Creators Forum session is guest curated by Acast as part of Acast Day: Seen and Heard: Elevating Diverse Voices & Stories.

Friday, January 28
9:30AM

Launching and Creating Podcasts with Amazon Decision-Makers

In recent years, Amazon Music has made a serious investment in the audio storytelling landscape, with the acquisition of podcast studio Wondery and podcast service provider Art19, making it a premiere destination for creators looking to manage, grow and monetize their content. In this presentation and panel specially crafted for Hot Docs Podfest delegates, Amazon audio execs Marshall Lewy, Lindsay Michael, and Declan Moore will offer an overview of the services and support systems their team is
putting in place to support podcast producers who are looking to grow their audiences. Get insider knowledge on the studio’s approach to developing and launching new shows and get expert tips on how to pitch an exciting project to a major podcast studio.

Featuring:
• Marshall Lewy, Chief Content Officer at Wondery, overseeing Wondery and Amazon Originals
• Lindsay Michael, Manager of Podcasts for Amazon Canada
• Declan Moore, Head of International at Wondery

11:00AM
The Art of the Limited-Run Podcast: A Masterclass with Dan Taberski

Dan Taberski is on a roll. In the years since his viral podcast series Missing Richard Simmons dominated the podcast charts, the former documentary filmmaker and Daily Show producer has hosted a series of critically acclaimed shows that have set a new creative standard for the limited-run podcast series: Running with Cops, Surviving Y2K, The Line and, most recently, 9/12.

This latest, an Amazon Original produced by Pineapple Street, was recently named one of the ten best podcasts of 2021 by The New York Times and The New Yorker. In this masterclass, Dan sits down with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, hosts of CBC’s Pop Chat, to discuss the important process-oriented questions that help to structure an ambitious documentary series, and why he believes this emerging art form is the place, as he puts it, to tell “crazy explosive” stories and explore complicated questions and ideas.

Featuring:
• Dan Taberski, Filmmaker and podcaster, host of Running with Cops, Surviving Y2K, The Line and 9/12

• Elamin Abdelmahmoud (moderator), culture writer at Buzzfeed News and host of CBC’s Pop Chat

1:00PM
Editing Across Difference with The New Yorker Radio Hour’s Ngofeen Mputubwele

As a producer of The New Yorker Radio Hour, and a former staffer at Stitcher and Gimlet, Ngofeen Mputubwele has helped produce some of the most acclaimed podcasts in recent memory. He’s also witnessed the podcast industry’s tendency to undervalue and marginalize the work of podcasters of colour. In this masterclass, adapted from workshops he’s led for the teams at Stitcher and WNYC, Ngofeen will address the power dynamics that often take shape in the production and editing of ambitious podcasts—and how to establish ground rules and support systems that allow team members to negotiate their creative and cultural differences, especially when they are telling stories rooted in the experiences of historically marginalized peoples.

2:30PM
Finding Your Voice: Audio Writing Masterclass with This American Life’s Alix Spiegel

Writing for audio is often discussed as a mysterious, almost mystical process. At this masterclass, Alix Spiegel, a senior producer for This American Life and former host of Invisibilia, sits down with 99% Invisible’s Chris Berube to cut through the noise and break down the most effective approaches to tape use, story structure and reporting techniques that she has encountered at the canonical shows where she has worked. As she talks though examples from her award-winning body of work, she’ll demonstrate practical strategies that podcasters of all backgrounds and experience levels can employ to write captivating, elegantly structured audio stories.

Featuring:
• Alix Spiegel, senior producer for This American Life, former host of Invisibilia
• Chris Berube (moderator), producer, 99% Invisible

2:30PM
Breaking Form, Breaking Rules with Eric Eddings and Brittany Luse
After breaking new ground with their show The Nod, Eric Eddings and Brittany Luse are once again shaping the cultural conversation with their newly rebooted For Colored Nerds, where they deconstruct the nerdier side of pop culture, and peel back the layers of Black culture we rarely discuss in mixed company. At this masterclass, the BFFs and cultural critics will dig into the art and craft of making “formbreakers”—episodes that play with narrative and production to make the world take notice. Using examples from past episodes of The Nod, Eric and Brittany will break down the rules for an episode where you break the rules, offering invaluable tips and tricks on how to take your show and your audience to new and unexpected places.

Featuring:
• Eric Eddings, co-host of For Colored Nerds, Director of Lifestyle Podcasting at Stitcher/SiriusXM, and the former co-host of The Nod (Gimlet)
• Brittany Luse, journalist, podcast host, and cultural critic whose writing has appeared in Vulture, Refinery29, Harper’s Bazaar. She is the co-host of For Colored Nerds and former co-host of The Nod.

More here, including how to buy a pass.

Check-out this brand-new Trailer for THE PROUD FAMILY: LOUDER AND PROUDER coming next month only on Disney+!

Synopsis:

“The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” will pick up the story of its central character Penny Proud and also include her madcap family: parents Oscar and Trudy, twin siblings BeBe and CeCe, and her grandmother Suga Mama (and Puff!). Of course, it would not be “The Proud Family” without Penny‘s loyal crew Dijonay Jones, LaCienega Boulevardez and Zoey Howzer, among others. 

Cast members reprising their voice roles from the original series are: Kyla Pratt as Penny Proud, Tommy Davidson as Oscar Proud, Paula Jai Parker as Trudy Proud, JoMarie Payton as Suga Mama, Cedric the Entertainer as Uncle Bobby, Carlos Mencia as Felix Boulevardez, Maria Canals-Barrera as Sunset Boulevardez, Alvaro Gutierrez as Papi, Karen Malina White as Dijonay Jones, Soleil Moon Frye as Zoey Howzer and Alisa Reyes as LaCienega Boulevardez.

THE PROUD FAMILY: LOUDER AND PROUDER premieres February 23, 2022 with new episodes arriving Wednesdays!

(Photo/video credit: Disney)

Anna Delvey tricked her way to the top of elite social circles. Until she was uncovered! INVENTING ANNA is coming soon to Netflix and here is the brand-new Trailer.

Synopsis:

In Inventing Anna, a journalist with a lot to prove investigates the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary German heiress who stole the hearts of New York’s social scene – and stole their money as well. But is Anna New York’s biggest con woman, or is she simply the new portrait of the American dream? Anna and the reporter form a dark, funny, love-hate bond as Anna awaits trial and our reporter fights the clock to answer the biggest question in NYC: who is Anna Delvey? The series is inspired by the New York Magazine article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” by Jessica Pressler, who also serves as a producer.

Cast: Anna Chlumsky (Vivian), Julia Garner (Anna Delvey), Arian Moayed (Todd), Katie Lowes (Rachel), Alexis Floyd (Neff), Anders Holm (Jack), Anna Deavere Smith (Maud), Jeff Perry (Lou), Terry Kinney (Barry), Laverne Cox (Kacy).

INVENTING ANNA arrives February 11, 2022.

(Photo credit: Netflix)