press release: YMA Awards of Excellence Nominees

Awards of Excellence Nominees Announced!

Montreal, April 14, 2021 – Youth Media Alliance (YMA) is pleased to announce the nominees for their Awards of Excellence. The winners will be revealed during the virtual gala to be held on May 26, streamed live from Toronto. Based on the YMA’s Statement of Quality, jury members have selected the following nominees:

Award of Excellence for Best Program, Live Action Non-Scripted (Ages 6-9)

• My Stay-at-Home Diary (Benjamin, Kaelin, Hanna & Marisol and Ben’s Stay at home Diaries) – produced by Lopii Productions; aired on TVOkids and PBS.org
• Backyard Beats (Indigenous Hand Drum) – produced by BGM Inc.; aired on TVOkids
• How Do You Feel? (Racism) – produced by Riverbank Pictures; aired on TVOkids

Award of Excellence for Best Program, Live Action Non-Scripted (Ages 9+)

• All-Round Champion (Ice Climbing) – produced by marblemedia; aired on BYUtv, TVOkids and Knowledge Kids
• My Home, My Life! (Jasmina – My Signing Family) – produced by Lopii Productions; aired on TVOkids
• It’s My Party! (Pride) – produced by BGM Inc.; aired on TVOkids

Award of Excellence for Best Program, Live Action Scripted (Preschool 3-5)

• Anaana’s Tent (Colours) – produced by Taqqut Productions; aired on APTN
• Dino Dana (Sounds of Dinosaurs) – produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment; aired on TVOkids and Amazon
• Dino Dana The Movie – feature film produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment; available on the TVOkids YouTube Channel

Award of Excellence for Best Program, Live Action Scripted (Ages 6-9)

• Detention Adventure (History Repeating) – produced by LoCo Motion Pictures and Broken Compass Films; streamed on CBC Gem

• Big Top Academy (Circus In My Soul) – produced by Apartment 11 Productions in association with TVOkids and Discovery Kids Latin America, in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil Images; aired on TVOkids and Discovery Kids Latin America
• Ghostwriter (Ghost in Wonderland, Part 1) – produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment; streamed on Apple TV+
• Endlings (The End is the Beginning, Part 2) – produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment; aired on CBC and Hulu

Award of Excellence for Best Program, Live Action Scripted (Ages 9+)

• Holly Hobbie (Episode 203 – The Salty Songstress) – produced by Aircraft Pictures in association with Cloudco Entertainment and Wexworks Media; aired on Family Channel
• About Sex (Sexual Orientation) – produced by Echo Media; streamed on CBC Gem
• Malory Towers (The Last Day) – WildBrain and King Bert Productions; aired on Family Channel

Award of Excellence for Best Program, Animation (Preschool 3-5)

• Hero Elementary (Monster Hunters / Soapy Situation) – produced by Portfolio Entertainment Inc. and Twin Cities PBS; aired on TVOkids and PBS
• 16 Hudson (The Great Race) – produced by Big Bad Boo Studios Inc.; aired on TVOkids, Knowledge Kids and CBC-Radio Canada
• StarBeam (Snacktime for Stewart) – produced by Kickstart Entertainment; streamed on Netflix
• Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum (I am Harriet Tubman) – produced by 9 Story Media Group and Brown Bag Films; aired on PBS Kids
• Esme & Roy (To Cupcake With Love/A True Monsterpiece) – produced by Nelvana Limited and Sesame Workshop; aired on Treehouse

Award of Excellence for Best Program, Animation (*Ages 6-9 and 9+)

• Snoopy in Space (Mission 10) – produced by WildBrain; aired on Apple TV+
• Dorg Van Dango (Dorg Rewinds / Dorg and the Last Supperman) – produced by WildBrain and Cartoon Saloon; aired on Family Channel
• The Last Kids on Earth (June Gloom) – produced by Atomic Cartoons; streamed on Netflix
• Molly of Denali (Molly and the Great One) – produced by Atomic Cartoons and WGBH; aired on PBS and CBC

Award of Excellence for Best Program, Short Form Content (Preschool 3-5)

• ABC Singsong (Letter A, Letter B, Letter C, Letter D, Letter E, Letter F, Letter G, Letter H, Letter I, Letter J, Letter K) – produced by Goddard/Brown; streamed on TVOkids.com
• 6 Seis Cumbia for Sesame Street – produced by Lopii Productions; aired on Treehouse TV, PBS Kids and HBO Max
• The Gumboot Kids (A Valentine’s Day Poem) – produced by Imagine Create Media; streamed on www.gumbootkids.com
• STUDIO K (Staying Home Staying Healthy) – produced by CBC Kids; streamed on YouTube

Award of Excellence for Best Program, Short Form (Ages 6-9)

• ScienceXplosion (Episode 107: The Era of the Air Pump / Episode 108: Find the Culprit) – produced by GAPC Entertainment Inc.; streamed on tvokids.com
• Space Kids (Storybook in the Sky / What is a Black Hole / What is a Nebula) – produced by Imagine Create Media; streamed on www.imaginecreatemedia.com
• YTV Dayparts – The Zone, Zone Weekend, Big Fun Movies (The Zone – August 14, 2020) – produced by BGM Inc. and Corus Entertainment; aired on YTV

Award of Excellence for Best Program, Short Form (Ages 9+)

• STEAM Stars (Astronaut Dr. Jenni Sidey-Gibbons meets the STEAM Sisters) – produced by Shaftesbury; streamed on the Shaftesbury Kids YouTube Channel
• Denis and Me (Lemonade Stand-Off) – produced by Headspinner Productions Inc.; streamed on www.denisandme.com
• The Solutioneers (Numbers) – produced by Shaftesbury; streamed on Shaftesbury Kids YouTube Channel
• Miskatonic (Teaser) – produced by Arcana Studio; streamed on vimeo

Award of Excellence for Best Gaming or Interactive Experiences 

• Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum – Story Creator – produced by 9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films and Relish Interactive; available on pbskids.org
• CBC Kids News – produced by CBC Kids; available on www.cbckidsnews.ca
• Louis Says III Interactive Appisode – produced by Landslide Entertainment and MBC; available on iTunes

Award of Excellence for Best Podcast

• The Story Store (The Chicken Who Meowed) – produced by CBC Kids
• The Story Store (Bee the Tea) – produced by CBC Kids
• Odd Squad (Big O Hero) – produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment

Award of Excellence, Outstanding Youth Performer

• Arista Arhin 
• Millie Davis 
• Arjun Ram 
• Saara Chaudry 
• Kamaia Fairburn 
• Michela Luci 

On gala night, YMA will be presenting the Outstanding Achievement Award to Michelle Melanson Cuperus and the Emerging Talent Award to Rennata and Georgina López of Lopii Productions. 

Congratulations to all the nominees and we look forward to seeing you on May 26! The gala will be presented online via the platform Remo. Attendance will be free of charge this year, details on registration and how to attend will be available on our website soon. 

The 2021 Awards of Excellence are made possible through the participation of our sponsors: Principal – CBC Kids; Prestige – Sinking Ship Entertainment, the Bell Fund, the Canada Media Fund, 9 Story Media Group, the Independent Production Fund, the Shaw Rocket Fund;  Excellence – Guru Studio, Fresh TV, Apartment 11 Productions, Little Engine Moving Pictures, APTN, eOne, Landslide Entertainment, Nelvana, marblemedia, and Atomic Cartoons.