‘Starting out back in the infancy of television I didn’t know it would come to all this,’ said amazed host Joyce Davidson Susskind, gesturing to the packed audience as she opened Women In Film and Television-Toronto’s 10th annual awards gala.

The news/current affairs broadcaster was presented with a surprise special achievement award by wift-t in recognition of her body of work and role as mentor for countless Canadian women in the film and tv business.

The April 30 wift-t gala brought over 700 industry reps and supporters to the Royal York Hotel to pay tribute to influential women on the entertainment scene through special achievement awards. Attendees also supported the organization’s programming initiatives by contributing roughly $13,000 at a silent auction.

‘Being a Canadian star is an outstanding achievement in itself,’ joked Traders’ Sonja Smits on accepting her prize. She noted that being a working actress is also a feat as women pick up a mere 33% of the roles.

ctv’s Ivan Fecan paid tribute to Pamela Wallin as a role model who has ‘pushed the envelope,’ and continues to do so, most recently reinventing herself as an entrepreneur with the launch of her own production company, The Current Affairs Group.

MuchMusic/Citytv music programming director Denise Donlon also received a wift-t award, as did Barbara Willis Sweete, cofounder of Rhombus Media and director/producer of numerous acclaimed arts docs. Filmmaker Patricia Rozema was also a recipient. The producer of When Night Is Falling and the internationally award-winning I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing is currently negotiating for yet another in the string of Jane Austen titles hitting the screen, seeking to adapt and direct Mansfield Park.

Sherri Elwood is this year’s winner of the CBC Woman Writer’s Award, which provides script development funding to a filmmaker in the early stages of their career. Elwood garnered the prize for her outline of the tv movie Deeply, the tale of a young woman who becomes tangled in the ancient curse of a bewitched island on the East Coast. As sponsor of the award, cbc holds first refusal rights.