Vancouver: After a three-year absence, the Leo Awards will roar again May 15 at the Hotel Vancouver.

The gala event – which recognizes excellence in the b.c. film and television industry – is currently accepting submissions in 62 categories.

Nominees will be announced Apr. 19.

The first, and to date, only Leo Awards was held in 1996 and was sponsored by the now-inactive B.C. Motion Picture Association. That event was marred by a lack of organization, costs that precipitated the downfall of the bcmpa and, ultimately, the fact that winners did not receive their trophies.

The renewed Leos is being produced by television producer Walter Daroshin (Troika Films), marketer Sonny Wong (who oversees Vancouver’s annual Dragon Boat Festival) and, for its adjudicating abilities, the local office of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

For Daroshin, the new Leos has been a two-year project since he won a Leo for best picture for The War Between Us. He promises a professional event that is part business enterprise and part celebration to applaud the efforts of the local industry. Troika will produce a television special about the event for vtv.

‘b.c.’s film and television industry has traditionally been very diverse and, as such, its members have lacked a common meeting ground,’ says Daroshin, who has secured a third season of 26 episodes of Pacific Profiles on vtv and is wrapping up their second season now. ‘The Leo Awards will allow members from every sector – union and non-union, indigenous producers and service providers, etc. – to celebrate the accomplishments of the people who are the very foundation of our industry.’

Open to b.c. residents and b.c.-based and -controlled production companies with new work in 1998, the Leos are divided into program awards such as best experimental, animated, feature-length, drama or news production and craft awards including best direction, editing, performance, score, design and news anchor. The evening also includes The 1999 Outstanding Achievement Award.

The first entry costs $100 plus gst and subsequent entries cost $50 each plus gst.

Producers are planning for 700 at the event. Winners will be selected through a peer-adjudication process overseen by the Academy. Leo Award scores will be tabulated by accounting firm Ellis Foster.