Members of Ontario’s interactive industry dominated the 2002 Canadian New Media Awards, capturing 10 of 12 prizes at a ceremony held in Toronto on May 27. Dan Fill, head of convergence initiatives at Toronto’s Decode Entertainment, was among the night’s big winners, taking home the producer of the year award. Fill’s credits include the award-winning Angela Anaconda Online, Kidtime, The Undergrads.tv and The Hoobs Online.

For a moment the proceedings took on the air of the Geminis, with the continued existence of at least one nominee in doubt. Web network U8TV was up for most promising new company, ironic considering its TV incarnation was recently canceled by Life Network. In any event, the struggling Internet network ended up losing the award to Toronto digital rights management provider J!ve Media Technologies.

Success among the companies that made it up to the podium was measured in how few people they had laid off in the past couple of years. ‘2001 was a rough year for a lot of companies,’ said presenter Keith Clarkson, Telefilm Canada’s senior multimedia investment analyst. A recurring theme in presentation and acceptance speeches was that new media producers must soldier on despite economic setbacks and skepticism from the press.

The event was well attended despite the so-called new media meltdown. Many in the crowd were of the older executive type, as though the deep pockets were brought in to witness the parade of this fledgling industry’s best and brightest.

Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps was on hand to announce the $5-million Canada-TELUS New Media Learning Fund, an initiative to create innovative online learning content for use in Canadian schools. Copps reiterated the importance of supporting the Canadian new media sector, which she said employs 30,000 and generates $2 billion in annual revenue.

The awards show was presented by Canadian Heritage, Telefilm and MultiMediator, and was produced by interactive solutions company Delvinia.

Winners were chosen online by a select group of industry participants.

A full list of winners can be found at www.cnma.ca.