Film editor Mary Stephen will receive the 2023 Fire Horse Award at next month’s Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. The ceremony will take place May 31 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto in honour of Asian Heritage Month.

First handed out last year to Canadian filmmaker Keith Lock, the annual award comes with a $25,000 cash prize and “honours an Asian Canadian individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the film and media-arts community,” according to a news release.

Hong Kong-born, Montreal-raised Stephen (pictured) is being recognized for a body of work that includes mentorship to rising filmmakers and dozens of credits, such as Yang Li’s Blind Mountain, Lixin Fan’s Last Train Home, Tiffany Hsiung’s The Apology and Ann Hui’s Love After Love.

Stephen said the honour is timely, coming as she embarks “on a personal project about my family’s Asian heritage and what that means in this global digital age,” in a statement. Jury members Hsiung, Ananya Ohri and Nobu Adilman praised Stephen’s “grit in building her illustrious career on an international stage despite the steep challenges faced by women, especially women of colour in the industry.”

Wattpad Webtoon, Leone Film Group pair again

Toronto-based digital content platform Wattpad Webtoon Studios is building on its development partnership with Italian prodco and distributor Leone Film Group, this time on two new adaptations based on Wattpad webnovels.

Romantic mystery The Locker Exchange, based on the Ann Rae webnovel, will be adapted into an English and Italian-language film. The other title is Stefania S.’s Love Me, Love Me, which will be adapted as an Italian-language series by Lotus Production, a Leone Film Group company. Bego Robles from Wattpad Webtoon Studios will oversee both projects.

Aron Levitz, David Madden and Lindsey Ramey will produce The Locker Exchange for Wattpad Webtoon Studios, alongside Raffaella Leone and Andrea Leone for Leone Film Group, who serve as co-CEOs. Marco Borromei, Michela Straniero and Alessandra Martellini are attached to write the film.

Love Me, Love Me will be produced by Levitz, Madden and Sera Tabb for Wattpad Webtoon Studios, as well as the aforementioned Leone Film Group CEOs. The attached writers are Daniela Delle Foglie, Serena Tateo and Veronica Galli.

CBC podcast wins Webby Award

CBC’s Let’s Make a Sci-Fi is among the 2023 Webby Award honourees, picking up the award for Entertainment Podcast. The eight-part limited podcast series is produced by Vancouver studio Kelly&Kelly, and follows three comedians — Ryan Beil, Maddy Kelly and Mark Chavez — as they try to write the perfect sci-fi pilot script. Let’s Make a Sci-Fi premiered on CBC Podcasts on March 1, 2022. CBC released a sequel podcast, Let’s Make a Rom-Com, in February.

ReelAbilities Toronto reveals three new programs

ReelAbilities Toronto has launched three new initiatives to support emerging Deaf and/or disabled Canadian filmmakers and creatives. The Short Film Pitch Competition will take place during next month’s ReelAbilities Film Festival Toronto (RAFFTO) and give five participants coaching for a live, virtual pitch as well as a chance of winning $5,000 in cash, plus prizes and support from William F. White and Grandé Camera.

RAFFTO will also offer the Screenwriting Mentorship Program and the Acting & Performance Mentorship Program, both of which will have three Deaf and/or disabled participants who will receive six hours of mentorship tailored to their needs.

The 8th annual RAFFTO will run in person and online May 11 to 19, kicking off with a virtual screening of the Jo Rochelle’s coming-of-age U.S. feature Jasmine Is A Star along with short film Rite of Identity by director Youmee Lee.

Pixomondo, Seneca launch new program

Virtual production and visual effects studio Pixomondo (PXO) and Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto have partnered on a new online training program. PXO’s Virtual Production Academy developed the 12-week Virtual Production: Virtual Art Department Content Creation, which will begin this fall.

Industry professionals will use PXO’s proprietary techniques in the program to prepare creative professionals for careers in the field of virtual production. Graduates will receive a microcredential completion badge from Seneca and have direct access to employment opportunities at PXO. This is the first partnership announced by the new Seneca Film Institute.

Blue Ant Media up for StreamTV Awards

A couple of executives and a FAST channel from Toronto-headquartered Blue Ant Media have made the list of finalists for the StreamTV Awards, which will be handed out during the StreamTV Show conference running June 12 to 14 in Denver, Colo.

Julio Sobral, SVP U.S. and Latin America global networks, Blue Ant Media, is nominated the category of Content Partnerships Executive of the Year – Distribution. Nominated for Programming Executive of the Year is Craig Junner, SVP, programming and content strategy, global media, Blue Ant Media.

Meanwhile, Blue Ant Media’s Washington, D.C.-headquartered Love Nature is nominated for FAST Channel of the Year.

WFW hires new sales, operational lead

William F. White International (WFW) has hired Heidi Rasmussen as director, sales and operations in Winnipeg. She assumes the role effective immediately, after previously working as general manager for the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group radio stations QX104 and 94.3 The Drive, and general sales manager for Shaw Media Winnipeg, according to a news release.

Rasmussen (pictured) joins the Sunbelt Rentals-owned company as it moves to a new location in Winnipeg, near Big Sky Studios, with which WFW has an exclusive rental agreement and which recently finished the second of two phases of construction.

Garin Josey, EVP and COO, WFW, said Rasmussen’s industry networks and sales operational record will help position WFW “for further success” as “Winnipeg’s film and television industry is forecast to see extensive growth in the near future,” in a statement.

NFB short debuts in Stuttgart 

The National Film Board of Canada animated documentary short The Boat People, written and directed by Kjell Boersma and Thao Lam, is making its world premiere at the Stuttgart Animation Festival.

Justine Pimlott and Jelena Popovic are the producers on the film, which is by author-illustrator Lam’s journey to Canada as a child refugee from Vietnam.

The Stuttgart Animation Festival runs April 25 to 30 in Stuttgart, Germany.

Photo is a handout from a publicist for the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival