Canadian productions have earned a total of 40 nominations for the 2024 Rockie Awards International Program Competition.

French-language Canadian productions have a big presence among the drama and comedy series nominees, which include the Crave original series Bon matin Chuck (ou l’art de réduire les méfaits) and TVA’s Sorcières in the Drama Series category, and Série Plus’ Les Bombes and TVA’s Le bonheur in the Comedy Series category.

A total of 155 nominees from 19 countries will compete across 30 categories at the 2024 Rockies, which will be held in-person and livestreamed during the Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) on June 11. Canada was the third-most nominated country for this year’s Rockies, coming behind the U.S. and the U.K., which picked up 51 and 50 nods, respectively. BBC is the most-nominated company with 22 nods, followed by 20th Television with eight and Sky with five nominations.

Bon matin Chuck (St-Laurent TV, C3 Media) and Sorcières (Amalga Créations Médias) join Bell Media’s L’empereur (Sovimage) as the Canadian titles competing in the best Drama Series: Non-English Language category. The France Télévisions-Prime Video series Cœurs Noirs, Movistar Plus+’s La Mesías and Prime Video’s Memento Mori are also nominated in the category.

The nominees for Drama Series: English Language include Prime Video’s Gen V, BBC One’s Happy Valley, HBO’s Succession and The Last of Us, and ABC’s The Newsreader.

Canadian productions swept the Comedy Series: Non-English Language category with a total of four nods. They include Les Bombes (Sovimage), Le bonheur (Aetios Productions), Noovo’s Inspirez expirez (Avanti-Toast) and ICI Télé’s Sans rendez-vous (Aetios Productions). Norwegian broadcaster NRK TV’s Dummedag is also competing in the category.

Up for Comedy Series: English Language are ABC’s Abbott Elementary, BBC’s Dreaming Whilst Black, Channel 4’s Everyone Else Burns, Peacock’s Poker Face, Hulu’s The Great and The Other Black Girl, and ABC’s The Wonder Years.

Canadian productions swept the Short Form Fiction category, with Less Than Kosher (Filmcoop), Crave’s Nesting (Project Undertow), ICI Tou’s Ça prend pas la tchas à Papineau (Trio Orange) and Cœur vintage (Zone3) all nominated.

In the Arts and Entertainment stream, CBC’s Still Standing (Frantic) picked up a nomination for the best Comedy & Variety series. Celebrity IOU (Scott Brothers Entertainment) picked up a nod in the Lifestyle category, and CBC’s Bollywed (HeartHat Entertainment) and TVA’s Wild Cooks (Avanti-Toast) are up for an award in the Reality Series category.

The are several Canadian productions nominated in the Children and Youth stream. Fresh TV and Cartoon Network Canada’s Total Drama Island (Cake Entertainment) and The Loud House (Nickelodeon Animation Studios) have picked up nods for Animation: Children and  Lu & The Bally Bunch (9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films) in the Animation: Preschool category.

The Interactive Children and Youth Content category is dominated by Canada with four nods. They include CBC Kids’ Bestest Day Ever with My Best Friend! (Lopii Productions) and Turtle Island Skate Jam (Nations Skate Youth, Zenfri), Weirdwood Manor Vol. 2 – Rise of the Therimancer (Relish Studios, Wasabi Entertainment), and Rosie’s Flop Fiesta (9 Story Media Group, PBS KIDS, Curious Media). Taiwan Public Television Service Foundation’s Love Chat Box: Virtual Romance is the other nominee in the category.

Apple TV+’s  Jane (Sinking Ship Entertainment) earned a nod for Live Action: Children, while A Kind of Spark (9 Story Media Group, BBC) and Home Sweet Rome! (Red Monk Studio, First Generation Films) has been nominated for Live Action: Youth.

In the Documentary and Factual stream, Satan Wants You (Nootka Street Film Company, Grand Scheme Productions) is up for the Crime and Investigative award, and Ice Age America (Yap Films) has been nominated in the Science and Technology category along with Searching for Satoshi: The Mysterious Disappearance of the Bitcoin Creator (Paul Kemp Productions).

Canada also has two nominations for Short Form Non-Fiction Series, including CBC’s Farm Crime (Big Cedar Films) and ICI Tou’s Pa t’mentir (Trio Orange), and one in the Social Issues and Current Affairs category: CBC’s Inside the Statue Wars (Saloon Media).

300 Hoops (KOTV) and TVO’s Category: Woman (Proximity Films) are the Canadian projects nominated in the Sport Documentary category.

Canadian productions have a big presence in the Podcast stream with Radio-Canada OHdio’s Anna Caritas: Les damnés, and the Audible originals Anne of Green Gables and The Downloaded picking up nods in Podcast: Fiction. Lights Out: The Loss of a Lifetime (eOne, Campside Media) and Radio-Canada OHdio’s L’autre moitié de l’histoire picked up nods in the Podcast: Non-Fiction category.

Rounding out the list of Canadian nominees are National Film Board of Canada’s The Flying Sailor, which picked up a nod for Short Film, and Ride (Blink49 Studios, SEVEN24 Films) which picked up a nod for Best Use of Music in a Series.

The Grand Jury Prize will be selected from the top-scoring programs across the entire field of nominees. This year’s grand jury members include Javiera Balmaceda, head of originals, Latin America, CA and AU at Amazon MGM Studios; Julie Chang, EVP, business strategy and coproductions at Blue Ant Media; Prentiss Fraser, president, TV distribution at Fifth Season; Nichole T. Roberts, head of unscripted at Hoorae; Morgan Wandell, head of international content development at Apple TV+; and Michael Thorn, president, scripted programming at Fox Entertainment.

The $25,000 Rogers Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content will be awarded to the top-scoring Canadian production. The Prix Francophone for the top-scoring French-language production will also be awarded, as well as other special awards to be announced.

Image courtesy of Bell Media