Three Canadian-produced series were among the winners at the third annual Children’s and Family Emmys.

The ceremony was hosted in L.A. by Canadian voice actor Eric Bauza on March 15.

The Canadian winners at the ceremony included 9 Story Media and Brown Bag Films’ Blue’s Clues & You!, which won the Outstanding Preschool Series category, and Blue Ant Studio‘s All-Round Champion, which won the Outstanding Editing for a Multiple Camera Live Action Program category. The editors that took home the award are Wyatt Chinn, Marc Fourreau, Craig Passfield and Lindsay Ragone.

Rounding out the Canadian winners is the CBC Kids and PBS Kids’ Alaska-set Molly of Denali (pictured) produced by the U.S.-based GBH Kids and Vancouver-headquartered Atomic Cartoons. The series won for Outstanding Writing for a Preschool Animated Series.

Additionally, Vancouver-born actor Jacob Tremblay took home an outstanding performer award for his work in Netflix’s Orion and the Dark (Dreamworks Animation) and WildBrain’s Apple TV+ special, Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin saw its storyboard artist David Lux win for outstanding individual achievement in animation for storyboarding.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie woos audiences in Texas

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie has been named the winner of the Audience Award in the Midnighter section at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW).

The film is produced by Zapraduer Films’ Matthew Miller and Matt Greyson and directed by Matt Johnson. Johnson co-wrote and co-stars in the film with Jay McCarrol.

The comedy, which follows Johnson and McCarrol’s characters from the original Nirvanna the Band the Show web series, has the duo sent back to 2008 after an attempt to book a show goes horribly wrong. The film will be theatrically distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures with Miller handling the film’s international sales.

Additionally, the series Mix Tape, which has its global distribution handled by Boat Rocker, won the Audience Award for TV Spotlight. The series is produced by Ireland’s Subotica and Australia’s Aquarius Films and has Australia’s Foxtel as its commissioning partner for its Binge platform. Boat Rocker’s David Fortier is onboard as executive producer.

Tantoo Cardinal to be feted in Toronto

Alberta-born actor Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon) has been named this year’s recipient of the Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Canada Equity in Entertainment Canada Award.

The award was created to recognize women in the Canadian entertainment industry that work to reflect and amplify the voices of underrepresented communities.

The second-annual ceremony will be held on May 29 at Toronto’s Ritz Carlton Hotel and presented to Cardinal in partnership with the Indigenous Screen Office. Canadian-Indian director Deepa Mehta was presented with the first Equity in Entertainment Canada Award at the inaugural ceremony in 2024.

A member of the Order of Canada and a Playback Hall of Fame inductee, Cardinal’s career spans half a century and includes roles in Dances With Wolves, Wind River and North of 60. She was also one of the founding members of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company, now the Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre, which was created to produce and present theatre experiences that engage Indigenous youth and audiences in the greater Saskatchewan area.

Image courtesy of CBC