Toronto-based director R.T. Thorne (40 Acres) and the production team of Anne Émond’s Peak Everything will be special honourees at this year’s Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) Awards.

Thorne (pictured) will receive the DGC Impact Award, which is presented by the DGC’s national executive committee to guild members who have provided outstanding service and leadership to the production community. The award is being accorded to Thorne for his contributions in the area of “Equity and Inclusion.”

In a release, the guild highlighted Thorne’s work to achieve greater representation of people of colour in the Canadian screen industry through his role as the first chair of the DGC BIPOC Members Committee. Among the initiatives he has spearheaded are the DGC Census, the industry’s first voluntary self-identification survey, as well as the first DGC BIPOC Members town halls.

Thorne is also being recognized for his drive to increase BIPOC representation both in front of and behind the camera in his work as a director, screenwriter and producer — notably in his feature-film debut 40 Acres, which is nominated for five trophies at this year’s DGC Awards.

Peak Everything (Metafilms), meanwhile, has been named the winner of the inaugural DGC Green Award. The honour is intended to celebrate a DGC signatory production and crew for making a creative and progressive impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other waste during production.

Submissions for the award were evaluated and scored by a jury made up of representatives of DGC Green Committees from all of the organization’s district councils. Peak Everything, which was submitted by art department coordinator and DGC member Mélanie S. Dubois, achieved the highest green score of all productions put forward for consideration.

The DGC is also recognizing those projects that met or surpassed a set scoring threshold with a DGC Green Seal. Among the productions receiving the seal are the feature film Reminders of Him (Heartbones Entertainment, Little Engine Productions), and the Netflix series The Altruists (Higher Ground, Scoop Productions, New York Magazine, Vox Media Studios), I Will Find You (Final Twist Productions) and season seven of Virgin River (Reel World Management).

Also receiving the DGC Green Seal are season five of The Boys (Amazon MGM Studios, Sony Pictures Television, Kripke Enterprises, Original Film, Point Grey Pictures) and season one of Carrie (Amazon MGM Studios, Intrepid Pictures, Red Room Pictures), both for Prime Video; and the Hallmark Channel movie Happy Holidays from Cherry Lane (Patrick Street Pictures, Jon Eskenas Productions).

“The DGC Green Award and the green seal embody the Guild’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas pollution and encouraging productions to embrace sustainable practices,” said DGC national president Warren P. Sonoda in a statement. “Peak Everything sets the bar that all DGC productions can strive towards to ensure that sustainability is a top priority.”

The announcement of the special awards comes one month after the reveal of the full list of nominees for the DGC’s competition awards. All the 2025 prizewinners will be presented with their awards at a ceremony in Toronto on Nov. 8.

Photo courtesy of Mongrel Media