Teachers of wisdom

The Banff fest has announced a disparate lineup of participants for its annual master sessions, kicking off on the afternoon of June 13.

This year offers three directing masters, including Canucks Jeremy Podeswa, who has helmed eps of The L Word, Carnivàle and Six Feet Under, and Patricia Rozema, best known for her features I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing and Mansfield Park. Also on tap is veteran Jon Cassar, who has directed locally shot series such as La Femme Nikita and more recently served as director and co-executive producer on the Fox hit drama 24.

Canadian-raised Lionel Chetwynd (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Ike: Countdown to D-Day) will speak as a writing master, while docmaker Peter Raymont will present a producer case study on Shake Hands with Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire.

Reality TV is on the table in a conversation with David Lyle, COO/GM of Fox Reality Channel.

Master classes feature guests engaging in one-hour Q&A sessions with an audience. Schedule info is available at the fest website.

Panasonic, Gabereau to be feted

Banff is a festival of awards, and this year sees one going to a manufacturing pioneer and another to a renowned talk show host at the annual awards luncheon on June 13.

Japan-based manufacturer Panasonic will be presented with the Deluxe Technical Achievement Award, chosen by a committee of the fest’s board of governors. Panasonic’s innovations in the broadcast sphere include the industry standard DVCPRO news acquisition system, the variable frame-rate AJ-HDC27 VariCam HD camera, and, more recently, the P2 product line, which offers new ease of transfer from image capture to post-production.

Meanwhile, Vicki Gabereau, host of the CTV daytime talk show Gabereau Live!, will receive ACTRA’s John Drainie Award, for distinguished contribution to Canadian broadcasting. A Vancouver native, Gabereau started in local radio, then landed at CBC Radio, where she would go on to host a two-hour eponymous talk show. Then it was on to TV, where she hosted 1,000 episodes until her show’s run ended in April this year.