Vancouver: CBC series Da Vinci’s Inquest came away the big winner at the 2002 Leo Awards in Vancouver May 10 and 11 with nine trophies, including best drama series.

Series creator Chris Haddock won as best director and best writer with colleagues Alan DiFiore and Frank Borg, while the show claimed three of four drama acting categories (actor Donnelly Rhodes, supporting actor Nathaniel Deveaux, and supporting actress Keegan Connor Tracy).

In shutting out competing series Cold Squad, Da Vinci’s Inquest also won for score (George Blondheim), sound and picture editing (Jane Morrison).

Syndicated series Stargate SG1 managed two drama category Leos – given to B.C. residents working in the domestic and service production sector – including production design and lead actress for Amanda Tapping.

In the feature-length category, comedy Suddenly Naked won four Leos: best feature film (producers Gavin Wilding, Anne Wheeler), director (Wheeler), score (Christian Ainscough) and picture editing (Lara Mazur). Hallmark/Sextant miniseries Voyage of the Unicorn dominated the other technical categories, winning five altogether, including best sound, sound editing, production design (Graeme Murray), costume (Karen Matthews) and cinematography (John Spooner).

The Revelstoke-shot thriller The Barber earned two feature category Leos: best writer (Michael Bafaro, Warren Low) and best supporting actress (Erin Wright).

Best supporting actor in a feature-length production was Tom Sholte (Last Wedding), while best actress was Gabrielle Rose (Rhino Brothers) and best actor was Christopher Shyer (The Invitation).

Studio B Production’s Yvon of the Yukon had the distinction of winning as best program in both the animation category and youth category, where it also won best director (Greg Sullivan) and tied with teen soap Edgemont with two trophies (writer Ian Weir, performer Sarah Lind).

Obaachan’s Garden, a biography of a 100-year-old Japanese-Canadian immigrant, took five documentary category Leos, including best director (Linda Ohama), writer (Ohama), cinematography (Kirk Tougas), sound, and sound editing. However, it lost the best social-political documentary Leo to Culture Jam: Hijacking Commercial Culture (producers Jill Sharpe, Lynn Booth), which also won for picture editing (Bonni Devlin).

Heroines, the story of female addicts in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, also won two Leos: best score (John Kosrud) and best arts documentary (Stan Feingold, Blair Reekie, producers).

In the music-variety-comedy program category, MTV-Peace Arch Enterainment series Sausage Factory won three Leos: best director (John Pozer), production design (Grant Pearse) and best program (Stephen Foster, Tim Gamble, producers).

Death’s Dream, about a man’s hallucination after a car accident, won the senior Leos in the short drama category, including best cinematography (Brian Pearson), director (David Massar), actor (Hrothgar Mathews), actress (Maya Massar) and program (David Massar, Richard Bullosk, producers).

Moody black-and-white short Mon Amour Mon Parapluie won three Leos: picture editing (Mark Lemmon), sound editing (Paul Ruskay) and production design (Michael Bjornson).

Space series Cosmic Odyssey swept the information series category with best director (Tony Papa), writer (Ken Hewitt, Eric Dunn) and best program (Nick Orchard, producer). Likewise, Vicki Gabereau swept the lifestyle/talk category with best show, host and director (Ken Stewart). Global National was voted best news package, winning best host (Kevin Newman) and best program.

In the student production category, Cedrick Kluyskens won as best director (Geky) and the best program award went to August 11, 1988 (Byron Dauncey, producer).

Leo event producers Walter Daroshin and Sonny Wong introduced Peoples Choice awards this year. Based on 3,500 votes, favorite news anchor was BCTV’s Tony Parsons, while sports reader Squire Barnes, also from BCTV, was picked favorite on-air sports/weather/arts personality.

The Morgan Freeman feature Along Came a Spider was voted the favorite feature shot in B.C. and Da Vinci’s Inquest won as favorite series shot in B.C.

For complete details, visit www.leoawards.com.