Here at Playback, numbers aren’t necessarily our thing but the Canadian Screen Awards certainly are. So, with the help of the Canadian Academy, we’ve busted out the calculators and tried to make sense of this year’s nominations.

Here’s every stat you need to know (and quite a few that you probably don’t) as the industry gears up for Canadian Screen Week.

Number of days members have to vote for 2020 Canadian Screen Awards winners:

18 – while Canadian Screen Week runs from March 23 to 29, the nominees’ fates are already sealed during the nomination window, which opened on Feb.19 and closes on March 6.

Number of voting members in the Canadian Academy:

3,553 from across the country

Category with fewest unique nominees:

Best Writing, Comedy – Schitt’s Creek claimed four out of five nominations in this category, with its scribes grabbing noms for the episodes “The Hospies”, “Housewarming”, “Love Letters” and “Meet the Parents”. The only non-Schitt‘s project nominated in the category? Perennial comedy contender (and multi-time CSAs award winner) Letterkenny for episode Yew!

Total number of awards ceremonies during Screen Week:

5 – No one said it was for the faint of heart. Screen Week kicks off with the non-fiction programming gala on Monday, March 23, followed by the creative fiction gala the following night and the digital gala on Saturday, March 28. Sunday has two events, starting at 11 a.m. with the gala honouring cinematic arts. Grab a quick nap and get ready for the showdown in the evening, with the Canadian Screen Awards broadcast gala kicking off 8 p.m. (Note: the Academy starts handing out awards in the pre-broadcast segment).

Number of TV and Digital Media titles submitted for nomination consideration:

450

Total number of films entered for nomination consideration (including feature film, feature docs and shorts):

178 – On the features side, Anne at 13,000 ft, Antigone, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, The Twentieth Century and White Lie are up for both best picture and best director. Meanwhile, on the documentary shorts side, the nominations went to Acadiana, Gun Killers, No Crying at the Dinner Table, Now is the Time and Take Me to Prom. Nominations for the Ted Rogers Best Feature Length Documentary are Alexandre le fou, If You Could Read My Mind, Invisible Essence: The Little Prince, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up and Prey.

Number of awards categories for the 2020 CSAs:

Film: 25; Television: 103; Digital media: 12 – Just in case you weren’t aware, Canada’s screen sector produces a vast quantity of work across digital, film and TV, and the Academy has constantly evolved its categories to reflect the changing landscape. This year, the Academy will be presenting 140 prizes (not including special prizes).

Total number of nominations for the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards:

242 film nominees – Canada/Hungary coproduction The Song of Names received the most nominations this year with nine, including nods for best original song and best original score. The music was composed by Canadian Howard Shore – the Oscar-winning film composer who scored The Lord of the Rings trilogy – who worked on the music for about two years before filming began. The film’s eponymous title song was recorded by internationally celebrated Chinese violinist Ray Chen, considered among the world’s best violin players.

1175 TV nominees – Schitt’s Creek claimed a record-setting number of nominations this year, receiving 26 in total. Meanwhile, hour-long drama Cardinal received 14 nominations, including a nod for best drama, and Anne with an E is up for 17 awards following its surprise cancellation after three seasons.

181 digital nominees – On the digital front, nominations in the best web series fiction category went to The 410 (Mud Ruk Entertainment), Ming’s Dynasty (HeydSaffer), Save Me (iThentic), Detention Adventure and How to Buy a Baby (both from LoCo Motion Pictures).

Number of years since the Academy rebranded and renamed the awards:

8 – This is the eighth Canadian Screen Awards since the Academy merged the Gemini and Genie Awards (formerly two awards separately celebrating film and television) in 2013.

Image: Unsplash