The Black Academy, headed up by Shamier Anderson and Stephan James, is partnering with Insight Productions to produce a live awards show that they hope will offer something completely new for the Canadian screen industry – both in terms of who’s recognized on stage, and who’s creating the show.

Plans for the live telecast, announced today (Jan. 28), include award presentations, performances and tributes honouring Black Canadian talent from across Canada.

Anderson and James, who launched the Black Academy in December, will executive produce the awards show alongside Insight Productions VP Shannon Farr, SVP Lindsay Cox and chairman and CEO John Brunton.

“It represents an opportunity to shift attitudes by focusing on Black achievements, Black successes and how Canadian Black people are making a difference in the world,” Anderson told Playback Daily.

The partnership between The Black Academy and Insight began in 2019, as the Scarborough, ON natives began collaborating with the Toronto-based production company on another, unnamed project.

“While we were working on something else, Shamier and I gave [Insight] another thing to think about: this awards show,” said James. “We wanted to partner with someone who believed in the vision, but also had an expertise that was unmatched.”

With event planning in full swing, the focus has turned toward fundraising to make the show a reality. Anderson noted that the Black Academy has received some financial commitments from the corporate sector, but government support has been more difficult to secure.

Insight’s Farr agreed that government support is lacking. “People assume there must be a lot of funding for projects like this. But what I’ve learned from being on these calls with The Black Academy is that, in terms of government, there may be a lot of press releases but there isn’t a lot of action.” she said. “To me, more needs to be done. Stop talking about it and start doing it,” said Farr, adding that the CMF had boarded the project immediately.

While a broadcast partner for the event has not yet been unveiled, James and Anderson said they are in discussions currently and hope to announce a national broadcaster for the awards show soon.

Another unique facet of the show will be its execution, said Cox. Insight and The Black Academy have put out a call for resumes, with plans to hire a Black showrunner and Black crew to produce the show. In addition, a skills and development program will run parallel to the event.

“The goal is to staff the show with a Black crew, from PAs to producers to the showrunner. The key decision makers will be Black, whether it’s the creative positions or the technical ones,” said Cox. “It’s been exciting to hear Shamier and Stephan talk about how they want to create, produce and design the show. It’s a reimagining of award shows.”

As for when the inaugural awards show will take place, the current goal is the latter half of 2022, said Anderson. Cox added: “It’s really critical that when this show comes out, we see a live audience. It’s not a virtual show. The energy that will be in the room will have such an impact on the people winning the awards, on the crew, on the entire experience, so it’s really important that live audience exists.”

In addition to Anderson, James, Cox, Farr and Brunton, Daniel Abrams and Norbert Abrams and serve as executive producers on the awards show.

The Black Academy is a division of the not-for-profit organization B.L.A.C.K. Canada (Building A Legacy in Acting, Cinema + Knowledge), which the brothers launched in 2016. It mandate is to recognize both Anglophone and Francophone Black talent through year-round initiatives including awards, educational programming and panel discussions.

Pictured (left to right): Shamier Anderson and Stephan James