Black Academy creators discuss plans for first awards show for Black talent
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – On the second day of Black History Month, and five days after announcing their plans to produce an awards show honouring Black talent in the arts and sports, Black actor-siblings Shamier Anderson and Stephan James, who last year established The Black Academy in Toronto, talked about their idea Tuesday at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s first virtual version of its annual Prime Time conference.
“It’s important to understand that when you can see it, you can believe it – and in Canada, we realize that we’re influenced by our American counterparts: the Sidney Poitiers of the world, the Denzel Washingtons, Viola Davises, the Halle Berrys,” said Anderson, who in 2016, established with his Golden Globe-nominated brother the non-profit organization, B.L.A.C.K. (Building a Legacy in Acting, Cinema and Knowledge) Canada.
“I think it’s important to come back home, stay home and understand what’s happening at home.”
Last Thursday, The Black Academy and Insight Productions Ltd, which has produced the annual Juno Awards, announced plans to present a live telecast celebrating Anglophone and Francophone talent in film, television, music, sports and culture. The Black Academy spokesperson Gabrielle Free told Cartt.ca that plans, thus far, are to hold the yet-to-be-named awards show in the latter half of 2022.
The idea behind the event, said Anderson on the Prime Time panel is to ensure “the boys and girls that look like us – have a platform to excel, succeed and to be celebrated” and to “bring it home for Black people… Everybody needs to know what’s going on in Canada… It’s important to show the world what we’re doing – and close that gap.”
James, who received a 2017 Canadian Screen Award for his lead role portraying Black four-time Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens in the 2016 film, Race, said The Black Academy is intended to be a “permanent place to celebrate, to elevate, and to honour the achievements of Black Canadians.”
“We’re not short of talent – we’re just short of opportunity and recognition,” said James. “We don’t have to go to L.A. to get love. We can get love right in our hometown of Toronto – and that will mean something to the rest of the world as well. We support our homegrown talent and show people why we’re the best.”
Lindsay Cox, senior vice-president at Insight, who along with colleague Shannon Farr, Anderson and James will serve as executive producers of the awards telecast, said during the Prime Time session that the goal is to “build the show entirely from the Black community” and is accepting applications for crew and senior-staff positions at BlackAwardShowResumes@insighttv.com.
James offered a glimpse of what he expects the show to look like. “If you know anything about folks in the African diaspora, we like to do things bold and big and colourful,” he said, noting that music would certainly be showcased, from Caribbean culture and hip-hop “to the Keshia Chantés of the world.”
“We will also highlight the fact that being Black is not a monolithic experience, and that’s what so unique about this show,” said James. “We’re going to have an opportunity to highlight Black excellence in a variety of different sectors – music, radio, film and television, sports, business and philanthropy.”
“What’s exciting for us is that we have an opportunity to look our [non-Black] counterparts in the face and say, ‘Hey, if you want to be a part of celebrating and elevating Black talent, here’s your time’ – whether it’s Seth Rogan, Sandra Oh, Mike Myers or Jim Carrey. We want all those people to come together and celebrate the Black excellence that’s exists in Canada.”
Screen cap of the session borrowed from a CMPA tweet. Pictured, clockwise from top left are Shannon Farr, Stephan James, Lindsay Cox, Shamier Anderson, and moderator Kathleen Newman-Bremang.
