For reasons of pandemics and lack of official red carpets, it has been five long years since I’ve set foot in a Leo Awards ceremony. The annual celebration of BC film and TV achievement has always figured prominently in the industry calendar and I’ve always made sure to keep apprised of the nominations and to congratulate my friends and colleagues who made the list. I’ve even served as a juror for the Dramatic Series Picture Editing category for the last two years (no conflict of interest. All my work has been in features or TV movies).
While I didn’t manage to score my first nomination this year, several movies I edited were up for awards including four performances that I cut: Sebastien Roberts in Mercy, Rhiannon Fish & Leanne Lapp in Living With My Mother’s Killer, and Megan Peta Hill in Prey for the Bride. In addition to wanting to cheer them on (and hopefully meet them!) I also missed rubbing elbows at the glitziest film event in town so I was determined not to miss out on this year’s edition.
Held annually since 1999, the Leo Awards are run by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British Columbia and honour the best and brightest BC film talent both in front and behind the camera, covering all craft categories in film, TV, documentary, web series and student film.
“I think it’s very integral” says Gary Hawes, nominated for Best Direction of a Dramatic Series for The Good Doctor. “I think that celebrating the talent that we have locally is crucial and important.”
The awards are in fact split up into two nights: one for TV and one for Film. While we’ve normally attended the latter in the past, it seemed appropriate for me to attend the first night on Saturday, July 6 as this time, the majority of my projects that are nominated are TV movies. Among the multiple nominees is Holiday Road, one of several Hallmark movies with the ever-reliable Christmas-theme.
Actress Princess Davis and her date Joshua toast the evening
“It’s my first nomination!” exclaims Princess Davis who is nominated for Best Supporting Performance for her role as Maya in the movie. “I really love Maya’s arc, how she starts off really extra and like girly and then she turns into her true form which is a really grounded young woman and it was just really fun to play.”
Some are lucky enough to be blessed enough to score multiple nominations, sometimes within the same category! Film editor Gordon Rempel was nominated twice for Best Picture Editing for Monster High 2 (Paramount Plus) and the aforementioned Holiday Road. “I can say that singing and dancing monsters are as difficult to cut as any choreographed fight scene, except the fighters aren’t singing at the same time.” Rempel shouts over the din of the crowd in the reception room. “Good challenge. Looking forward to Monster High 3!”
Director Paula Elle and I get photo-bombed
I was able to reconnect with several of my past colleagues including Paula Elle, director of the upcoming Secrets on Maple Street limited series for Lifetime and introduce myself to actors whose performances I’ve cut including the aforementioned Megan Peta Hill and Leanne Lapp. During this schmooze-fest, I received many compliments on my projector lapel pin. Shout out to my good friend Alanna Lastiwka for this popular accessory.
After months of dailies, Megan Peta Hill and I finally meet
With the attending crowd properly satiated with free champagne and a full course dinner, the show got underway at 6:30pm. The theme of the night appeared to be expediency with no set host and the presenters promptly and efficiently doling out awards in the Short Documentary, Documentary Series, Reality Series, Dramatic Series, and finally the Television Movie categories.
Time to play the music and light the lights…
This zeal for swiftness and likely some poorly formatted cards lead to more than a few tongue-twisted presenters who often mis-pronounced nominee names and sometimes even some titles. Multiple nominee limited series Bones of Crows was continually mis-read as “Bones of Crow” by one set of presenters.
Highlights included Dr. Carol Whiteman receiving a lifetime achievement award for her work advocating for more women in the director’s chair for which she received a standing ovation as well as a surprise appearance by renowned environmentalist David Suzuki who also received a similar welcome.
The big winners of the night were Monster High 2 with four wins (Cinematography, Make-up, Hairstyling, Choreography) and Bones of Crows taking home three trophies (Direction, Costume Design, and Casting). Hallmark’s Hanukkah movie Round and Round ultimately won Best Program in addition to Best Picture Editing.
The awards presentation finished around an hour ahead of schedule according to one source so there was plenty of time for attendees to retreat to the cash bar and snap instagram stories at the photo wall. I managed to touch base with some familiar faces who were too fashionably late to make the earlier reception before ultimately retiring to the barely cooling summer streets. I hope to make it to both nights next year.
The Leo Awards will return in 2025