8th Canadian Screen Awards

8th Canadian Screen Awards
DateMay 28, 2020
Locationvirtual presentation
Hosted byLloyd Robertson
Herbie Kuhn
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
Emma Hunter
Evany Rosen
Kayla Lorette
Eric McCormack
Théodore Pellerin[1]
Highlights
Most awardsAntigone and The Song of Names (film), Cardinal (television)
Most nominationsThe Song of Names (film), Schitt's Creek (television)
Best Motion PictureAntigone
Best Dramatic SeriesCardinal
Best Comedy SeriesSchitt's Creek
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The 8th annual Canadian Screen Awards were originally scheduled to be held on March 29, 2020, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2019.[2] As in prior years, the awards in many of the technical and craft categories would have been presented in a series of advance Canadian Screen Week galas in the week before the main ceremony.[2]

Nominations were announced by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television on February 18.[3]

On March 12, 2020 it was announced that the ceremony had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[4] The academy stated that the winners would still be announced in some form, but did not immediately announce any concrete details;[5] on March 28, the academy affirmed that it would not be announcing the winners that weekend as originally planned, but reaffirmed that it would announce and celebrate the winners "properly when the time is right".[6]

In early May, the academy indicated that the winners would be announced in a series of livestreams during the week of May 25 to May 28.[7] The first livestream, on May 25, presented the awards in news, sports, and documentary categories.[8] Children's, youth, lifestyle, and reality programming were presented on May 26,[9] scripted television programming was presented on May 27,[10] and films were presented on May 28.[11] Both CBC Television and CTV assisted the academy in the production of the livestreams.

  1. ^ "Virtual Presentations, Hosts". academy.ca. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Alex Trebek among special 2020 Canadian Academy award recipients". Red Deer Advocate, December 5, 2019.
  3. ^ Norman Wilner, "Canadian Screen Awards 2020: Prepare for a Schitt's show". Now, February 18, 2020.
  4. ^ "Canadian Screen Awards Canceled Amid Coronavirus Pandemic". The Hollywood Reporter. March 12, 2020.
  5. ^ "Canadian Screen Awards brace for 'disastrous' financial impact after cancellation". Canadian Press, March 12, 2020.
  6. ^ "Academy postpones Canadian Screen Award winners reveal until 'time is right'". CBC News, March 28, 2020.
  7. ^ "Canadian Screen Award winners to reveal 2020 winners in virtual presentations". Toronto Star, May 5, 2020.
  8. ^ Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards 2020: Non-Fiction Winners Revealed". ET Canada, May 25, 2020.
  9. ^ Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards: Winners Revealed In Lifestyle And Reality, Children’s And Youth Categories". ET Canada, May 26, 2020.
  10. ^ Debra Yeo, "‘Cardinal’ and ‘Schitt’s Creek’ get multiple going-away gifts from the Canadian Screen Awards". Toronto Star, May 27, 2020.
  11. ^ Debra Yeo, "Quebec film ‘Antigone’ wins Canadian Screen Award for Best Motion Picture". Toronto Star, May 28, 2020.