Gemini Award
220px The Gemini Award
Awarded for	Best television productions in Canada
Presented by	Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
Country	Canada
First awarded	1986
Official website	http://www.geminiawards.ca/

The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.

First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are currently presented in 87 categories. Prior to the creation of the Gemini Awards, the primary Canadian television award was the ACTRA Award.

The Gemini Awards also include several special awards given out for various reasons such as lifetime achievement.

Normally held in Toronto, the 2006 ceremony was held in Richmond, BC on 4 November 2006, the 2007 ceremony was held in Regina, Saskatchewan on 28 October 2007, and the 2009 ceremony was held in Calgary on 14 November 2009.

The award's French-language counterpart is the Prix Gémeaux.

Award categories[link]

• Best News Information Series
• Best News Magazine Segment
• Best News Special Event Coverage
• Best Reportage
• Best Newscast
• Gemini Humanitarian Award
• Best Sports Play-by-Play or Analyst
• Best Live Sporting Event
• Best Direction in a Live Sporting Event
• Best Sports Program or Series
• Outstanding Technical Achievement Award
• Best Writing in an Information Program or Series
• Best Sound in an Information/Documentary Program or Series
• Best Photography in an Information Program or Series
• Best Picture Editing in an Information Program or Series
• Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series
• Best Host or Interviewer in a News Information Program or Series
• Academy Achievement Award
• Best Science, Technology, Nature, Environment or Adventure Documentary Program
• Best Biography Documentary Program
• Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series
• Best History Documentary Program
• Best Performing Arts Program or Series or Arts Documentary Program or Series
• Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism
• Best Direction in a Documentary Program
• Best Direction in a Documentary Series
• Best Picture Editing in a Documentary Program or Series
• Best Photography in a Documentary Program or Series
• Best Writing in a Documentary Program or Series
• Best Documentary Series
• Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series
• Best Direction in a Children's or Youth Program or Series
• Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series
• Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series
• Best Children's or Youth Non-Fiction Program or Series
• Best Original Music Score for an Animated Program or Series
• Best Animated Program or Series
• Best Pre-School Program or Series
• Most Popular Website
• Canada Award
• Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Non-Dramatic Program or Series
• Best Lifestyle/Practical Information Segment
• Best Direction in a Lifestyle/Practical Information Program or Series
• Best Cross Platform Project
• Best General/Human Interest Series
• Best Host in a Lifestyle/Practical Information, or Performing Arts Program or Series
• Best Lifestyle/Practical Information Series
• Best Host or Interviewer in a General/Human Interest or Talk Program or Series
• Best Talk Series
• Best Reality Program or Series
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series
• Best Writing in a Dramatic Series
• Best Direction in a Dramatic Series
• Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series
• Best Sound in a Dramatic Series
• Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Dramatic Program or Series
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series
• Best Sound in a Comedy, Variety, or Performing Arts Program or Series
• Best Picture Editing in a Comedy, Variety or Performing Arts Program or Series
• Best Photography in a Comedy, Variety or Performing Arts Program or Series
• Best Direction in a Variety Program or Series
• Best Direction in a Performing Arts Program or Series
• Best Direction in a Comedy Program or Series
• Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series
• Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program or Series
• Best Individual Performance in a Comedy Program or Series
• Best Music, Variety Program or Series
• Best TV Movie
• Best Achievement in Make-Up
• Best Costume Design
• Best Achievement in Casting
• Best Visual Effects
• Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series
• Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series
• Earle Grey Award
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
• Best Sound in a Dramatic Program
• Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role Dramatic Series
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role Dramatic Series
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
• Best Host or Interviewer in a Sports Program or Sportscast
• Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
• Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
• Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series
• Best Comedy Program or Series
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
• Best News Anchor
• Best Dramatic Mini-Series
• Best Dramatic Series
• Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series
• Viewers' Choice Award (Viewer's Choice Award for Lifestyle Host Gemini)

Special awards[link]

• Academy Achievement Award - general lifetime honour, inaugurated in 1996
• Donald Brittain Award - for the best political or social documentary
• Canada Award - began in 1988 as the Multiculturalism Award, this is award "honours excellence in mainstream television programming that reflects the racial and cultural diversity of Canada."
• Margaret Collier Award - lifetime writing honour
• John Drainie Award - broadcasting, not necessarily awarded every year
• Humanitarian Award - inaugurated in 2001, recipients to date:
  • (2001) Donald Martin
  • (2002) Wendy Crewson
  • (2003) Max Keeping
  • (2004) George R. Robertson
  • (2005) Royal Canadian Air Farce
• Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism - for television journalists who make outstanding contributions

Dates and locations[link]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• IMDb Gemini Awards page
• Townend, Paul. "Gemini Awards". The Canadian Encyclopedia. http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0010345. Retrieved 2007-10-21. 

Callum Keith Rennie
Rennie at London Galactica 4 Convention, August 2008
Born	(1960-09-14) 14 September 1960 (age 51) Sunderland, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1993–present

Callum Keith Rennie (born 14 September 1960) is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success. After years acting in over ninety Canadian and international projects he became widely known for his portrayal of the Cylon Leoben Conoy in the remade Battlestar Galactica, and following that, his role as record producer Lew Ashby in the Showtime TV series Californication.

Regularly cast as a bad guy in movies and even more often in his numerous guest appearances in television series, his participation in Canadian productions gives him an opportunity to show a broader palette of his acting abilities, which have been recognized by several awards.

Personal life[link]

Rennie was born to Scottish parents in Sunderland, County Durham North East England. When he was four years old, the family emigrated to Canada. Rennie was brought up in middle class Edmonton, Alberta, as the second of three boys.^[1][2][3] He graduated from Strathcona High School, where he met and befriended Bruce McCulloch from The Kids in the Hall.^[4][5] He dropped out from college and took up all sorts of odd jobs instead, leaving Edmonton for brief stays in Vancouver and Toronto before eventually settling in Vancouver.^[4][5] After a serious bout with alcoholism in his youth, Rennie managed to get his addiction under control at the age of 33 and was finally able to commit to acting.^[1][6]

He likes painting and admires abstract expressionist artists such as Basquiat, Motherwell and Pollock (the Champion spark-plug logo tattoo on his right arm is a homage to Stuart Davis).^[1] An enthusiast mountain climber in his youth,^[7] Rennie still practices various sports. He loves a game of hockey^[2] but is above all an avid golfer.^[3] He resides alternately in Vancouver and Los Angeles.

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Working at the campus radio of University of Alberta led Rennie to discover acting at the age of 25. He started his career on stage, performing at the A.B.O.P. Theatre in Edmonton in Amerika, a play adapted from Franz Kafka's novel and followed with the critically acclaimed American Buffalo during the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. After attending Bruhanski Theatre Studio in Vancouver, he had his first professional theatrical performance in 1989 in Sally Clark's Lost Souls and Missing Persons, a Touchstone Theatre production. This earned him an invitation to work at the Shaw Festival where he appeared in Man and Superman and in Pinero's Trelawny of the Wells (1990).^[1]

1993–2001[link]

Rennie's first appearance on screen was in the indie Canadian film Purple Toast, filmed in 1990 and released in 1993. Also in 1993 he began to take small roles in television (Highlander, Forever Knight, and the revamped version of The Outer Limits). Rennie's profile within the Canadian industry was heightened during this period by leading roles in the made for TV films "Paris or Somewhere" (1994) and "For Those Who Hunt The Wounded Down" (1996). The former has Rennie in near Micheal J. Fox mode in a small town tale of teen angst. "...Wounded" is at the other end of Rennie's range as he takes on the first of many troubled anti hero roles. Due to several disagreements during the production of the film, Rennie vowed "never to work for the CBC again", though he has remained a staunch supporter of the Canadian industry as a whole. After his first appearance in The X-Files he was offered the role of Alex Krycek but turned it down because he did not want to commit to a television series at that time.^[5] His career gained momentum quickly and larger roles in Canadian films followed (the independent short film Frank's Cock by Mike Hoolboom, and Mina Shum's Double Happiness as Sandra Oh's love interest, for which he was nominated for a Genie Award as best supporting actor). He also had more important roles in television series, as in a two-parter for La Femme Nikita.

His most prominent early roles were as guitar player Billy Tallent in Bruce McDonald's Hard Core Logo (1996) and as detective Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the third and fourth seasons of CTV series Due South, which aired in over 150 countries. The Canadian band Billy Talent is named after his Hard Core Logo character.^[8] As for his part in Due South, it has been said that his "disaffected intensity and hungover good looks" added an edge to the series.^[5]

Rennie was then seen in the recurrent roles of the convenience store guru Newbie in Don McKellar's cult television series Twitch City and of detective Bobby Marlowe in the award-winning series Da Vinci's Inquest.

His interpretation of sex marathoner Craig Zwiller in Don McKellar's Last Night earned him his first Genie Award (1999). After a role in David Cronenberg's eXistenZ (1999), his first international success on the big screen was his appearance as the thug Dodd in Christopher Nolan's Memento (2000). The same year, he impersonated a chilling yet seductive drifter in Suspicious River.

2002–present[link]

With the father characters of Falling Angels (2003) and Flower and Garnet (2002), Rennie expanded to playing more mature roles, rather than young, self-destructive rebels. He also impersonated self-controlled Inspector Wood in the period drama Torso: The Evelyn Dick Story (2002) and appeared as the quiet dyslexic painter of Wilby Wonderful (2004).

A hard working actor, he continues to alternate between television series and Canadian or US movies. He has played guest roles in episodes of various television series like Mutant X, The Dead Zone, Smallville, Supernatural, The L Word, Bionic Woman and more recently Harper's Island. During the same time, he has interpreted contrasting characters in movies such as The Butterfly Effect, H20: the Last Prime Minister, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Blade: Trinity (2004), Lucid (2005), Unnatural & Accidental (2006), The Invisible, Tin Man, Normal, Silk (2007), and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008).

His recurring role as the Cylon Leoben Conoy in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica (2003–09) and his portrayal of the record producer Lew Ashby throughout the second season of Californication (2008) have earned him a new wide and international recognition.

In 2009-10, Rennie played a character named Jeff Slingerland aka Dr. Maurice Raynaud in ABC series FlashForward. Before the series was cancelled, David Goyer who previously directed him in Blade and The Invisible mentioned he'd be back and was slated to appear in the second season.^[9] He also appeared as Russian mobster Vladimir Laitanan in the eighth season of 24.^[10]

In Fall 2010 he played the lead role of Detective Brian Sullivan on Shattered, a series about a detective who suffers from multiple personality disorder. It aired in Canada on Global TV, followed by airings in other countries, though not the United States.^[11]. Rennie received critical acclaim for his performance, and in 2011 won the Gemini and Leo awards for the role.^[12][13] Shattered was not renewed for a second season.

His 2010 appearances on the big screen included the Canadian movie Gunless, a Western comedy starring Paul Gross, as a bounty hunter on the trail of Gross' Montana Kid.^[14][15]. He also reprised his role as Billy Tallent for a short appearance in Trigger. Trigger is part of several movies set in the same universe as Hard Core Logo, directed again by Bruce McDonald; this one, starring Molly Parker and Tracy Wright, written by Daniel MacIvor, is about the reunion of two women who used to be in an alternative rock band together.^[16]. Rennie also served as one of Trigger's executive producers. Another film, Faith, Fraud & Minimum Wage,^[17] based on Canadian playwright Josh MacDonald's play Halo, has been completed and is waiting for release.

Rennie made a number of television appearances in 2011, including a supporting role on The Killing as Rick Felder, Detective Sarah Linden's fiancé. He also guest starred on Alphas, CSI: Miami, and Rookie Blue.

Rennie was also cast as a series regular in the NBC series, The Firm. He plays Ray McDeere, the brother of the principal character, Mitch McDeere, played by Josh Lucas.^[18] It began airing as a midseason replacement for the 2011–12 season.^[19]

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

TV films[link]

TV series[link]

TV guest appearances[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Callum Keith Rennie

• Callum Keith Rennie at the Internet Movie Database
• The CKR Files: A Callum Keith Rennie archive
• Northern Stars: Callum Keith Rennie biography
• Canadian Film Encyclopedia

Nina Dobrev
Dobrev at PaleyFest 2010's The Vampire Diaries night at the Saban Theatre in 2010
Born	Nina Constantinova Dobreva[1] (1989-01-09) January 9, 1989 (age 23)[1] Sofia, Bulgaria
Nationality	Bulgarian-Canadian
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	2006–present

Nina Dobrev (born Nina Constantinova Dobreva; January 9, 1989)^[1] is a Bulgarian-born Canadian actress and model. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season. She currently stars as Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on The CW television teen drama, The Vampire Diaries.

Personal life[link]

Dobrev at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival

Nina Dobrev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and moved to Canada at the age of two, where she was raised in Toronto, Ontario. She speaks fluent French, English, and Bulgarian. She has an older brother, Alexander; her father is a computer specialist and her mother is an artist.^[1]

Dobrev attended J. B. Tyrrell Sr. Public School, where she started ballet and jazz classes, and competed in rhythmic gymnastic.^[1] Then, she attended and Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts in Scarborough, Ontario and Ryerson University in Toronto, majoring in sociology. She left in 2008 to pursue her acting career.^[2]

While working on the show, she began dating her Vampire Diaries co-star Ian Somerhalder.^[3][4]

Career[link]

Modeling jobs led to commercials, which then turned into film auditions. Shortly thereafter, she booked roles in feature films, including Fugitive Pieces, Away from Her, Never Cry Werewolf, and the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. She starred in a number of Lifetime original movies. She also was in an MTV movie called The American Mall on CTV. She is currently starring in The CW's drama The Vampire Diaries, playing the dual role of Katherine Pierce, a vampire loved by two human brothers during the American Civil War, and Katherine's doppelgänger Elena Gilbert, a human who is caught between the same two brothers, now vampires, Damon and Stefan Salvatore.^[5]

She also had a minor role in the erotic thriller Chloe, theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics on March 26, 2010.^[6] The film had enjoyed commercial success and became director Atom Egoyan's biggest moneymaker ever.^[7]

In April 2011, she was cast as Candace in the film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, alongside Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Paul Rudd.^[8] Shooting began in May of that year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and she completed her scenes on June 27, 2011.^[9]

Philanthropy[link]

In September 2011, Dobrev co-hosted We Day alongside Joe Jonas.^[10] We Day is organized by Free the Children. Dobrev also designed a T-Shirt^[11] with Me to We Style, which gives 50% of its profits to Free the Children.^[12]

Filmography[link]

Dobrev at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con.

Accolades[link]

Dobrev at the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nina Dobrev

• Nina Dobrev at the Internet Movie Database
• Nina Dobrev on Twitter

Cory Monteith
Monteith at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Cory Allan Michael Monteith (1982-05-11) May 11, 1982 (age 30) Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Occupation	Actor, Musician
Years active	2004–present

Cory Allan Michael Monteith^[1] (born May 11, 1982)^[2] is a Canadian actor and musician, best known for his role of Finn Hudson on the Fox television series Glee.

Early life[link]

Monteith was born in Calgary, Alberta and raised in Victoria, British Columbia.^[3] His parents divorced when he was seven, and he was raised by his mother.^[4][5] By 13, Monteith, once a promising student, who, at age 5, could read at a fourth-grade level, dropped out of school. Monteith estimates that by the time he quit school for good at age 16, he had attended 12 different schools, including alternative programs for troubled teens. He went drinking with his friends and had a drug addiction. Monteith went to rehab at 19 after his family gave him an ultimatum: either he gets clean or they would report him to the police and press charges for stealing a significant amount of money to fuel his addiction. Looking back, he stated, "I finally said, 'I'm gonna start looking at my life and figure out why I'm doing this.'"^[6]

He has worked various jobs, such as a Wal-Mart people greeter, taxi driver, school bus driver, and roofer.^[7]

He received his high school diploma in 2011 from an alternative school he attended in Victoria, British Columbia.^[6]

Monteith is a huge fan of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.^[8]

Career[link]

Acting[link]

Monteith began his acting career in Vancouver, British Columbia. He played minor roles in Final Destination 3, Whisper, and Deck the Halls. He had a recurring role in Kyle XY.^[9] He also made guest appearances in such Canadian-filmed television serials as Smallville, Supernatural, Flash Gordon, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG-1.^[7]

Monteith at Venice High School for a Glee location shoot in December 2011^[10]

In 2005 he appeared in Killer Bash about a tormented geek's soul that was taking revenge on his murderer's children by taking over a girl's twin body. The following year he made a brief appearance in Urban Legend: a Bloody Mary. In 2007, he starred in the MTV series Kaya.^[11]

In 2009, Monteith was cast in the Fox series Glee, playing Finn Hudson, the male lead of the glee club and the quarterback of McKinley High School.^[9] For his audition tape, he drummed on Tupperware using pencils. The first time he sang in front of an audience was at his in-person audition, at which he sang "Honesty" by Billy Joel.

In April 2010, Monteith was cast in the romantic comedy movie Monte Carlo.^[12] In May 2010, the cast of Glee went on a two week live tour with stops in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago and New York City.^[13] The cast performed hits from the show and several skits between songs. The following May, the cast went on a second, longer tour with mostly new songs and all-new skits, performing for four weeks in the U.S. and Canada, and eleven days in England and Ireland.^[14][15]

On August 8, 2010, he co-hosted the Teen Choice Awards.^[16] Monteith hosted the Gemini Awards in Toronto on November 13, 2010.^[17]

In December 2010, it was announced that Monteith would be starring in and co-producing a new untitled workplace-caper comedy for Fox 2000.^[18] In January 2011, he shot the film Sisters&Brothers with Dustin Milligan, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2011.^[19][20]

In 2011, he filmed a PSA for Straight But Not Narrow, an online PSA organization aimed at changing the minds of young, straight guys and girls in their attitude and viewpoint towards the LGBT community.^[21]

In 2012, he co-hosted the GLAAD Media Awards in New York City with co-star Naya Rivera.^[22]

Music[link]

Monteith plays drums for the Indie rock band Bonnie Dune based in Los Angeles. Members include lead singer Justin Wilczynski (who co-starred with Monteith on the short-lived MTV series, Kaya), guitarist Seth Roberts (who is the singer of the band Lakes), and bassist Joshua Kerr.

Filmography[link]

Monteith at the GLAAD Awards on April 17, 2010