WATCH: The best in Canadian children’s entertainment was honoured tonight, courtesy of the “Shaw Rocket Prize”.
OTTAWA – Canadian children’s programs Justin Time, Rocket Monkeys and If I Had Wings are this year’s winners of the Shaw Rocket Prize, and will each receive $25,000.
The award is presented annually to the best independently-produced Canadian shows in three categories. The awards were handed out at a gala event Tuesday evening at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa.
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Toronto production company Guru Studio won the 0-to-5 age group category for its production Justin Time — the story about the adventures of Justin, Olive and Squidgy.
Rocket Monkeys, from Toronto’s Breakthrough Entertainment, won the age six to 12 category. It tells the story of brothers Gus and Wally, and their robot friend YAY-OK as they carry out a series of missions throughout the universe.
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In the youth and family category, ages 13-to-17, Vancouver’s Really Real Film picked up the award for If I Had Wings. The story is about a blind teenager Alex who dreams of running cross-country for his school, and must overcome a series of obstacles along with his troubled running partner Brad Coleman.
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The gala was hosted by Global News Chief Political Correspondent Tom Clark, and ET Canada’s Sangita Patel. The Shaw Rocket awards were presented by the Honourable Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages.
“We are pleased to celebrate Canada’s leadership position in producing quality children’s programming,” said Minister Glover. “We would like to extend our congratulations to both the winners and the finalists of this year’s Shaw Rocket Prize, and celebrate their dedication to telling the kind of stories we can all be proud of.”
Barb Williams, executive vice president of broadcasting and president of Shaw Media, acknowledged the leadership role Canadians have taken in creating inspirational children’s programming.
“On behalf of Shaw Communications, we’d like to congratulate this year’s winners and acknowledge their commitment to producing some of the best children’s programming this country has to offer,” said Barb Williams. “This award represents Shaw’s continued dedication to investing in the growth and development of programming for children and youth.”
The Shaw Rocket Fund is a not-for-profit production fund supported by Shaw Communications, Shaw Pay Per View, a division of the Shaw Cablesystems, and Shaw Direct.
Shaw is the parent company of Global News.
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