CONGRATULATIONS to the 2008 Spotlight Winners!
Carole Tarlington –The WIFTV Woman of the Year Award
This award is presented to a woman who has achieved significant success in the field of film or television, and who is recognized for mentoring other women in the industry.
Carole Tarlington is an acting teacher, director, author and free-lance drama consultant. As the founder and first artistic director of the internationally renowned Vancouver Youth Theater, then director of a successful talent agency, Tarlington Talent, and now the president of Tarlington Training Acting Studio, one of the premiere training programs for young actors in the country, Carole Tarlington has achieved an outstanding level of success in the field of training and nurturing of young talent.
She has a Masters in Education from the University of Victoria and has written three books on drama education published by Oxford University Press and Pembroke Publishers of Toronto. She has published numerous articles on drama education, wrote the teacher and student manuals for the performers orientation course offered by the BC Institute of Film Professionals and has been a speaker at conferences in Japan, Australia, Scotland, Hong Kong and Singapore as well as an artist in residence at seven different youth theaters and drama programs in Australia.
Christine Welsh - The WIFTV Artistic Achievement Award
This award honours a woman for their artistic achievement who demonstrates filmmaking excellence in the telling of women’s stories. This award goes to a director, producer, writer, actor, director of photography or editor who has created a major film, television program or digital work in the past two years or who has created a significant body of work in the telling of women’s stories.
Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh has been producing, writing and directing films for more than thirty years and is known for her strong commitment to documenting the experience of Indigenous women in Canada. Her films include Women in the Shadows (directed by Norma Bailey,1992), Keepers of the Fire (1994), Kuper Island: Return to the Healing Circle (with Peter C. Campbell, 1997), The Story of the Coast Salish Knitters (2000) and, most recently, the feature-length NFB documentary Finding Dawn (2006). Christine has spoken widely and published a number of articles that have appeared in Canadian Literature, Descant, Feminisms in the Cinema and Screening Culture: Constructing Image and Identity. In addition to her film making, she is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Victoria where she teaches courses in Indigenous Women's Studies and Indigenous Cinema.
Jacqueline Samuda – The Sharon Gibbon Lifetime Member Award
This award is presented to a member in recognition of her support of WIFTV and advancing the organization’s goals in the British Columbia film and television community.
Jacqueline Samuda is a writer/director/actress with a twenty-year background in Canada and the US. She started directing in the theater and was awarded a Dramalogue Critic’s Award for directing Zastrozzi at L.A.’s Company of Angels. She has served as a mentor and screen writing instructor at VFS and UBC as well as a guest instructor for directing actors for film at UCLA. A two-time past president of Women In Film and Television Vancouver, Jacqueline now serves on the WIFTV Advisory Board where she continues to support WIFTV with her tireless energy. She currently sits as President on the Board of Directors for Pacific Cinematheque. Recent performance accomplishments include a recurring role in L Word and as a finalist for the 2008 "Voicey" voiceover award. Her feature screenplay BREAD, enters the production financing phase after three rounds of support from Telefilm, BC Film and Movie Central. Jacqueline is the inaugural recipient of the 2008 MPPIA-WIDC Feature Film Award with this project.
Catherine Lough Haggquist – The WIFTV Special Jury Award
This award honors a person’s body of work throughout their career as well as their contribution to the industry.
A professional actor for over 20 years, Cat’s numerous credits include lead roles on the series’ The Unprofessionals and Rockpoint PD and the feature The Thing Below. Supporting credits include Termination Point and The Stranger Game. Recurring roles on Dark Angel and Highlander as well as appearances in The X-Files, The Outer Limits, Smallville, Dr. Who, Stargate SG-1, and Paycheck are also among her favourites. In addition to her acting, Cat opened Biz Books in Vancouver in 1996 and it has grown to become an international resource for people looking to expand their knowledge of film, television and theatre. Time spent on the local and national boards of UBCP and ACTRA and watching her mentor John Juliani inspired her to begin sharing her vast industry knowledge. She has since developed seminars and workshops designed to assist creative professionals with their business skills and to empower them to get their careers focused and productive. Most importantly though, Cat is looking forward to celebrating her 13th wedding anniversary in May. She thinks Neil is too.
Maureen Levitt – The Wayne Black Service Award
This award honors a woman in a “behind-the-scenes” role and for her continued efforts within the film and television community. This award is named to remember the long service of a local film lab manager.
Maureen Levitt has recently joined Super Channel, Canada's newest Pay TV network, as the British Columbia and Yukon Creative Development Representative overseeing development of feature length drama and documentary. Between 1994 and 2005 she was co-founder of VisionTV and then Manager of its Western Region office. During that time Maureen was Executive Producer of many in-house series including Let's Sing Again and The MEN'show. As Commissioning Editor she licensed over 100 award-winning documentaries such as The Corporation, Scared Sacred, The Friendship Village, and Culture Jam. Previously, Maureen worked as an assistant editor on such Canadian classics as The Beachcombers and The Grey Fox. Maureen has a Master of Arts from the School of Communications at SFU. She lives in Cowichan Bay, B.C. where her passions are her family, dragon boat racing. hiking, and eldercare. She feels privileged to work with such a great film and television community.
Michelle Porter – Kodak Image Award
This award is awarded, by special jury, to a female director or DOP for a recent short work that shows excellence in overall production value or a unique, visionary approach to the cinematography or storytelling. This award carries a prize of $2500 in Kodak film stock.
Ms. Porter’s latest short film “Regarding Sarah” has played at over 40
festivals around the world and has won numerous awards including a recent Genie nomination, 6 Leos (including Best Short, Best Direction and Best Writing) and several festival awards. She was the recipient of the Viff’s 2002 Telefilm
Award for Best Emerging Western Director of a Short for “Big Shoes To Fill.”
Both films play on CBC’s Canadian Reflections. More information on these films
can be found at www.compactfilms.com. Ms. Porter is a graduate of both the
film and theatre programs at UBC and she worked in the theatre world for decade before making the transition into the film world. She attended the first
Berlinale Talent Campus and the 2000 Equity Master Class in direction. Ms.
Porter also directed the voices for 52 episodes of the animation series Gundam
Wing.
WIFTV Honourary Friend - Andrew Williamson
This award recognizes a person who has played a significant role in supporting women in the industry and, although not a professional member, has promoted the success of the organization. Men are eligible to be nominated for this award.
As Director of Development for Keatley Entertainment, Andrew currently oversees the company's slate of film and television projects. Keatley Entertainment recently produced Godiva's for CHUM. Andrew directed his first feature, Sea, in association with Shavick Entertainment and produced the Telefilm feature Sk8 Life for Travesty Productions which screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007.
Andrew was also the Executive Producer of Crazy8s (www.crazy8s.cc ) which he helped start in 1999. Crazy8s, Canada's #1 short film event, produced 43 short films that have played around the world on festival screens and televisions as well as winning numerous awards. Man Feel Pain (Crazy8s 2004) won Best Short Film in 2004 at the Toronto International Film Festival. The library has now been acquired by Ouat! Media for distribution.