The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television and radio industries. Organized and presented by the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists , which represented performers, writers and broadcast journalists, the Nellie statuettes were presented annually until 1986. They were the primary national television award in Canada until 1986, when they were taken over by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to create the new Gemini Awards , although ACTRA continued to present Nellies in radio categories.
17-567: The ACTRA Awards were then revived in 2003 as a local film industry award, separately presented by each of ACTRA's regional chapters to honour performances in local film and television production, since expanded to incorporate web series and video games. ACTRA began presenting the John Drainie Award for distinguished lifetime contribution in broadcasting in 1968, before launching a comprehensive program for television and radio awards in 1972. The 1st ACTRA Awards that year only presented
34-581: A local film and television award, presented by the organization's local chapters in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Maritimes to honour achievements in film and television within their own regions. Depending on the level of production activity in their respective regions, some chapters of ACTRA present their awards annually, while others present their awards every two years. However,
51-746: The 4th ACTRA Awards in 1975, elements in the audience were planning to pie him in the face just to see if they could cause the normally unflappable Robertson to lose his composure. By 1980, the CTV network decided to boycott the awards, on the grounds that the members-only rule biased the awards in favour of CBC Television productions; the issue arose because the CBC produced most of its programming directly, and thus nearly all CBC programming involved ACTRA members, while CTV broadcast far more programming from independent non-ACTRA producers. The boycott, which continued for several years thereafter, sparked discussions through
68-679: The Banff Television Festival . Unlike other awards which are voted on by the Academy's board of directors, the recipient of the John Drainie Award was selected by a committee of previous winners. Any branch of the Academy's Television Division may put forth nominations to the Drainie Committee for consideration. The recipient receives a plaque with Drainie's likeness rather than a Gemini statuette. It
85-674: The United Steelworkers announced that the two unions have entered into a strategic alliance to take on the globalization of the culture industry and to address a range of common issues. ACTRA participated in the Faster, Together campaign to increase acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines . ACRA over time evolved into the Association of Canadian Radio and Television Artists, the Canadian Council of Authors and Artists,
102-568: The ACTRA Awards continued to honour radio programming. Beginning in 2002, ACTRA took management of the John Drainie Award back from the Academy, presenting it thereafter at the Banff Television Festival . On the 60th anniversary of the national union in 2003, now renamed the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists and representing only performers, the ACTRA Awards were resurrected in several of its branches across Canada as
119-524: The Academy's new Gemini Awards in 1986. Awards transferred to the Academy included the John Drainie Award , a lifetime achievement award for distinguished contributions to Canadian broadcasting, and the Earle Grey Award , which transitioned from ACTRA's award for best performance in a television film into the Academy's lifetime achievement award for acting. Following the launch of the Geminis,
136-575: The Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, and, in 1984, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists. Regional issues led to the creation of the Union of British Columbia Performers , a separate subunit of ACTRA for British Columbia only. Every year, ACTRA branches across the country present the ACTRA Awards , some of which are handed out for performances, while others are given for union activism and contributions to
153-494: The Drainie Award alongside the new Earle Grey Award for actors and Gordon Sinclair Award for broadcast journalism, with its roster of categories beginning to expand the following year. By 1978, there began to be talk in the industry of a "Nellie curse", as several broadcast personalities in the past couple of years had been fired or had their shows cancelled very soon after winning an ACTRA award. The same year also saw
170-420: The early 1980s about how to improve the management and delivery of Canadian television awards. In this era, there was also significant concern about the fact that ACTRA only presented awards in categories such as acting, writing and journalism, but had no categories for television crafts such as cinematography or editing, as well as a controversy when ACTRA rejected the CBC's proposal of Dan Aykroyd as host, on
187-473: The first widespread complaints about ACTRA's nomination criteria, which limited honours in most categories to ACTRA members; even if ACTRA members had collaborated with non-ACTRA members, then only the ACTRA member could be considered for nomination. That year further saw the public revelation of an unconfirmed but longstanding industry rumour that if Lloyd Robertson had won the award for Best News Broadcaster at
SECTION 10
#1732765349691204-524: The grounds that he was working in the United States and not an active ACTRA member. By 1983, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's experimental Bijou Awards , which had been presented for the first time in 1981, were being proposed to replace the ACTRA Awards, but this did not proceed at this time; ultimately, responsibility for presenting the Canadian television awards was transferred to
221-476: The industry. John Drainie Award The John Drainie Award was an award given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to broadcasting in Canada. Although meant to be presented annually, there have been years where it was not presented. Originally created by ACTRA in 1968 as a standalone award, the award was named in memory of Canadian actor John Drainie following his death in 1966, and
238-609: The professional rights of its members. It also works to increase work opportunities for its members and lobbies for policy changes at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels. ACTRA's regional chapters present ACTRA Awards to honour the best in Canadian radio and television performances in their local productions. ACTRA is affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress and the International Federation of Actors . In July 2005, ACTRA and
255-579: The revived ACTRA Awards program also includes a national Award of Excellence, presented to an actor to honour their lifetime achievements; the national award of excellence is most commonly presented to an actor who is working in Hollywood , and would thus not be eligible for a regional chapter's local award of excellence. However, the national award of excellence is not necessarily always presented annually. Some awards are handed out for performances, while others are given for union activism and contributions to
272-589: Was presented as part of the Canadian Film Awards ceremonies for its first four years. Beginning in 1972 it was presented as part of the expanded ACTRA Awards program. The award was transferred in 1986 to the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and presented as part of the Gemini Awards ; the award was later transferred back to the ACTRA Awards in the 2000s, and presented as part of
289-561: Was presented posthumously on some occasions but current ACTRA policy is to present this award to living people. The following people have won the award since 1968. ACTRA The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists ( ACTRA ) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has over 30,000 members working in film , television , radio , and all other recorded media. The organization negotiates, safeguards, and promotes
#690309