Women in Film & Television – Toronto (WIFT-T) will celebrate writers, producers, executives, and activists alike at the 32nd Crystal Awards Gala. The advocacy group for women in Canadian screen industries announced their 2019 honorees: “Maudie” producer Mary Young Leckie; “On Becoming a God in Central Florida” showrunner Esta Spalding; Oya Media Group co-founder Alison Duke; Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Fest exec director Tammy Frick; “cultural maven” maxine bailey; and Ontario Creates consultant Kim Gibson. A press release announced the news.
“The six women we are celebrating this year are incredibly dynamic,” said Karen Bruce, WIFT-T’s exec director. “What unites this year’s honorees is a commitment to mentoring and an innate instinct for spotting talent and empowering others to bring and be their best. Collectively, they have influenced, supported, educated, mentored, and advocated for their peers and the future of this industry.” She added, “It is our absolute pleasure to recognize and celebrate their many accomplishments.”
Leckie is the recipient of the Creative Excellence Award, a prize “presented to a woman in recognition of dynamic quality of her work in screen-based media.” The Canadian Screen Award and Gemini Award winner’s previous credits include “Where the Spirit Lives,” doc “Prom Fight: The Marc Hall Story,” and family series “Tati’s Hotel.”
A veteran TV writer-producer, Spalding will take home the International Achievement Award for “her significant and well-renowned body of work in Canada and abroad.” The two-time Writers Guild of Canada winner has worked on “Masters of Sex,” “The Bridge,” “Being Erica,” and more. She also penned the screenplay for Augustine Frizzell’s upcoming romance, “Last Letter from Your Lover.” Felicity Jones and Shailene Woodley are starring.
WIFT-T will present Duke with its Mentorship Award, in honor of her “outstanding contribution to the building of women’s careers in the screen-based media industry.” She produced “Akua Benjamin Legacy Project,” a digital series about black activists based in Toronto — and hired five women to helm the project. Duke also directed TV doc “Cool Black North.” Her initiative, Black Youth! Pathway2Industry, a three-year program that provides black youth with filmmaking mentorship and networking, is about to kick off its second year.
Frick will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Business Award. The honor is presented to “a woman who — through the consistent quality of her work — has made a major contribution to the screen-based media industry as a leader in enterprise development.” Frick has served as Cinéfest’s exec director for 25 years. She spearheaded the Laugh Out Loud Sudbury Comedy Festival in 2007 and co-founded Music and Film in Motion, an org that nurtures the development and sustainability of Ontario’s music and screen industries.
bailey is the recipient of the Special Jury Award of Distinction, a prize given “to a woman who has built a legacy as a ground-breaking force in our industry and whose life’s work is dedicated to building a vibrant, diverse, and active creative community.” She previously worked as TIFF’s VP of Advancement and, in 2017, launched Share Her Journey, a fundraising and awareness-raising program elevating the next generation of female filmmakers.
Interactive digital media professional Gibson is being recognized with the Digital Trailblazer Award. The prize celebrates a woman’s “significant contributions to Canada’s digital and interactive media industry, as demonstrated by her creativity and leadership.” With over 20 years at Ontario Creates under her belt, she has designed and overseen many programs that have strengthened digital media in Ontario, including the Digital Media Fund.
The Crystal Award honorees were nominated by WIFT-T members and selected by jury members/past winners Deb Day, Innovate By Day CEO (Digital Trailblazer, 2018); Women in the Director’s Chair co-creator Dr. Carol Whiteman (Mentorship, 2011); and ReelWorld Film Fest founder Tonya Williams (Special Jury Award of Distinction, 2017).
The Crystal Awards Gala will be held at Arcadian Court in Toronto on December 3. Musical artist and radio personality Shakura S’Aida will host the ceremony.
Bios for the 2019 awardees are below, courtesy of WIFT-T.
Mary Young Leckie is a creative producer with over 70 hours of scripted content to her credit. Her most recent feature Maudie—a Canada-Ireland co-pro starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, released last year by Mongrel Media and Sony Classics—was awarded seven Canadian Screen Awards including Best Feature Film. Amongst her acclaimed films is Prom Queen the true story of gay teen Marc Hall and his fight for the right to take his boyfriend to prom. Reimagined for the stage and titled The Louder We Get, Leckie’s first live musical bows at Theatre Calgary in 2020.
Kim Gibson is a respected veteran of the interactive digital media industry, boasting more than 20 years of experience working with content creators through her role at Ontario Creates. Since 1999, she has designed and operated highly sought-after programs that have contributed to the growth of the province’s IDM industry most notably the Interactive Digital Media Fund which has been instrumental in providing funding for concept development, production, international business and audience development activities for a variety of projects from video games to web series. She is widely recognized by industry peers for her leadership, and commitment to the industry, and is known for her ability to discover and nurture emerging talent.
Esta Spalding is an award-winning showrunner, screenwriter, children’s author and poet. She’s currently the executive producer and showrunner of Showtime’s On Becoming a God in Central Florida (starring Kirsten Dunst). She has worked on many prestigious television series including Showtime’s Masters of Sex and FX’s The Bridge. Spalding hails from Canada, where she has contributed to many award-winning shows, winning two Writers Guild of Canada awards and five writing nominations from the Canadian Academy of Film and Television, including best writing and best show for her mini-series Would Be Kings. She penned independent features, Scott Smith’s Falling Angels, and the upcoming adaptation of Jojo Moyes’ The Last Letter From Your Lover (directed by Augustine Frizzel). Esta currently has an overall development deal with Sony Pictures.
Alison Duke is an artistic activist, award-winning filmmaker, and passionate producer committed to the Canadian visual art form. She established Goldelox Productions to produce social issue content. In 2016, Alison produced the Akua Benjamin Legacy Project, a digital web series which celebrates the legacies of Toronto-based Black activists. Inspired by Ava Duvernay, #metoo and the reality that opportunities for women behind the camera in Canada are long overdue, Alison hired five Black female Canadian directors to helm the films. Recently, she co-wrote and co-produced the television documentary Mr. Jane and Finch (‘19) directed by Ngardy Conteh George (and edited by Sonia Godding Tobogo) for CBCDocs POV. She also directed Cool Black North (‘19), a two-hour television documentary special for CityTV/Rogers. Current activities see her producing Laurie Townshend’s, feature documentary, Mothering in the Movement, under the Oya Media Group banner; kickstarting Year 2 of Black Youth! Pathway2Industry, a 3- year initiative to support Black youth access to essential training, mentors, networks and film industry spaces. She’s also finishing post-production on, Promise Me, a dramatic short inspired by her The Woman I Have Become (‘08).
During Tammy Frick’s 25 year tenure as executive director, Cinéfest has developed into a full-service film organization and is applauded by industry stakeholders for its ability to inspire audiences, uncover emerging talent, and to create an immersive experience that generates meaningful consideration and dialogue about the power of cinema. In 2007, Tammy led the development and introduction of Laugh Out Loud Sudbury Comedy Festival (LOL). Aside from providing access to stand-up comedy, LOL carried out a first of its kind live simulcast of an onstage performance by Jason Alexander in over 60 Cineplex theatres throughout Canada. The event has also featured world class entertainers like Steve Martin, Howie Mandel, Rick Mercer, The Trailer Park Boys, Jim Jefferies, among many others. Tammy has served on the board of directors of several organizations including, as a founding member of Music and Film in Motion, an organization which had a mandate to foster the development, growth and sustainability of Northern Ontario’s music, film and television production industries. The success of Cinéfest can largely be seen as spurring interest in developing a vibrant film and television production industry in the North, and of securing public sector investments that have made Northern Ontario the envy of other national production jurisdictions. Aside from the leadership and insights she offered to the development of MFM, in 2012 Tammy was approached to manage its transition into an entirely new incorporation called Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION). Today, as part of Tammy’s secondary role of Associate Executive Director, CION oversees the brands of both MFM and LOL, and seeks to promote and foster ongoing expansion of the film and television production sector of Northern Ontario.
maxine bailey is deeply committed to advocacy and taking action when it comes to gender parity in the Canadian film industry. As former Vice-President of Advancement at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), maxine’s leadership and vision created critical opportunities for women in film and raised awareness about the systemic barriers facing women filmmakers, script writers and producers. In 2017, maxine created Share Her Journey, a five-year strategic fundraising and awareness-raising initiative to invest in the next generation of women filmmakers. A committed volunteer, maxine serves on the boards of The Academy, The Walrus, and Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund (OCAF).
