The universe is made of stories, not atoms.”
-Muriel Rukeyser
Randy Bradshaw - Remembrance
Randy Bradshaw is a director and producer of internationally successful dramatic film and television programs. He has directed over 90 hours of network television drama, including the television movies Last Train Home, Blades of Courage, Special Delivery, and the highly acclaimed mini-series Ramona. Randy has also directed numerous episodes of top Canadian and foreign series, including Mercy Peak, Traders, PSI Factor, Lonesome Dove, North of 60, Goosebumps, Dear America, Ray Bradbury Theatre, The Hitchhiker, 21 Jump Street, Night Heat, Top Cops, and The Twilight Zone. He received a Gemini Award for his direction of "Man with a Gun" (Diamonds, CBS) and Gemini nominations for his direction of "Archie's Riff" (Night Heat, CBS) and "Tango Bellarosa" (Street Legal, CBC).
Paul Gross
2009 National Arts Centre Award
Actor, writer, producer and director
Known foremost as an actor, Paul Gross is also an award-winning writer, producer, director and singer, and a tireless promoter of Canadian culture. His outstanding work in theatre, television and film—notably his most recent project, the World War I epic Passchendaele—has garnered international acclaim. Mr. Gross was born in 1959 in Calgary, Alberta. His father was in the military, and the family lived in England, Germany and the USA before returning to Canada in the 1970s. He studied acting at the University of Alberta and made his stage debut in the early 1980s, performing at major theatres across Canada, including the National Arts Centre. A recent stage highlight was playing the title role in Hamlet to sold-out houses at Stratford in 2000.
His television appearances include his earnest portrayal of RCMP Constable Benton Fraser on the series Due South, which he also co-wrote and executive produced. The series was a huge hit in Canada, the USA and the UK and won a host of awards, including two Geminis for Mr. Gross. He played beleaguered artistic director Geoffrey Tennant in the critically acclaimed series Slings & Arrows (a thinly veiled parody of Stratford), and the Prime Minister of Canada in the political thriller H2O and its sequel, The Trojan Horse, both of which he also co-wrote and executive produced. Mr. Gross's directorial debut, the comedy Men with Brooms (2002), broke Canadian movie box-office records. Most recently he wrote, directed, co-produced and starred in Passchendaele, a sweeping World War I epic inspired by his grandfather's wartime experiences in Canada and Belgium.
The $21-million production, the most ambitious Canadian war movie ever made, opened the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and set records for English Canadian film, grossing almost $5 million. Awards and honours include ACTRA Award of Excellence (2005); Directors Guild of Canada Award for Outstanding Team Achievement in a Television Movie or Mini-Series (2005, for H2O); Canadian Screenwriting Award (2005); Monte Carlo Television Festival Golden Nymph Award (2004, for H2O); Canadian Comedy Award for Pretty Funny Direction (2003, for Men with Brooms); and five Gemini awards.