“If I could choose an official title, one I’d be proud of, to describe what I do, it would be: storyteller. But that’s not accepted at Customs or on my tax returns!”

-- Patrick Huard

Speech
NFB Film

Tara Johns is an Alberta-born writer-director who’s built her filmmaking career in Montreal. Her debut film, Killing Time (2001), was named one of the top 10 Québécois shorts of the decade at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois. She followed her award-winning first feature, The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom (2011), with two NFB short films on GGPAA laureates. Tara is currently in development on her new original feature project, Good Bones, with Palomar Films. 

Patrick Huard

2025 Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award (Screens and Voices (formerly Broadcasting and Film))

Comedian, film and television actor, host, screenwriter and producer

Patrick Huard is a dynamic and versatile artist who has enjoyed great success in film and on television, stage and radio. One of Quebec and Canada’s most recognizable stars, he has appeared in many of the most successful Canadian films (notably the beer-league hockey story Les Boys, the bilingual comedy Bon Cop, Bad Cop, and their respective sequels) and Quebec television series. He has hosted several radio programs and prestigious award galas, and has received numerous acting and screenwriting awards.
 
Patrick Huard was born in 1969 in Montréal, Quebec. After discovering his passion for comedy in his late teens, he trained at the École nationale de l’humour. His career took off in 1991, when he was named Discovery of the Year at the Festival Juste pour rire.
 
He has held lead roles in several successful Quebec TV series, including the hugely popular Taxi 0-22 (2007–10), which he also produced and directed.
 
In film, he has appeared in some 20 features, and made his directorial debut in 2007 with The 3 Li’l Pigs (Golden Reel Award for top-grossing Canadian film of the year). More recently, he produced and starred (alongside his son Nathan) in Les hommes de ma mère (2023), directed by his spouse, Anik Jean.
 
He is probably best known for Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006), which he co-wrote and in which he stars opposite fellow GGPAA laureate Colm Feore. The film won the Genie for Best Feature Film and the Golden Reel Award, and earned Mr. Huard two Canadian Comedy Awards. He also co-wrote, produced, and starred with Mr. Feore in Bon Cop, Bad Cop 2 (2017), and is currently working on a spinoff TV series.
 
Of the BCBC films’ culture-bridging premise, he says, “As a group we can say all sorts of things about each other, but when you’re stuck in an elevator with someone, you’re going to focus not on your differences but on what you have in common. So I wrote the story with that in mind.”
 
Patrick Huard’s awards and honours include several Félix Awards, the Earle Grey Award (Canadian Screen Award), and two Iris Awards.