The Black Academy partners with Insight Productions to launch award show honouring Black talent in Canada

Toronto-born brothers Shamier Anderson and Stephan James are giving Canada an awards show to get excited about. On Thursday, The Black Academy and Insight Productions announced a partnership to produce a live award show honouring establish and emerging Black talent. 

The Black Academy, a new national division of Anderson and James’ not-for-profit group they started five years ago, B.L.A.C.K. Canada (Building A Legacy in Acting, Cinema + Knowledge), aims to honour, showcase and celebrate established and emerging Black talent across the country. The live telecast is one of the many initiatives created by The Black Academy to help break down barriers of discrimination and combat systemic racism in Canada by showcasing all the talent.

The Black Academy, and Insight’s Shannon Farr and Lindsay Cox, announced a search for a Black showrunner and production crew to help create the new award show, and the launch of a skills development program. Anderson and James are executive producing the national telecast, alongside John Brunton, Farr, and Cox from Insight Productions. 

“My brother and I are so blessed to collaborate with Insight on this show,” said Anderson, CoFounder of The Black Academy, and executive producer. “Shannon and Lindsay’s expertise is unmatched in the industry and we’ve developed a genuine partnership with them over the last year or so cemented by their passion and personal investment. The result of that partnership is going to be Canada’s hottest, most inspirational celebration of Black talent. But as an NFP, we need the support of government and corporate partners across the country as we look to fill gaps in representation and opportunity for the next generation of Black talent.”

“In the Black community, we like to do things big, bold, and colourful – that’s what this show is going to be,” said James, star of Selma and If Beale Street Could Talk. “I think everyone will be truly amazed by what they see, but for those who aspire to work in this industry, the people behind the camera will be just as impressive and inspiring.”

The Black Academy and Insight Productions are committed to hiring a Black crew and senior staff and to offering skills development for multiple positions in advance of pre-production of the show. They are encouraging those who have a passion for live events and award shows to submit their resumes to BlackAwardShowResumes@insighttv.com. 

“Our goal to is work toward staffing the show with a Black crew, from PAs to producers to the showrunner", said Lindsay Cox, Senior Vice-President, Insight Productions, and executive producer. “The intent is that the key decision makers will be Black and whether it’s the creative positions or the technical ones, the audience will know there are Black faces behind the cameras too. We’ve already met with some incredibly talented candidates and are speaking with BIPOC organizations as well, and we want to connect with everyone in the community who has a real passion for this genre.”

“Lindsay and I and the entire Insight team are deeply honoured and proud to work on this project and to support the mission of The Black Academy,” said Shannon Farr, Vice President, Insight Productions, and executive producer. “Shamier and Stephan’s DNA is is all over this show and this project is both a huge opportunity and a welcome learning curve for us.”

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