Leo Awards Crown ‘Centigrade’, ‘Elijah’ and ‘Smallville’ as the Best of BC

May 25, 2008 |

leo-awards-crown-centigrade-and-colin-cunningham

‘Centigrade’ star Colin Cunningham swashbuckles along the red carpet on Saturday night.

Colin Cunningham arrived at the Westin Bayshore on Saturday resembling a pirate and proceeded to raid the coffers of the Leo Awards for a second consecutive night. The Vancouver actor followed a win on Friday for Best Direction with the top acting prize in the Short Drama category for his role in “Centigrade”, a 17-minute, 11-second-long thriller that he wrote.

“Centigrade” also won for Best Short Drama as the British Columbia Film and Television Industry wrapped up its 10th annual celebrations of local filmmakers and their work. Producers Madison Graie and Derrick Garland claimed the best-in-show prize, the fifth for “Centigrade” during the two-night showcase. Other big winners included: “Elijah”, which won Best Feature Length Film as well as three other awards; “Smallville”, the Best Dramatic Series; “jPod”, the winner of four Best Dramatic Series awards; and documentary standout “The Suicide Tourist”, which tied the innovative dramatic series “Tin Man – Night 1” for the most Leos (six).

“Centigrade” emerges as the headliner, though, because of its consistent rate of success at awards shows this year and the efforts of its writer, director and lead actor. Considering Cunningham never planned to star in his movie, the award for Best Male Performance in a Short Drama seems ironic. “I didn’t want to act in it. As the director, I just wanted to focus on that aspect of the film. But the actor I had couldn’t make it and I said, ‘Okay, I’ll have to do this myself,’ ” he said. “This particular part is very difficult to play, let alone direct.”

walter-daroshin-2008-leo-awards Cunningham, who is a native of California, said he relied on Graie’s feedback to help him as an actor and director. Graie, meanwhile, said the film’s success is in part due to the ability she and Cunningham have to communicate with each other, an aspect of their working relationship that has been honed over the course of two decades.

“We’re very honest,” she said. “We have an acting background, both of us, we have a critical eye for each other. That becomes invaluable as a working tool.”

“Centigrade”, which may be turned into a full-length film, is about a man locked in a trailer and battling to get out before he burns up. Cunningham wrote the script 17 years ago and said it was a tribute to Steven Spielberg’s first feature, “Duel”. Shot on a budget of $20,000, “Centigrade” qualified earlier this year for Academy Awards consideration when it won Best Narrative Short at the Cinequest Film Festival.

With its five trophies from the Leo Awards, “Centigrade” solidifies itself as one of the most successful Canadian films of 2008. Its other awards on the weekend were for Best Make-up (Jane Dancose) and Best Overall Sound (Real Gauvreau) in a Short Drama.

Here’s a complete list of winners from the 2008 Leo Awards (number of awards won in parantheses):

Short Drama
Centigrade (5) – Best in Category, Male Performance, Direction, Make-up, Overall Sound
Dog Boy (2) – Musical Score, Costume Design
The Porcelain Man (2) – Production Design, Cinematography
Kodiak (1) – Picture Editing
Hirsute (1) – Sound Editing
Humongous (1) – Visual Effects
Stan Maynard’s Best Day Ever (1) – Screenwriting
The Birthday (1) – Female Performance

Dramatic Series
Tin Man – Night 1 (6) – Production Design, Make-up, Sound Editing, Overall Sound, Costume Design, Visual Effects
jPod (4) – Screenwriting, Lead Performance by a Female, Guest Performance by a Male, Guest Performance by a Female
Smallville (2) – Best in Category, Cinematography
Intelligence (2) – Direction, Picture Editing
Flash Gordon (1) – Supporting Performance by a Male
Painkiller Jane (1) – Musical Score
Reaper (1) - Lead Performance by a Male
The Guard (1) – Supporting Performance by a Female

Music, Comedy or Variety Program or Series
Road Hockey Rumble (2) – Best in Category, Picture Editing, Screenwriting
About a Girl (1) – Musical Score
Corner Gas (1) - Direction
Little Mosque on the Prairie (1) – Performance/Host

Documentary
The Suicide Tourist (6) – History/Biography/ Social/Political, Direction, Picture Editing, Overall Sound, Cinematography, Musical Score
Dreams of Flight (1) – Arts/Performing Arts
Saving Luna (1) – Nature/Environment/Adventure/Science/Tech
Captain Cook: Obsession and Discovery (1) - Series
Hope (1) – Sound Editing
She’s a Boy I Knew (1) – Screenwriting

Feature Length Drama
Elijah (4) – Best in Category, Screenwriting, Musical Score, Picture Editing
Normal (3) – Direction, Lead Performance by a Male, Lead Performance by a Female
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2) – Production Design, Costume Design
Nightwatching (2) – Sound Editing, Overall Sound
Walk Over Me (1) – Supporting Performance by a Male
The Green Chain (1) – Supporting Performance by a Female
Scourge (1) – Visual Effects
The Messengers (1) - Cinematography

Animation Program or Series
Jibber Jabber (4) – Best in Category, Musical Score, Overall Sound, Screenwriting
Storm Hawks (1) – Direction/Storyboarding

Information or Lifestyle Series
Glutton for Punishment (3) – Best in Category, Direction, Host
Shimmy (1) – Cinematography

Best Music Video
Switch by Joey Styles

Best Student Production
September

Outstanding Achievement
Warren Carr

leo-awards-crown-centigrade-as-the-best-of-bc

Madison Graie, producer of ‘Centigrade’, is accompanied by James Fantin into the Leo Awards, which were organized by president Walter Daroshin (second photo from top).