Prairie Dog Film and TV cleans up at the Rosie Awards

 “(Blackstone) is a victory for our production company, and the Aboriginal community in Alberta,” said film veteran Ron E. Scott, who directed the award winning pilot episode. ”We stepped up to the plate with this one.”
The one hour dramatic pilot for Blackstone, the tale of politics and power, all from the Aboriginal perspective, earned Prairie Dog Film and Television five prestigious Rosie Awards.

The show, which aired on APTN and is written by Gil Cardinal, won the awards for best dramatic production under 60 minutes, best production reflecting cultural diversity, best director for a drama over 30 minutes for Scott’s work in that role, best screenwriter for drama over 30 minutes, and best Alberta actress for Roseanne Supernault.

“We appreciate the opportunity to tell these stories,” said Scott. “Blackstone is compelling...but one of the key features of the series is that it is 100 per cent Native production; created, written, produced and acted by Natives.”

The Blackstone pilot tells the story of a community suffering disintegration by its own hand as a result of the corruption, mismanagement and nepotism of its chief and councillors. A fire at the Blackstone Reserve sets the stage, claiming the life of three band members. The suspicious circumstances of the tragedy compel band member Victor Merasty to turn his focus from videotaping the band’s history and cultural traditions to using his camera to document the reserve’s entrenched ‘culture’ of corruption.  Unanswered questions about the real cause and purpose of the fire result in occupation of the band office.  The storyline leads to sex abuse, suicide, hope and forgiveness.

Prairie Dog Television was founded in 1993 by Scott, a Métis producer, director and writer, as an independent film and television production company. It has a proven record in international television series, prime time television specials, feature films, and major live audience productions.

The province’s production industry may be small, but it’s rife with talent, said Melody Jacobson, executive director of the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association, the organization that hands out the awards.

Jacobson said judges had to select from a long list of 192 entries for the class category — ranging from best feature film to best public service announcement — and 298 craft entries, which include categories such as best narrator and best cinematographer.
Said Scott, “We’d like to congratulate all of the nominees and winners. This represents a birth of hope for the Aboriginal film industry.”

The 36th annual Rosie award ceremony was held at the EXPO Centre in Edmonton to celebrate Alberta film and television.

The Rosie Awards are sponsored by the Alberta Motion Picture Industry of Alberta (AMPIA), a non-profit professional Association in Edmonton that lobbies for and promotes film art for Alberta.