DCHP-3

Genie Award

DCHP-2 (Jun 2016)

Spelling variants:
Genie, The Genies

1n. — Entertainment

an annual award for excellence in film-making presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television between 1980 and 2012.

Type: 1. Origin — The Academy of Canadian Cinema, now known as the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (ACCT), was created in 1979, in response to the fast growth of the Canadian film industry. The first awards ceremony took place on 20 March, 1980, in Toronto, ON. The Genie Awards replaced the Canadian Film Awards that were held annually from 1949 to 1978. The Genie Awards were, in turn, discontinued in 2012 and replaced with the Canadian Screen Awards in 2013.
A major innovation in the Genies was the abandonment of the international jury system of the CFA in favour of a peer-voting system. Nominations for Genie Awards are made by nominating committees composed of Academy members, filmmakers, critics and other industry professionals. Members of the Academy's Cinema division are then eligible to "vote for categories directly related to his/her membership branch" (i.e. editors vote in the editing category), as well as all "best" categories (see Genie Awards reference). In 2012, the ACCT announced that the Gemini and Genie awards would be discontinued and replaced by the Canadian Screen Awards for all forms of media, including film, television and digital media (see the 2012 quotation).
See also COD-2, s.v. "genie" (2), which is marked "Cdn", ITP Nelson, s.v. "genie" (3), and OED-3, s.v. "genie" (draft entry 3).

Quotations

1980
Scott, leads the list of films nominated for Canadian Film Awards (now called Genies) with 10 citations, including best picture.
1980
During a special luncheon held yesterday at the St. Lawrence Town Hall, the Academy of Canadian Cinema presented the 1980 Genie awards for non-feature films.
1986
ACCT Gemeaux (Gemini) awards will also be ladled out for French-language TV in December but separately, unlike the academy's unified Genie awards for film.
1999
What a run it's been for Mary Lewis. A Genie Award for best live action short drama should go nicely with her top awards from film festivals in Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax.
2002
Our awards, the Geminis, the prix Gemeaux, the Genies, represent the judgment of the 4,000 professional members of the academy who volunteer their time to honour excellence.
2007
Sara Morton has been appointed the new chief executive officer of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, which oversees the Genie Awards for film, Gemini Awards for Canadian television and Prix Gemeaux for French-Canadian TV.
2007
Bon Cop, Bad Cop, the bilingual, bicultural buddy film that is the most successful Canadian movie of all time with $13 million in box office receipts, was named best motion picture of 2006 at Tuesday night's Genie Awards.
2012
The new Canadian prizes for film, television and digital media will be known as the Canadian Screen Awards, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announced today. [...] The academy announced earlier this year that the Genie Awards for Canadian English-language film and the Geminis for Canadian TV would be combined. The decision came after extensive consultation with the film and television industries. A new logo that will be reflected in the winning statuette was also unveiled Tuesday in Toronto. The awards will be extended to digital media – though the academy did not specify how it would approach cellphone or internet video.
2013
"Juno" -- This Oscar-nominated flick was directed by Toronto's Jason Reitman, stars Halifax actress Ellen Page and Brampton, Ont., actor Michael Cera and was shot in and around Vancouver. But it was still famously shut out of Canada's biggest film awards -- the Genies -- for not being Canadian enough. That's because it was bankrolled in the U.S., but we'll overlook that this weekend.
2n.

a statuette given in conjunction with the Genie Award (see Image 1).

Type: 1. Origin — The Genie statuette was originally known as "The Etrog", named for sculpturist Sorel Etrog, who designed it for the Canadian Film Awards in 1968. According to Etrog, it is "a standing figure whose focus of energy is concentrated in the upper part of the body, thus reflecting the process involved in transforming an idea or concept into a visual reality" (see Genie Awards reference). The statuette weighs 14 pounds, is 14 inches tall, and is made of gold-plated bronze on a black marble base (see Image 1). When the Genie Awards replaced the Canadian Film Awards, the same statuette was used but was officially renamed as "The Genie" in 1980 (see also the 1980 quotation).

Quotations

1980
Now that an academy modelled on the American plan has been created to oversee the handling of Canadian film awards, the name of the statue itself is undergoing a change; henceforth, it will be known as the Genie. But it will still be the same statue. A spokeswoman for the Academy of Canadian Cinema said the award was named after its designer by default. I don't think they had the time to think of another name. The new name symbolizes the magic of the movie industry, she continued.
1981
Statuettes have been stealthily advancing into the Canadian awards business. The feature film industry has its Genies, formerly the Etrogs (after their creator, sculptor Sorel Etrog). The pop music world has its Junos, named after their perpetrator, Pierre Juneau. ACTRA, the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, gives away plump little metal ladies called Nellies.
1990
But, in his spacious front office, the results of innovative ideas that brought Imax from a small town in southern Ontario to global status are proudly displayed. Two Genies, awards from the Canadian film industry, stand alone on the mantlepiece; a blow-up of earth, shot by NASA astronauts, hangs above it; trophies from around the world are placed through the room.

References

Images

Image 1: a <i>Genie Award</i> statuette. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo: Tim1357

Image 1: a Genie Award statuette. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo: Tim1357