The Gemini Awards
2007.10.26 - Friday
The Gemini awards ceremony, at least the one we went to, was on October 17th. Brenda, Drew and I were lucky enough to get nominated along with some folks from Rainmaker in the "Best Visual Effects" category for an episode of "Stargate: Atlantis" called "No Man's Land". So for three days in the middle of the week I was off to Toronto for the presentation, my third awards show this year. Not everyone who was nominated was able to go, so I'm glad the three of us managed to get out for it.
Downtown Toronto from the CN Tower.
After checking into our hotel, "The Suites" at King and Yonge streets, I had a bunch of time to kill in the afternoon so I headed out walking. I figured I may as well hit the CN Tower since I couldn't remember if I'd ever been up it before. It certainly affords a great view of the city and, well, everything really. The glass floor is great, and the 447 metre high "Skypod" observation deck is definitely worth the extra nine dollars. I spent the first evening in TO visiting with my old friend Kyle, a co-worker from the GVFX days who I hadn't seen in a couple of years. Soon it was back to the hotel for some rest after a long day, having woken up very early for my flight.
The Gemini Awards venue.
The day of the awards brought sleeping in, going for a long walk through downtown to pick up the tickets, and having lunch with the gang before getting ready and heading out to the show. The Gemini show we were attending isn't quite the big deal that the Emmy awards are, and most of the attendees show up in their own cars or in cabs. Everyone heads inside for a cocktail reception before the presentation itself starts. Certainly a more casual atmosphere, but still nice. The reception ran late, by about an hour, but people eventually made their way into the showroom to take their seats.
Awards presentation room.
I thought the room had a bit of a weird setup, really long lengthwise without much depth. The result was that most people ended up looking at a side profile of whoever was on stage. Certainly different. One nice thing about this show, however, was that it would only go for a couple of hours. Certainly much more comfortable than the Emmys in that respect. Our category came up about half way through. I can't remember who we were up against, something about polar bears and another period program about WW2 airlifts or something from the CBC. It's always bad news to be up against a CBC show when you're talking about Canadian awards, but the worries were unfounded, because we won! Again!
Gemini winners! Shannon, Mark, Brenda, Alec, Drew.
That makes three for three for Atmosphere in 2007, and three wins for me in my first three nominations for anything, ever. Just unbelievable, but we've been lucky to work on a couple of excellent shows which turned out really well. "No Man's Land" certainly started off Atlantis' third season with a bang, so it's nice to see what was a reasonably big episode pull out the win. I don't think we went back to our seats after the win. That's what happens when you serve drinks to the winners and give them a place to hang out outside and smoke. Unlike the Emmy and VES awards, only one Gemini award is given out for each category, so we obviously took our turns getting photos with it. Other winners have the option of buying an award for themselves if they so choose. Typically Canadian, if you ask me.
Alec, Brenda, and Drew with Gemini.
Soon the awards presentation was over and we headed into the ballroom for dinner. There was definitely a nice setup here, with a great dinner and good atmosphere. I suppose vegetarians must have to call ahead to these awards shows to get a special menu, because there's been unbelievably good steak, and in this case, bison, at each gala dinner I've been to. I'm certainly not complaining, but the thought did cross my mind. The night didn't go as late this time around, and once people were finished dinner the place started to clear out. The whole show was fun, but as I was saying before, it definitely had a more casual and certainly much smaller feel to it. Keep in mind that there are four Gemini awards presentations, and it's probably for the best that they do more short ceremonies than one or two long, drawn out ones. All said though, another great night for the team!
The Gemini awards gala.
The Gemini award.
My flight home the next day didn't leave until 8:00pm, so I had plenty of time to get some sleep, pack, and check out one more place before leaving. That place, of course, is the Hockey Hall of Fame. Personally, between that and the CN Tower I had covered all of Toronto's "must see" attractions. Not that I wouldn't go check out other stuff with a bit more time, but those two are the only required ones as far as I'm concerned. I had never been to the hall of fame before, so it was really interesting to check the place out. Lots and lots of memorabilia, of course, and lots and lots of history. The setup is really nice and easy to browse. I didn't spend any time doing the multimedia stuff, like the play-by-play booth or the puck-shooting and puck-stopping games. Most of my time there was spent in the Stanley Cup room, and looking at all of the old equipment and jerseys.
I even managed to find, to my surprise, a single jersey from the old Greek national hockey team circa 1995. It was tucked away around a corner, next to the rear-most emergency exit, inside a glass case which also displayed, more prominently, the jerseys of national teams from Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand. You could just barely see the tips of the letters spelling "Hellas" across the front, as the rest of it was covered by a large sign, but it was there!
The Hockey Hall of Fame.
Alec with the Stanley Cup. No, I didn't touch it.
That pretty much covers the Gemini awards trip to Toronto. It's been a busy and exciting 2007 so far, and there are still a couple of months to go. Next up is my Black Belt promotion ceremony in November, then it's going to be time to get ready for Christmas. It's going to be 2008 in no time!
