The Banff World Media Festival has unveiled honorees for its Rockie Awards gala in June, led by Community star Ken Jeong, who will receive the Sir Peter Ustinov comedy award, and Beverly Hills, 90210 actor Jason Priestley, who will receive an award of distinction.
Also set for tributes within the Canadian Rockies are Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon, Dances with Wolves), being honored with a profession achievement award, and Wayward creator and star Mae Martin, who will pick up the Creative Voice Award.
The quartet will probably be recognized for his or her talent achievements and work that has had an impact on the worldwide entertainment industry. The Rockie Awards gala will probably be hosted by Emmy Award-winning multi-hyphenate Allana Harkin (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee) on June 16.
Banff also announced participants for a showrunners panel of top TV series creators, to incorporate R. Scott Gemmill (The Pitt, JAG), Nick Antosca (Cape Fear, Channel Zero), Aaron Zelman, (Law & Order, Damages, Bloodline), Amy B. Harris (Sex and the City, The Carrie Diaries), Lee Sung Jin (Beef, X-Men), Glenn Kessler (Damages, Bloodline) and Oren Uziel (Spider-Noir, 22 Jump Street).
Zelman and Kessler are currently co-showrunning the Fox series Memory of a Killer as they gather in Banff together with fellow series creators to debate where global TV is headed as streaming consolidation, rising production costs and the rapid onset of AI has the entertainment industry rethinking business models and inventive strategies.
“The showrunner super panel brings together a number of the most compelling creative minds working in television today. These are the storytellers behind the shows audiences are watching and talking about world wide. This session offers a rare opportunity to listen to directly from them, how they create, lead and proceed to push the boundaries of storytelling in a rapidly evolving industry,” Pam Silverstein, Banff head of programming, said in a press release.
The Banff World Media Festival is ready to run from June 14-17.