Edmonton native Shraya's Popstar digital series up for five screen awards
Edmonton-born, multi-talented artist Vivek Shraya's autobiographical CBC Gem digital series How to Fail as a Popstar has been nominated for five Canadian Screen Awards, including one for best web program or series.
The Toronto-shot series is based on her one-person theatre show and book of the same name, recounting Shraya's real-life adventures and failures in the music industry.
Shraya has been nominated for best writing in a web program or series. Adrian Pavone, one of the actors who plays Shraya, is up for best performance in a web series, while Nadine Bhabha is up for best-supporting performance. Tiffany Beaudin and Pauline Decroix received a nod for Best Picture Editing for their work on the series. With five nominees, How to Fail as a Popstar is tied with The Drop for the most nods in digital media categories.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television announced the nominees for the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards in 156 television, film, and digital media categories Wednesday morning. The annual awards will be presented over four days during Canadian Screen Week 2024, including The 2024 Canadian Screen Awards broadcast show, airing May 31.
Crave's Little Bird leads nominations in both the television categories and overall with 19 nods. That includes two for Calgary actress Imajyn Cardinal, who is up for best guest performance in a drama series and is part of the nomination for best ensemble performance in a drama.
Other local nominees include singer-songwriter Jann Arden, who is up for a best guest performance in a comedy series for her role in Workin' Moms. Her Calgary-shot Christmas special Jann: Alone for the Holidays, which is based on her CTV series, is up for best variety or entertainment special, while Leah Gautier and Jennica Harper share a nomination for best writing in a variety or entertainment special.
Calgary's Andrew Phung received another nomination for best lead performance for his series Run the Burbs, which earned a total of four nominations this year. Phung was nominated in the same category in 2023. He also won Canadian Screen Awards in the best supporting actor category for his role of Kimchee on Kim's Convenience in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. In 2021, he also won the award for best host of a web program or series for his work on the 2019 Canadian Improv Games with Andrew Phung and shared a win with Arisa Cox for best host of a live entertainment special for his work on the From Ontario With Love New Years special.