Finalists Named for Shaw Rocket Prize

CALGARY, April 5: The Shaw Rocket Fund has announced four finalists for the annual C$50,000 Shaw Rocket Prize, as determined by kids’ programming executives from the U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany and Australia.

The finalists are Epitome Pictures’ Degrassi: The Next Generation, a live-action drama that airs on CBC; DECODE’s Franny’s Feet, a preschool animation; Halifax Film Company’s animated preschool series Poko; and Shoebox Productions’ live-action/animation fusion Shoebox Zoo.

The C$50,000 prize, which honors the best independently produced Canadian show for kids/family audiences, will be awarded on May 25. The jurists were Frank Dietz, the head of acquisitions and co-productions at Super RTL; Deirdre Brennan, ABC Kids programmer at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Michelle Henderson, the president of The Children’s Group in Canada; Bob Higgins, the senior VP of programming and development at Cartoon Network, USA; and Theresa Plummer-Andrews, the managing director of Plum Trees TV and former head of acquisitions and co-productions at CBBC.

A jury of grade seven to nine students from across Canada will choose the winner from among the finalists.