– Submissions for the Fan Choice Digital Content Creator Award open today at 12 pm ET –
TORONTO, August 1, 2024 – Shamier Anderson and Stephan James, Scarborough, ON, natives and co-founders of The Black Academy, alongside CBC, Insight Productions, and Bay Mills Studios today announced that award-winning actor Adrian Holmes (Bel-Air) is set to anchor the third edition of The Black Academy’s award show, The Legacy Awards. The live 90-minute special will broadcast on CBC and CBC Gem on Sunday, September 29, 2024 at 8 p.m. (9 p.m. AT/9:30 p.m. NT). The Legacy Awards returns for the third year to Live Nation Canada’s HISTORY, Official Venue of the 2024 Legacy Awards. The show features performances, award presentations, and tributes honouring both established and emerging Black Canadian talent. This year’s honourees, performers, and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks. Submissions for the Fan Choice Digital Content Creator Award open today at 12 pm ET. This award allows fans to choose their favourite Black-identifying Canadian digital content creators. The winner will be announced during The Legacy Awards broadcast. Visit vote.blackacademy.ca for more details.
“We’re all so thrilled that Adrian is hosting The Legacy Awards,” said Shamier Anderson, Co-Founder, The Black Academy. “He stands for everything we admire and want to celebrate: he’s hugely talented, an international star, a role model for our community, and an inspiration to young Black Canadians.”
“I’m excited to host the Legacy Awards for so many reasons,” said Adrian Holmes, Host of The 2024 Legacy Awards. “I get to give back to the country where all my dreams began. This show, where we highlight and celebrate Black Excellence in Canada, is a milestone. It’s a privilege to be at the helm of such an important moment and an honour to be working alongside Shamier and Stephan, both of whom have been a huge inspiration to me and to our community.”
“We are excited to welcome acclaimed actor Adrian Holmes as the host for the third year of The Legacy Awards,” said Sally Catto, General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports, CBC. “We look forward to partnering with Shamier, Stephan, Adrian, and Insight Productions to once again shine a national spotlight on this inspiring celebration of Black Canadians and their achievements.”
“The support we have from all of our amazing partners, from CBC to Insight Productions to our corporate sponsors, has always been authentic – they have helped breathe life into our mission to showcase Black talent and to create a unique and unapologetic space for celebration,” said Stephan James, Co-Founder, The Black Academy. “It’s always very encouraging to see sponsors return year after year – we’re incredibly thankful to RBC, Telefilm Canada, and Ontario Creates for standing by us since the very beginning. This year we also want to extend a special welcome to CIBC and Intuit Turbo Tax, our newest sponsors, and look forward to bringing more organizations into the fold.”
The Black Academy, Insight Productions, and CBC are committed to hiring Black senior staff and crew members for The Legacy Awards. Insight Productions is accepting résumés from those who have a passion for live events and award shows at legacyawardsresumes@insighttv.com.
ADRIAN HOLMES BIO
An award-winning actor, Adrian Holmes has more than 100 film and television credits to his name including Bel-Air and 19-2. For his work on Bel-Air as ‘Uncle Phil’, Holmes recently won the 2024 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. His other credits include Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, V-Wars, Sacred Lies, The Boys, and Arrow, among many others. In 2017, Holmes received the Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Male in a Dramatic Series for his performance on 19-2. Born in Wrexham, North Wales, with family from Barbados, Holmes grew up in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. While still a teenager, Holmes received an award for his role in a local festival play written and performed by his high school drama class. From that moment on, Holmes decided to pursue a career in acting. He continued to perform in stage productions throughout high school and college and studied his craft in Vancouver and New York. When not acting, Holmes enjoys travelling, and tries to visit Barbados as much as possible.
The Legacy Awards is executive produced by Shamier Anderson and Stephan James of The Black Academy and Bay Mills Studios. John Brunton, Lindsay Cox, and Shannon Farr are the executive producers for Insight Productions (a Boat Rocker company) and Jordan Rudder is the producer/talent producer. Daniel Abrams also serves as EP. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports; Jennifer Dettman is Executive Director, Unscripted Content; and Nic Meloney is Executive in Charge of Production, Unscripted Content.
The Black Academy gratefully acknowledges the financial support of our partners that support the year-round goals and programming initiatives of the organization.
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***MEDIA NOTE*** Media accreditation for the 2024 Legacy Awards begins in August 2024; please email GabFree.Publicity@gmail.com and winston.ma@cbc.ca to be added to the mailing list for updates.
The Black Academy is a national, year-round Canadian organization that operates at the intersection of Black popular culture and social justice. The goals of The Black Academy are to showcase Black excellence and to share those achievements with all of Canada; to establish new spaces for Black Canadians to celebrate and network; and to kickstart careers through training and knowledge-sharing. Across all our initiatives, we inspire young people and generations to come. Co-founded by actors, producers, and Scarborough-born brothers Shamier Anderson and Stephan James, The Black Academy is born out of a longstanding commitment to their community and is dedicated to dismantling systemic racism in Canada. Gail Case serves as its Executive Director. Established in 2020, The Black Academy is based in Toronto and is a division of the not-for-profit B.L.A.C.K Canada. https://blackisnow.com; Instagram: @BLACKISNOWCANADA
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
About Insight Productions (A Boat Rocker Company)
Insight Productions is Canada’s most established content producer, known for its award-winning ratings juggernauts and many of the country’s biggest award shows & music specials. Headed by John Brunton, Insight is an industry leader in the development, financing, and production of both scripted and unscripted hit programming. John Brunton, Lindsay Cox, and Shannon Farr serve as executive producers on The Legacy Awards and Jordan Rudder is the producer/talent producer. Programming highlights include Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble, The JUNO Awards, The Canadian Screen Awards, The Amazing Race Canada, Big Brother Canada, Top Chef Canada, Canada Day 150! From Coast to Coast to Coast, Canada’s New Year’s Eve, and Canada’s Ultimate Challenge. In 2016, Insight produced The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration for CBC, a live concert special seen by one in three Canadians. Insight Productions was founded in 1979 and has since created thousands of hours of ground-breaking content. https://insighttv.com
About Bay Mills Studios
Bay Mills Studios is a cutting-edge production company founded by powerhouse brothers and actors Shamier Anderson & Stephan James. BMS is focused on showcasing an eclectic and inclusive lineup of diverse stories from feature films, scripted and unscripted TV, short-form, digital media and a panoply of other platform-agnostic content. Shamier and Stephan combine their creative expertise and ability to engage global audiences, to create ground-breaking content that pushes the boundaries all while being rooted in entertainment.
Media Contacts:
Gabrielle Free | Free Publicity (for The Black Academy & Insight Productions)
GabFree.Publicity@gmail.com
416-220-0201
Winston Ma | CBC PR
Winston.ma@cbc.ca
647-327-7408