2010 Crystal Awards | Award Winners  

A Message from Tassie Cameron
2010 Alumni Ambassador

As last year’s winner of the Creative Excellence Award—a title I am still trying desperately to live up to—it is my great pleasure to invite you to this year’s Crystal Awards, the wonderful gala luncheon that celebrates and recognizes the remarkable women working in film and television in this country. This year, the Crystal Awards will take place on December 6, 2010, at the Fairmont Royal York hotel in Toronto.

As a young woman starting out in the film and television industry in New York, I never dreamed of receiving this award. In fact, I never dreamed I’d actually “make it” in this industry. Frankly, it seemed a nearly impossible thing to do, kind of like becoming an astronaut, or a supermodel. To a newcomer, the world of film and television can look incredibly competitive, driven by insiders and connections, impenetrable to the average Joe or Josephine, and without great odds of ever seeing your work appear on any screen, big or small.

It wasn’t until I returned to Canada that I started to believe a career in this industry was possible. I started to meet the amazing, remarkable women who’d already forged the way—women with generous spirits and lots of experience, women who were willing to take the time to mentor a newcomer, women who were willing to take a meeting or take a phone call or give a seminar or give advice—that I actually realized this world was full of open doors and varied possibilities. To this day, I remember every single person that helped me along the way; and I am trying, in my own way, to pay that forward every single day.

WIFT-T embodies that spirit of paying it forward. Its exceptional programming, networking, and its recognition of women’s contributions makes it an invaluable part of the industry landscape, and events like the Crystal Awards change the way we think about ourselves within this industry.

I hope you will join in the celebration as WIFT-T honours this year’s outstanding Crystal Award winners.

All my very best,

Tassie Cameron
Writer and Executive Producer, Rookie Blue