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Montreal, March 27th, 2024 – The Youth Media Alliance (YMA)’s 50th Anniversary Cocktail and Awards of Excellence Gala will be hosted by Gregory Charles in Montreal and by Joe Motiki in Toronto. This year's celebration of the youth content production industry will be a special one. Taking place on May 22, it will kick off with a cocktail reception held simultaneously in Toronto at CORUS, and Montreal at Radio Canada, to celebrate the YMA's 50th anniversary and pay tribute to the key people who have contributed to the advancement of the YMA and youth content over the years. The awards gala will follow in Montreal only with the distribution of prizes. They will be announcing the ten (10) tribute honorees and fifteen (15) prizes. Tickets go on sale April 22.
Gregory Charles
Gregory Charles is a multi-faceted Quebec artist, deeply involved in children and teen media and passionate about music from an early age. As a teenager, he was a member of the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, a group that left a deep impression on him. In 1989, while studying law, he landed an acting role that made him a household name: Julien, a young Montreal student, in the soap opera Chambres en Ville. Gregory has worked as a popularizer for Débrouillards, a science magazine for children and teens, as a teacher of dropouts, and as a professor at Virtuose and Crescendo (for which he received a Gémeaux award). He also participated in La cour des grands, which took over from l'École des fans, Mélomaniaques and Star Académie, where he helped discover multi-talented young people. He founded the Académie Gregory, where he trains hundreds of pianists.
When teaching children, his challenge is to do things differently, often by solving riddles. No child gives up or misses the interaction with Gregory. What is important is that the children discover their talents and feel comfortable.
Joe Motiki
Joseph Motiki has been in and around children’s television for much of his thirty-year career. While an undergraduate at university Joe hosted What, TVOntario’s live late-night phone-in show, which was nominated for a 1995 Gemini Award for Best Youth Program. He rose to prominence during the four years he co-hosted the tvokids Crawlspace, TVO’s top-rated afterschool block of children’s programs. During this time Joe made over two-hundred appearances at various events across Ontario. Joe would go on to host other youth-oriented programs like Reach for The Top, POV Sports on CBC, and Get Outta Town. Joe has also starred in numerous animated series such as Rescue Heroes and the subsequent Rescue Heroes movie, Medabots, Pirates: Adventures in Art, and Hotel Transylvania: The Series. His live-action credits include playing himself on Degrassi: TNG, and multiple turns as Mr. Lightning on the hit series Odd Squad. Currently, Joe can be seen playing Mayor Joe on the Emmy-nominated children’s series Miss Persona, as well as the animated series Lyla in The Loop as diner-running patriarch Louis, and as Mr. E on Work It Out Wombats.
The 50th Anniversary Cocktail and 2024 YMA Awards of Excellence are made possible by the financial support of our sponsors. Many thanks to:
- Radio-Canada & CORUS Nelvana (Major sponsors),
- Shaw Rocket Fund, CMF-FMC, PMT Productions (Prestige sponsors),
- Groupe Média TFO, APTN, Télé-Québec, Landslide Entertainment, Knowledge Network, Trio Orange, Mustang (Excellence sponsors)
- Bell Fund, Zone3, Apartment 11 Productions, FIFEM, Productions Prestigo, Happy Camper Média, Slalom Productions, Echo Media, Tobo Studio, Téléfiction, Avanti-Toast, Blue Ant Media / marblemedia, WildBrain Studios, Epic Story / World Media, Sinking Ship Entertainment, 9 Story Media Group, GAPC Entertainment, Little Engine Moving Pictures & Pillango Productions (Support sponsors)
- Creemore Six Pints, Bloomex, Mustang, PMT Productions (Service sponsors)
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Source: Margaux Soumoy, Youth Media Alliance, alliance@ymamj.org 514-483-5417
