Edwina Follows

Edwina Follows (born April 11, 1961) is a Canadian television writer and producer, most noted for her longtime role as a senior member of the programming team for Discovery Channel Canada.[1]

Background

The daughter of actors Ted Follows and Dawn Greenhalgh, and the older sister of actress Megan Follows,[2] she had a few acting roles early in her career, most notably a three-episode story arc on The Littlest Hobo in 1982 which starred the entire Follows family,[3] and a recurring role on the children's show Read All About It! as The Book Destroyer.

She was one of the writers for the 1st Gemini Awards in 1986.[4]

Career

Her first project as a dramatic screenwriter was the 1988 TVOntario dramatic anthology series Family Matters, directed by her father and featuring her mother in an episode.[5] Later that year, she enrolled in the screenwriting program at the Canadian Film Centre;[6] in 1989, she wrote the screenplay for Exposed, a short film directed by her CFC classmate Gail Harvey.[7]

She subsequently wrote several episodes of the TVO anthology series Saying Goodbye,[8] earning her first Gemini Award nomination as a writer at the 5th Gemini Awards for the episode "Thunder in My Head".[9] For the next number of years she worked as a producer and writer for TVOntario, most notably on the 1993 documentary series Exploring Ontario's Provincial Parks.[10]

Later in the 1990s and 2000s she was a writer for television series such as Ready or Not, Traders, Riverdale, Emily of New Moon, Pit Pony, Braceface, Screech Owls, Beastmaster and Relic Hunter, as well as the television film Dinosaur Hunter.[11]

In 2001 she made a rare return to acting, appearing alongside her family in a stage production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever in Gravenhurst,[12] which later toured to several Southern Ontario cities in 2003.[13] In 2002 her parents starred in a production of her stage play The Players, a historical drama about Canada's first professional summer theatre company.[14]

She began producing documentary programming for channels such as History and Discovery in the 2000s, including the series Masterminds, Forensic Factor and On the Run,[15] and a profile of shark conservationist Craig Ferreira for the 2007 edition of Shark Week.[16]

She became director of commissioning and production for the channel in 2012.[17] She remained with the channel until 2021, when she left amid a round of staffing cutbacks at Bell Media.[18]

Awards

Award Year Category Work Result Ref.
Gemini Awards 1990 Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series Saying Goodbye: "Thunder in My Head" Nominated [9]
1998 Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series Ready or Not: "Your Own Money" Nominated [19]
2006 Best General/Human Interest Series Forensic Factor Nominated [20]
2007 On the Run Nominated [21]
2008 Forensic Factor Nominated [22]
2009 Best Children's or Youth Non-Fiction Program or Series Sci Q
with Andrew Burnstein, Jane Gilbert, Dave Litman 		Nominated [23]
2011 Best General/Human Interest Series Forensic Factor
with Sally Karam, Alyse Rosenberg 		Nominated [24]

References

  1. ^ Katie Bailey, "Programming profile: Discovery Canada’s Edwina Follows". Playback, September 25, 2014.
  2. ^ Sarah Hampson, "'Theatre became like a religion'". The Globe and Mail, June 29, 2002.
  3. ^ Terry Poulton, "Furry hero comes to rescue of stars: Working together on Littlest Hobo helps to reunite Follows family". The Globe and Mail, October 23, 1982.
  4. ^ John Haslett Cuff, "Popular mini-series wins five Gemini awards: Anne of Green Gables steals the show". The Globe and Mail, December 4, 1986.
  5. ^ Sandy Greer, "TVO series Family Matters is truly a family affair for the Follows clan". Toronto Star], January 9, 1988.
  6. ^ Henry Mietkiewicz, "Film school reels in Margot Kidder". Toronto Star, November 30, 1988.
  7. ^ Nancy Wood, "Shelley Peterson plays stripper in new movie with Green Gables star". Toronto Star, August 27, 1989.
  8. ^ Ted Shaw, "Five-part series deals with death". Windsor Star, October 23, 1990.
  9. ^ a b Christopher Harris, "CBC's Love and Hate, Road to Avonlea win five Geminis each: Awards liberally distributed this year, with no one show grabbing the lion's share". The Globe and Mail, December 5, 1990.
  10. ^ Paul Citron, "Our first family of show-biz". Montreal Gazette, January 3, 1993.
  11. ^ Harry Currie, "Dinosaur Hunter a story from the era of fossil fever". Waterloo Region Record, December 14, 2002.
  12. ^ "Follows family affair is a high-wire act with no net". National Post, July 24, 2001.
  13. ^ "Follows family takes smash hit Hay Fever on tour". Waterloo Region Record, January 29, 2003.
  14. ^ "Follows the leader". National Post, July 6, 2002.
  15. ^ Etan Vlessing, "Edwina Follows named Discovery Network’s commissioning and production topper". Playback, February 15, 2012.
  16. ^ "Famed shark hunter turns conservationist". Canada AM, July 27, 2007.
  17. ^ Adam Benzine, "Follows replaces Harbron at Discovery Canada". RealScreen, February 15, 2012.
  18. ^ Jordan Pinto, "Discovery Canada’s Edwina Follows exits in second round of Bell Media layoffs". RealScreen, January 20, 2021.
  19. ^ John McKay, "CBC tops Gemini nominations but Bach doc gets single-show nod". Canadian Press, August 11, 1998.
  20. ^ "Look who's up for a Gemini Award! (full list of nominees)". Soo Today, September 3, 2006.
  21. ^ Etan Vlessing, "Pay TV checks in with Gemini noms". The Hollywood Reporter, August 29, 2007.
  22. ^ "Full list of Gemini Award nominees". Winnipeg Free Press, August 26, 2008.
  23. ^ "24th Annual Gemini Awards Nominations Announced". Broadcaster, August 25, 2009.
  24. ^ "26th Annual Gemini Awards". Tribute, September 7, 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.