The Prism Prize is a national juried award recognizing the artistry of the modern music video in Canada.[1] A jury of over 120 Canadian music and film industry professionals, including members of the print and web media, broadcasting, film, radio, and video art communities, nominate the 10 best videos of the year to comprise the Prism Prize shortlist.[1] The winning video receives a cash prize of $20,000.[1] This is the richest cash prize for music videos in North America.
Founded by Louis Calabro in 2012,[2] the award is administered by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.[3]
The inaugural Prism Prize was awarded in March 2013 to director Noah Pink for Rich Aucoin’s "Brian Wilson Is A.L.I.V.E", while director Vincent Morisset took home the Audience Award for Arcade Fire’s "Sprawl II".[4]
For the second award presentation in 2014, the Prism Prize introduced two new awards, the Special Achievement Award for artistic achievements and exceptional contribution to music video art on a world stage, and the Arthur Lipsett Award for innovative and unique approaches to music video art.[5]
The 2014 Prism Prize was presented on March 23, 2014 to director Emily Kai Bock for her Arcade Fire "Afterlife" video. The Audience Award went to director Kheaven Lewandowski for his video for "River" by The Belle Game.[6] The Arthur Lipsett Award was presented to Scott Cudmore and Michael LeBlanc for their innovative video work. The Special Achievement Award went to Floria Sigismondi.[7]
In 2020 the committee introduced the Willie Dunn Award, a lifetime achievement award honouring Canadians who have been trailblazers in the art of music video.[8] The award was named in memory of Willie Dunn, an indigenous Canadian musician whose 1968 animated short film The Ballad of Crowfoot has sometimes been credited as the first Canadian music video.[8]
^ abc"Prism Prize reveals its shortlist for best Canadian music video" Archived 2014-02-28 at the Wayback Machine. The Grid, February 15, 2013.
^"Inaugural Prism Prize to award best Canadian music video of 2012". BlogTO, September 29, 2012.
^Nick Krewen, "The Prism Prize began just as TV music videos were waning, but TikTok has given it new prominence". Toronto Star, July 30, 2021.
^"Rich Aucoin Wins First-Ever Prism Prize". Exclaim!, March 24, 2013.
^"Prism Prize Reveals Two New Award Categories". Broadway World, February 4, 2014.
^"Prism Prize: Arcade Fire's Afterlife Named Best Canadian Music Video". Huffington Post, March 24, 2014.
^"Emily Kai Bock Wins Prism Prize". Torontoist, March 24, 2014.
^ ab"2020 Prism Prize Special Award Winners Announced". FYI Music News, July 22, 2020.
The PrismPrize is a national juried award recognizing the artistry of the modern music video in Canada. A jury of over 120 Canadian music and film industry...
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latter award. The music video for Reyez's song "Far Away" won the 2020 PrismPrize, with director Peter Huang winning the $20,000 award. Reyez was featured...
by Fantavious Fritz, won the 2018 PrismPrize. Wilson and Fritz subsequently announced that they were using the prize money to create a special grant program...
United States, working as a jury member for JUNOS, Polaris Music Prize, PrismPrize, and the East Coast Music Association. Atout also currently works...
Solomon were nominated for the SOCAN Songwriting Prize in 2022 for "Paper Thin". In 2023, the PrismPrize named Nemahsis the winner of the Hi-Fidelity Award...
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for the 2022 PrismPrize". Complex. Retrieved 18 May 2022. Friend, David (8 July 2022). "Toronto musician Mustafa wins $20,000 PrismPrize for his music...
and their video for "Damn Right", directed by Sterling Larose, won the PrismPrize. Snotty Nose Rez Kids (2017) The Average Savage (2017) TRAPLINE (2019)...
track "Monophobia" by Deadmau5. The video was later nominated for the PrismPrize. Hotz owned The Hoxton, a bar and music venue in Toronto which has since...
In 2020, Gibson was awarded the inaugural Willie Dunn Award by the PrismPrize committee, to honour her work as a choreographer and director of music...
2022). "Here Are the Top 10 Canadian Music Videos Nominated for the 2022 PrismPrize". Complex. Retrieved 2022-05-18. CBC Music (January 31, 2023). "Here...
films include a fantasy short film called Closer, which won Canada's PrismPrize audience award in 2022 and Silas, which premiered at the Toronto International...
"Dirty Lives" and Timber Timbre's song "Beat the Drum Slowly". He won the PrismPrize in 2015 for "Beat the Drum Slowly", alongside a second nomination for...
(2023) 2020: Nominated, PrismPrize as co-director with Ryan Ermacora of the video for her song "Fatal" 2022: Nominated, PrismPrize as co-director with Ryan...
artistic merit. Arcade Fire has won two award from five nominations. The PrismPrize is a national juried award recognizing the artistry of the modern music...
Vancouver, British Columbia. He is most noted as the winner of the 2023 PrismPrize, for his video for "Damn Right" by Snotty Nose Rez Kids. He has also...
directed by Anjali Nayar, was awarded the Audience Award at the 2022 PrismPrize. Khan was raised in Islamabad, Pakistan until he was 13, when he then...
Hama-Brown's music video for "And, We Disappear" was nominated for the PrismPrize in 2020. We All Speak in Poems - 2016 In Distance We're Losing - 2017...
Canadian Screen Awards in 2013 for the Next Step episode "Sabotage" and a PrismPrize nomination in 2015 for his video for Kevin Drew's "You in Your Were"...
Dee Dum" was directed by Amos LeBlanc. The video was nominated for a PrismPrize in Canada, as well as a Berlin Music Video Award in Germany. Keys N Krates...
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