Last evening at the Just for Laughs Museum in Montreal, at the Gala des Femmes du cinéma, de la télévision et des nouveaux médias (FCTNM), Nancy Florence Savard, of 10th Ave Productions and 10th Ave Editions in St-Augustin-de-Desmaures, was honoured for her body of work and her exceptional contribution to Quebec audiovisual and cinematographic culture as a director and producer.

Speaking before a full house, the emotional winner thanked those who, over the course of her career, have shaped the media woman that she has become today.

First, she emphasized the presence of her friend and partner, Natalie Bédard, when she started up her company, which, at the beginning, self-produced only the works of Savard, as writer, director, and producer. Then, she thanked the writers, illustrators, compositors, and designers who had faith in her and gave her their projects to produce.

She emphasized the support of four “fairy godmothers” in the production of each of 10th Ave Productions’ early works for young audiences: Cécile Bellemare, at the time at Télé-Québec, for the first Christmas tale in 3D animation, The Legend of the Christmas Tree; Lucie Léger, of Télé-Québec, and her team for the rest of the Collection of Classic Christmas Tales and the first multimedia games by 10th Ave Editions; Suzanne Hénaut, of Société Radio-Canada, for the first 3D animation feature-length production, Sarila; and Madeleine Lévesque, formerly of Télétoon, for the series of extreme shorts and the suite of 2D digital animation games, W, sold in more than 40 countries.

She also noted the contribution of Pierre Roy, of the Astral television network, for his inspiration at the beginning of her career in Quebec City.

Savard then highlighted some of the initiatives that helped her develop her company and regional production over the years: grants from TVA at Banff, Telefilm Canada’s Écrire au long initiative, the TVA-HEC grants, regional assistance from the Canadian Television Fund, and, in the near future, the economic mission supported by SODEC this year at the Festival d’animation d’Annecy with the BCTQ. She added that the new assistance from Québec Horizon Culture will be of great benefit.

Acknowledging the current tenuous situation of distributors in Quebec City, Savard congratulated Henry Gagnon of HGagnon Distribution, Patrick Roy of Alliance Vivafilm, and Michael Mosca of Exquinoxe Films for their bold decision to select animated works.

For their great generosity and sharing of their experience, Savard mentioned those who participated in the emergence of her 3D animation feature, Sarila, and who are today working with her to develop it for the big screen: René Chénier, now at the NFB, and an extraordinary trio of executive producers and co-producers: Marie-Claude Beauchamp, Normand Thauvette, and Paul Risacher, of Carpe Diem Films TV.

Savard thanked Catalina Briceno for presenting her with this lovely surprise at the FCTNM and warmly thanked her spouse, Guy Couture, for their wonderful family of three children and all of his patience and tolerance given the challenges of working with a movie, television, and multimedia-game director and producer who travels the world promoting Quebec talent.

Savard concluded by asking the powers present at the event to give productions for young audiences and animation productions the needed presence on Quebec screens so that Quebec culture will be passed down to our citizens of tomorrow.

10th Ave Productions is a digital television and movie production house. Its projects are noted for their universal themes, high-quality production, outstanding art direction, and international distribution on various platforms: cinema and television, podcasting, Internet, and mobile telephony.

The audiences for projects produced by 10th Ave Productions are families, young people, and children. It produces animation works, documentaries, and magazine shows and, with its sister company, 10th Ave Editions, multimedia games and music.