Finalists Announced for the First Ever Canadian Game Development Talent Awards

By Paul Hunter

The Alliance numérique, in collaboration with the Canadian Interactive Alliance, have announced the finalists for the first-ever Canadian Game Development Talent Awards, which will be taking place in Montreal on November 2, 2011.



This new award show has seven distinct categories recognizing the creativity and achievements within Canada's video game development community. For the inaugural awards show, five individuals have been chosen for each category.

The 2011 nominees are:

Animator of the Year
Aaron Bouthillier (Shank)
Cristinel Bostan (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood)
Matt Hammill (Gesundheit! for iOS)
Roxy Liao (Fight Night Champion)
Yvan Deschamps (A Space Shooter for Two Bucks)

Designer of the Year
Jean-Francois Dugas (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)
Kris Piotrowski (Sword & Sworcery EP)
Mary DeMarle (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)
Matt Rix (Trainyard)
Preston Watamaniuk (Mass Effect 2)

Programmer of the Year
Chris Thiffault (Undergarden)
Frédérick Blais (Michael Jackson The Experience)
James Hall (Dead Rising 2)
Jean-Philippe Auclair (Flash 11 Molehill)
Stéphane Girard (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood)

Emerging Talent
Alexandre Fiset (Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions)
Annie Dickerson (Blokhead)
Gerald Orban (Skate 3)
Jared Thomson (Jetpack)
Richard Flanagan (Fract)

Audio Professional of the Year
Fabien Noel (Splinter Cell Conviction)
Mathieu Jeanson (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood)
Michael McCann (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)
Simon Ashby (Wwise)
Steve Szczepkowski (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)

Producer of the Year
Casey Hudson (Mass Effect 2)
David Anfossi (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)
Marie-Jo Leroux (Driver San Francisco)
Mark Darrah (Dragon Age 2)
Vincent Pontbriand (Assassin’s Creed : Brotherhood)

Visual Artist of the Year
Craig Adams (Sword & Sworcery EP)
Derek Watts (Mass Effect 2)
Jeff Agala (Shank)
Jonathan-Jacques Belletête (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)
Kun Chang (Osmos)

This new award show immediately follows the Montreal International Game Summit and will take place in the Hilton Bonaventure.

For more information check out the official website at: www.talentawards.ca