Finalists Announced for Shaw Rocket Prize

NEW YORK: Fred’s Head, How She Move, Instant Star and Sticks and Stones have been selected as finalists for the $50,000 Shaw Rock Prize, which recognizes the year’s best in Canadian youth programming.

Fred’s Head, from Spectra Animation, is a comedy about the whirlwind life of Fred Leblanc, a bright and perceptive 16-year-old boy. Sienna Film Productions VII’s How She Move is a coming-of-age tale about a gifted young woman who defies all the rules as she step dances her heart out to achieve her dreams. From Epitome Pictures, the third and fourth seasons of Instant Star follows Jude Harrison, who is thrust headfirst into the spotlight after winning a Canadian Idol-like competition. Sicks and Stones, from Productions Hockey Ville, looks at pee-wee hockey players from the U.S. as the face discrimination when they come to Canada to play in a tournament. 

Each year, the winner of Shaw Rocket Prize’s $50,000 award is determined by students from the Royal Conservatory of Music’s innovative Learning Through The Arts program (LTTA). Incorporated as part of the classroom curriculum, more than 800 students across Canada will participate in discussion, evaluation and selection of a winner from the finalists.

The winner of the 2009 Shaw Rocket Prize will be announced May 6 in Toronto, Ontario.