March 30, 2015 – OTTAWA (Canada) – The National Arts Centre (NAC) is pleased to announce that Virginia Thompson, one of Canada’s most gifted television producers has been named the new Executive Producer of The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala. The annual Gala will take place at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on May 30, 2015 when six of Canada’s most brilliant artists, and one of Canada’s greatest arts philanthropists, will be honored for their lifetime achievement at a glittering performance and event in Ottawa.

A champion of artists and of Canadian stories, Thompson is co-founder of Verity Films a vibrant Toronto production company.  She is an award-winning executive producer, content creator and audience engagement strategist. 

Thompson’s joined the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards team just a few weeks after celebrating the success of her first feature film Corner Gas: The Movie which reached 7 million Canadians across multiple platforms in December 2014.

“It brings me great joy to be part of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards because it is Canada’s highest honor in the performing arts. I adore Canadian artists because they reveal who we are and what we believe in — to Canadians and the world. At a time where the arts sector is rapidly becoming more globalized, celebrating and championing Canada’s most exceptional artists in the disciplines of music, dance, theatre, film, broadcast and multi-media is a tremendous honor.” said Thompson.

“Virginia Thompson is a major talent in Canadian film and broadcasting. She has consistently excelled at creating wonderful shows that have captivated audiences across the country. We are thrilled she is leading the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala as we reach towards our 25th Anniversary in 2017, which will also mark Canada’s 150th Anniversary,” said Peter Herrndorf, the President and CEO of the National Arts Centre.

“Each year exciting artists from across Canada and around the world perform at the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala. They come to celebrate and honour Canada’s very best.  We are delighted Virginia Thompson has agreed to bring her creative vision to the daunting task of showcasing all that talent on the stage of the National Arts Centre as executive producer of our 23rd Gala show,” said Douglas Knight, Chair of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation.

Thompson has worked in film and television for more than 20 years with productions that have succeeded not only in Canada, but also internationally. Always seeking to build larger audiences for Canadian film and television, Thompson worked with Bell Media, Cineplex and Telefilm, to develop a new “event based” release model for Canadian features to maximize viewership. This model was a huge success last year for Corner Gas: The Movie.

She also executive produced Corner Gas the TV series (107 episodes CTV).  The #1 rated sitcom changed the comedy landscape in Canada and has become an indelible part of Canadian culture.

Thompson co-created and executive produced the comedy series InSecurity (23 episodes CBC), the award winning youth series renegadepress.com (53 episodes, Shaw, APTN) and the internationally acclaimed children’s series Incredible Story Studio (65 episodes, Disney, YTV).  Incredible Story Studio was a highly interactive series that took short stories written by children from across Canada, the UK, France and Germany and made them into “movies” for television. 

Thompson’s productions have won or been nominated for over 114 Awards and have been distributed to over 100 countries.  In 2012, she was inducted onto Ryerson’s School of Media Wall of Fame.  In 2008, Virginia won the WIFT Award for Creative Excellence. Virginia mentors emerging creators and lectures at the National Screen Institute and Ryerson University.