Alex Barris Mentorship Award

The Alex Barris Mentorship Award.

Alex Barris was a writer, broadcaster and journalist, a pioneer of Canadian television and proud member of the WGC. Throughout his career, Alex always gave his time and talent to help others get a start in the industry he loved. After his death in 2004, his family and friends decided to keep his name and spirit alive by sponsoring the Alex Barris Mentorship Award. The annual award acknowledges one person who has gone above and beyond to help a writer - or several writers - to get a start in the business.

The 2010 Alex Barris Mentorship Award was presented on April 19th, 2010, to Peter Mitchell.

Starting in the earliest days of Canadian television, and throughout his career, Alex Barris was a natural mentor, always eager to help a talented person move up in the industry he loved. In his honour, the Alex Barris Mentorship Award was created, to allow fellow WGC members an opportunity to acknowledge a mentor in front of their peers.

Peter was nominated by Shelley Eriksen and Susin Nielsen.

Heading up such landmark series as Madison, Traders and Cold Case, Peter consistently entrusted significant roles in the story department to writers whose main qualification was that Peter thought they had talent.

Peter has an excellent ability to identify talented people, and having plucked them out of obscurity, he gives them the opportunity to prove him right. As Susin Nielsen put it, “Peter was the guy who really took me under his wing and – I don’t know how else to put it - helped me find my true voice.”

Along with Shelley and Susin, the list of writers who got their first big break from Peter includes Jennifer Cowan, Graham Clegg, Derek Shreyer, Beth Stewart, Sheri Elwood, Laura Doyle, James Phillips, Daegan Fryklind, all of whom have gone on to successful careers as writers and, in most cases, showrunners.

Peter’s mentorship didn’t stop at writers, according to Shelley Eriksen. “When Peter believes in talent, he champions it wherever he finds it.” And so the list of people he mentored also includes several directors who got their first (or first significant) directing gig through Peter. “When he saw people who were ready to stretch their wings, he gave them the opportunity.”

Shelley’s final point was equally powerful: “Mentoring is a virus. I think every one of Mitchell’s minions have gone on to be mentors themselves.”

For providing an environment for young, talented writers to hone their skills, and for vigorously spreading that mentor “virus”, the 2010 Alex Barris Mentorship Award is enthusiastically presented to Peter Mitchell.