"The field of convergent media is shifting and developing in an international context," says Susan Kennard, Producer of The Banff New Media Institute. "CanWest Global’s investment in Canadian media-based talent presents an opportunity for our institution to raise the profile of our participants. We provide them with improved access to national and international markets, and help them develop their work so that it contributes to the innovation of television and new media of the future."

The Banff Centre encourages specialists in convergent media, entertainment, games, media policy and intellectual property law to apply for the award.

The Banff New Media Institute offers valuable mentoring and networking opportunities; the chance to collaborate with professional peers; and a unique opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary research and development environment.

Christene and Ahasiw will accept their awards at a ceremony, to take place on Saturday, June 29^th, 2002 during the Banff New Media Institute’s internationally renowned annual workshop, "Producing New Media: Money & Law".
 

Christene Hirschfeld is a partner at the law firm of Boyne Clarke in Nova Scotia. The majority of her practice relates to intellectual property matters, with an emphasis on entertainment and intellectual property law. She acts for the Royal Bank of Canada in connection with the financing of knowledge-based industries in Atlantic Canada, as well as for producers and production companies in Atlantic Canada.

Christene is recognized nationally as an expert in digital rights and intellectual property, and has a developed a rapport with artists, producers, and the creative sector. During her time in Banff, Christene will work with the BNMI and its participants to locate both the needs of, and possible solutions for those needs, in the convergent media field in Canada. She will also work to develop strategies that are responsive and relevant to today’s producers and creative sectors who are working with convergent and new media platforms.

Christene is the Chair of the Nova Scotia Chapter of Canadian Women in Communications; a director of the Information Technology Industry Alliance of Nova Scotia (ITANS); and a former member of the Domain Names & Trademarks on the Internet Committee (Patent and Trademark Institute of Canada). She is often invited to speak on matters relating to intellectual property and entertainment law.
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Ahasiw Maskegon-Iskwew, a Cree/French Canadian from the Peace River region, is an established media-integrated performance artist and writer. For the past ten years, he has also dedicated himself as an arts administrator to creating opportunities for First Nations artists within artist-run culture. His work is aided by a two-year First Peoples Arts Administration Internship from the Canada Council.

Ahasiw’s critical writing, which addresses many aspects of contemporary First Nations arts practice, has been published in Mix Magazine and Fuse. Ahasiw’s creative works concentrate on the ways that First Nations history, spirituality, and language influence and operate within contemporary First Nations experience of urbanized, street-level fringe culture and marginalization.

He was also the coordinator, artistic director and collaborator in Isi-pikiskwewin Ayahpikesisak (Speaking the Language of Spiders), a multi-year collaborative project that was initiated as a World Wide Web screenplay/storyboard through the Pop, Mass, 'n Sub Cultures residency at The Banff Centre. He is currently touring in the visual art exhibition Exposed: The Aesthetics of Aboriginal Erotic Art, curated by Lee Ann Martin and Morgan Wood.
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