Max & Shred, The Adventures of Napkin Man, My Big Big Friend and Rocket Monkeys Each Receive A YMA Award of Excellence Nomination
For Immediate Release:
TORONTO (April 1, 2015) - Canada's prestigious YMA (Youth Media Alliance) Award of Excellence nominations have been announced and Breakthrough Entertainment leads the way having received four nominations for its critically-acclaimed original children's series programming.
The Adventures of Napkin Man has been nominated for Best Television Program, All Genres, Ages 3-5; Rocket Monkeys received a YMA nomination in the Best Television Program, Animation, Ages 9-14 category; Max & Shred received a YMA nomination for Best Television Program, All Genres, Teen ; and My Big Big Friend was nominated for a YMA Award of Excellence in the Best Television Program, Animation, Ages 3-5 category.
We are deeply honored to have received a YMA Award of Excellence nomination for each of our top original children's series. Canada continues to reign as a major global center for the best in children's television entertainment, and we are extremely proud to be part of this vibrant production community, said Ira Levy, President of Breakthrough Entertainment.
Max & Shred chronicles the hilarious and unlikely friendship between Max Asher (Jonny Gray), a celebrity snowboarder, and Alvin Shred Ackerman (Jake Goodman), a science whiz-kid, who become roommates and instant bros when Max moves to Colorado to train for the Winter Cup. The two boys must work to become friends and learn to navigate the trials of teenage life from completely opposite points of view. The series is executive produced by George Doty IV along with Breakthrough Entertainment's Joan Lambur, Ira Levy, Peter Williamson, Nat Abraham and Michael McGuigan.
My Big Big Friend celebrates the imaginations of preschoolers which takes them anywhere, allows them to be anyone and to do anything. Sometimes their imaginations can even create new playmates - which is exactly what happened to three young friends; Yuri, Lili and Matt. The result is an engaging animated series for preschoolers where BIG problems shrink down to size with the help of a big, big friend. The series executive producers are Andr Breitman, Ira Levy and Peter Williamson.
Rocket Monkeys stars brothers Gus and Wally. Inexplicably charged with carrying out all kinds of important missions, these hapless monkeynauts tend to cause more intergalactic calamity than they could ever prevent. Luckily they have plenty of help from YAY-OK, their dashing and devoted (if slightly outdated) robot. While they may be operating on limited brainpower and even less guts, Gus and Wally do have a hunger for adventure -- and by adventure we mostly mean bananas. The show is created by Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson and developed by Alex Galatis and Mark Evestaff (who also serves as the show's producer). Executive Producers include Ira Levy, Joan Lambur and Peter Williamson.
The Adventures of Napkin Man combines live action and animation to address children's everyday challenges and concerns through nurturing main characters, age appropriate comedy and catchy original music. Series star, celebrated actor Yannick Bisson, takes the role of Mister Anthony, a preschool teacher who draws a superhero named Napkin Man for his students - a character who magically comes to life in an animated world to help young children better understand and manage their feelings. The series is created by Tone Thyne and Josh Selig. Executive Producers are Ira Levy and Peter Williamson.
Youth Media Alliance (YMA) seeks to enrich the lives of Canadian children and teens by helping improve the quality of the content created for them on all screen-based media. The Alliance pursues its mission of encouraging high-quality content by presenting annual awards of excellence to the best productions targeting young English- and French-speaking Canadians. In addition, the organization offers ongoing training tailored to the special needs of youth production professionals through workshops, seminars, and special events such as the Children, Youth & Media and M dia-Jeunes conferences. YMA is also known for its original research investigating the impact of screen-based media on young people and for its government lobbying efforts to generate interest in all matters concerning screen-based content for young Canadians.
About Breakthrough Entertainment
Headquartered in Toronto, Breakthrough Entertainment Inc. (BEI) is a world class studio, being a leading global producer and distributor of acclaimed primetime comedy and drama series, as well as factual entertainment, documentaries, television movies, feature films, family entertainment and children's animation. As one of Canada's largest television production and distribution companies, BEI has licensed programs to major broadcasters in over 200 territories. With a catalogue of over 3000 half-hours of programming, the company handles distribution as well as worldwide pre-sales, co-productions and third-party acquisitions. In addition to its dedicated program development, production and distribution divisions, Breakthrough's digital media division ranks among one of the industry's most respected producers of high quality digital entertainment including ebooks, webisodes and online and mobile games. www.breakthroughentertainment.com. Follow us on Twitter @breakthru_ent.
CONTACT:
Steve Syatt
SSA Public Relations
ssyatt@ssapr.com
Most recent headlines
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
03/01/2026
A still from OBEX by Albert Birney, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance...
02/01/2026
Freezing Florida: NHL's EVP, Entertainment Bob Chesterman on Taking the Wint...
02/01/2026
NHL Winter Classic 2026: TNT Sports Prepares for First NHL Outdoor Game in Sunsh...
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Any Given Day: Cork University Hospital premieres Wednesday 7 January on RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
RT will debut a powerful new six-part documentary se...
02/01/2026
Friday 2 January 2026
All episodes of Heated Rivalry will be landing on Sky and...
02/01/2026
Sequins, chat shows, live sporting action, ground-breaking docuseries and brand-new Irish drama to kick off 2026
New Year, New Content Coming Soon across RT
...
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
Your live countdown to 2026 with Inhaler, David Gray, Lyra, Garron Noone, Sharon...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
RT has unveiled an exclusive first look at the new Dancing with the Stars promo...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
Max & Shred, The Adventures of Napkin Man, My Big Big Friend and Rocket Monkeys Each Receive A YMA Award of Excellence Nomination 
