CBC's Guns, Tudors win at Geminis bash

The CBC miniseries Guns is the big drama winner following an early Gemini Awards bash that honoured the best in drama, children's and youth, comedy and variety TV.

The two-part TV movie, produced by husband-and-wife filmmakers Sudz Sutherland and Jennifer Holness, pulled in five trophies at an industry bash Wednesday, including best writing for the duo and best director for Sutherland.

The gritty film, broadcast more than a year ago, also won best supporting actor and actress trophies for Clé Bennett and Debra Lynne McCabe and best picture editing.

Other CBC-aired series that came home with awards Wednesday included:

• Patti Sullivan, Kids Canada, best host in a children's or youth series.
• Ben Hur, best visual effects.
• Battle of the Blades, best direction in a variety program.
• Being Erica, best sound in a dramatic series.
• Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story, best photography in a mini-series.
• Death Comes to Town, best photography in a comedy.

Multiple winners Wednesday included CBC's The Tudors, which claimed best costume design, original score and art direction, and HBO's Durham County, which won for best main title design and makeup.

The ceremony precedes a televised gala featuring the marquee awards Nov. 13 in Toronto. That show will be broadcast the same night on Global and Showcase.

Big nominees heading into next week's bash include CTV's cop drama Flashpoint, CBC's Republic of Doyle and HBO's Winnipeg-based comedy Less Than Kind.

Other winners included:

• Actress Kim Cattrall for best performance in an animated series for her work on TVTropolis's Producing Parker.
• Actor-turned-director Stefan Brogren of CTV's Degrassi: The Next Generation for best direction of a youth series.
• Citytv's Glenn Martin, DDS, for best animated series and best direction in an animated series.
• Family Channel's Overruled! for best children's or youth fiction program or series.
• CBC's Canada's Super Speller, for best children's or youth non-fiction program or series.

Earlier this week, the CTV-led media consortium in charge of covering the 2010 Olympic Winter Games pulled in seven Geminis at another industry bash for the best in news, sports, documentary and lifestyles television.