The Donny Awards

Celebrating the best of our students’ work

Attn: Story Arts Centre Students

We are excited to announce that The Donny Awards will be returning May 29, 2024!

DATE: May 29, 2024
TIME: 7 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
WHERE: The Royal Theatre – 608 College Street, Toronto, Ontario

Join us for this celebration of all of your work over the past two semesters.

We are accepting submissions — online — for all categories: shorts, docs, scripts, commercials, podcasts, photography projects, Gallery episodes, and any other projects created for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Submissions will be accepted until May 10, 2024.

Looking forward to seeing the best School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design (SCMAD) students have to offer!

Donny Award Winner laurel

If you were a student during 2023-2024 academic year, you are invited to enter any of your student work produced in that time period for consideration in the 2024 Donny Awards.

Why submit? It’s an opportunity to celebrate and earn recognition for the hard work you’ve put into your assignments during this academic year. Winners will receive a certificate and laurel.

The awards are open to all SCMAD students in the following programs:

  • Advanced Television and Film – Script to Screen
  • Animation – 3D
  • Broadcasting – Radio, Television, Film & Digital Media
  • Children’s Media
  • Communications and Media Fundamentals
  • Digital Visual Effects
  • Game – Art
  • Game – Development
  • Journalism (documentaries)
  • Television and Film – Business

Awards are given to completed student projects in a range of categories

Categories are:

  • Short Narrative Films
  • Music Videos
  • Documentaries
  • Animation
  • Commercials/PSAs
  • Podcasts/Radio Projects
  • News Stories/Short Features (i.e. The Gallery)
  • Photography
  • Interactive Narrative
  • Games
  • 2D Animation
  • Short Scripts

Craft Awards:

  • Director
  • Camera
  • Script/Writer
  • Editor
  • Production Design
  • Sound Design

Consider any class project within the above programs as eligible entries, with some exceptions. Please see the FAQs below for full details.


How do I enter?

SUBMIT: Use the form below. Submissions will be accepted until May 10, 2024.

Here’s what you need to include when submitting:

  1. A card at the head of your film, with title, running time, and the names of the Centennial students involved in the production.
  2. Date completed.
  3. Running Time (RT)

Enter your project here!

The online submission deadline has passed. Thank you to all who entered and good luck!

Frequently asked questions

What projects are eligible?
If the project was created as a class assignment, it’s eligible. Exceptions: Any projects that use supplied footage (i.e. the documentary in Editing One).

What if the people in it aren’t students, or a friend of mine who doesn’t go to Centennial helped me with the project?
As long as a Centennial student held a key role in the production (producer, director, camera, editor) and it was done for a class assignment, your film is eligible.

How long should my film be?
We consider various lengths, knowing that our school assignments vary in lengths.

Can I submit a rough cut?
We will consider rough cuts, as long as delivery of the finished film is available for screening at the awards night, if selected.

Who judges the Donny Awards?
The juries are made up of faculty, alumni, and outside industry professionals.


Have other questions? Please contact Karen Shopsowitz at kshopsowitz@centennialcollege.ca.


The 2023 Donny Awards screening featured winning films and projects from the Broadcasting, Animation and Children’s Media programs.


About the Donny Awards

The Awards, named in honour of founder and retired professor Don Gray, are the annual celebration of our productions created by students at Centennial College’s School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design throughout the academic year.