Odette School of Business graduate Stephen Paniccia (BComm 1997) was recognized for his work producing the documentary Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry it On with an International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming at a gala hosted by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences on Nov. 20. The film, produced by White Pine Pictures, Eagle Vision, and Paquin Entertainment, was the only Canadian nominee across 14 categories.

Paniccia’s affinity for theatre, film, and business started young. One of his first short films was created during a high school co-op term in the University of Windsor’s media department, a comedic safety video for the drama woodworking shop titled Little Shop of Horrors. After completing his degree, Paniccia enrolled in film school and worked toward completing his CMA accounting designation.

Since then, he has worked in a variety of production and finance roles in the film industry, most recently with White Pine Pictures, where Paniccia was also nominated for an International Emmy in 2021 for his production of the CBC documentary Toxic Beauty.

He says this win is the culmination of a 25-year career of hard work and determination.

“You always dream of an Emmy or an Oscar or any big award, but there is always a lot of great competition, so this is a dream come true.”

Paniccia acknowledges that while the award is given to the producers and the production companies, there is a larger team behind the scenes.

“This film was a product of all the hard work and talent of all the people who worked on it,” he says.

The documentary follows Buffy Sainte-Marie’s six-decade career of music, singing, and activism, and is available to view on Crave in Canada and PBS in the United States.

—Sienna Ducharme