FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Douglas Coupland to Headline 2008 Bessies Awards
Toronto: March 31, 2008 –– Author and Canadian cultural icon, Douglas Coupland, will be the featured speaker at the 2008 Bessies Awards. The May 15 Awards Gala will recognize the absolute best in Canadian television advertising under the theme of, “Only Good TV Lives.”
“Douglas Coupland is a keen observer of societal trends and the media that drives them,” says Theresa Treutler, president and CEO of the Television Bureau of Canada (TVB). “We fully expect a presentation that will entertain, inform and challenge.”
Coupland was born on a Canadian Air Force base near Baden-Baden, Germany on December 30, 1961. In 1965 his family moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he continues to live and work. Coupland has studied art and design in Vancouver, Milan and Japan. His first novel, Generation X, was published in March of 1991. Since then he has published nine novels and several non-fiction books in 35 languages around the world. He has written and performed for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, England, and in 2001 resumed his practice as a visual artist, with exhibitions in North America, Europe and Asia. Everything's Gone Green, his first original screenplay, was made into a movie that premiered in 2006. A TV series (13 one-hour episodes) based on his novel JPod debuted on the CBC in January 2008. His most recent novel, The Gum Thief, a national bestseller, was just nominated for the 2008 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, was also featured in a promotional campaign submitted to the 2008 Bessies Awards.
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The 2008 Bessies Awards Show and Gala starts with a festive 5:30 p.m. reception and culminates with a 9:00 p.m. champagne toast. The event will be held at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Thursday, May 15. The 1,000 or so attendees from the television, advertising and related industries will celebrate the awarding of Best of Show and Gold-winning...