Cochrane's Steve and Leslie McMichael were named Canada's top stunt coordinators last night at day two of the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards for their work on the television movie Wynonna Earp: Vengeance.
“Oh wow, this is nerve-racking,” Steve McMichael said onstage. “As stunt professionals, we’re taught to keep our faces away from the camera.”
“What do people say up here?” he added with a laugh, drawing a warm response from the audience.
He praised his co-coordinator and wife Leslie McMichael, who was unable to attend the ceremony, as she was at a football camp in Iowa with one of their sons.
Wynonna Earp has been going for 10 years, McMichael noted, calling it “that little show with a huge heart.”
“It employs a lot of Canadians, and I love the show to death,” he said. “It saved me more than anyone will ever know.”
“It just goes to show that when you love something and have passion for it, you can make it great—and it affects so many people,” he added, calling actors Melanie Scrofano and Tim Rozon the “heartbeat” of the series, and giving a shout-out to showrunner Emily Andras.
It was a big night for the Alberta-shot Tubi movie, which was celebrated during the awards night dedicated to scripted television. Wynonna Earp: Vengeance won in five other categories from its nine nominations, including best TV movie, best lead performance (Scrofano), best production design or art direction (fiction), best writing (Andras), best visual effects and best original music.
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In the paranormal drama, Wynonna Earp battles demons and other hellish creatures in the small town of Purgatory using Peacemaker, Wyatt Earp’s legendary demon-killing revolver. Her mission: to send back Revenants—outlaws once killed by Wyatt, now resurrected by the Earp Curse.
The movie premiered on Tubi on Fri., Sept. 13, 2024, to positive reviews.
Having worked together on the original Wynonna Earp series that ran from 2016 to 2021, the McMichaels went into the movie knowing all the elements involved in the stunts, McMichael told Cochrane Now shortly after receiving the nomination in March.
"When you have amazing actors who can do a lot of their own stunts and want to be part of the design, and then have showrunner Emily Andras and director Paolo Barzman put their trust in us, it felt like going back to a family," he said.
The last of three ceremonies held by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is being aired live on CBC tonight. It was a last-minute change after the broadcast was originally scheduled to strictly stream on Gem due to the NHL playoffs. That changed when no games were scheduled for tonight.