The Rosies reached their 51st edition in October 2025, and that earns a little swagger.
The Alberta Media Production Industries Association says it was formed in 1973, and that it was the first organization of its kind in English Canada. It started under a different name, the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association, which is why you’ll still see the old initials AMPIA doing double duty in archives.
The best part comes next. The association also says it has run the Alberta Film and Television Awards, known as the Rosies, since 1974, and calls them the oldest awards show in Canada. That’s AMPIA’s own claim, so read it as the group’s pride rather than a verdict from an outside judge.
When AMPIA started
On its own About page, AMPIA says it was incorporated in 1973 with a mandate to support the independent motion picture industry as a viable economic and cultural force within Alberta. Treat that as the organization’s account of itself.
Other sources are less tidy. An interview-based article in Take One, hosted by Athabasca University, describes the association as formed in the late 1970s to lobby government for support. Those two dates don’t match, and we have no document that settles it.
Our guess is that 1973 marks the legal founding and the lobbying years came a little later, but that is a guess. If you’re citing a year, say whose year it is.
AMPIA in 1981
An October 1981 item in Cinema Canada, archived by Athabasca University, gives a snapshot. A new executive had been elected, with Arvi Liimatainen taking over as president from Eda Lishman. The magazine reported more than 500 film and video companies plus individual professionals in the membership, and it noted a quarterly magazine called Shoot Alberta.
It also credits AMPIA representatives, alongside Minister Hugh Planche and Bill Marsden, with input into the provincial legislation that created a motion picture development corporation.
Compare that with the numbers AMPIA gave in its 2022 sponsorship package: about 175 member companies representing roughly 2,000 industry professionals. The counting methods differ, so we wouldn’t read it as a decline. It’s two snapshots from two eras.
How the Rosies pick winners
The 2025 Rosies program explains that independent juries of three industry professionals from across North America score each entry on content, creativity and overall execution. The six highest scorers in each category become finalists.
The program says the evaluation happens outside Alberta to reduce bias. That makes sense for a small, close-knit industry’s awards, where everyone knows everyone.
David Billington
AMPIA also hands out the David Billington Award for an invaluable contribution to Alberta’s production community. According to AMPIA, Billington arrived in Alberta in 1975, died in 1987, and received the first award posthumously in 1988, with his son Dai Billington accepting.
Later recipients listed by AMPIA include Anne Wheeler in 1999, Tom Jackson in 2004, Shaun Johnston in 2011 and Gil Cardinal in 2015.
The association has kept Alberta’s screen community organized for decades, and its 1973 date is a claim worth checking. The Rosies archive and the Billington list are the best free map of who built it, so start there.
More to read: Calgary opened a film office before Alberta had a film agency, Nell Shipman and the Alberta silent film that cleaned up and Calgary Once Watched Movies From the Front Seat of a Car.
Quick answers
The Alberta Media Production Industries Association says it was incorporated in 1973 and was the first organization of its kind in English Canada. It began as the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association. A Take One interview describes a late 1970s start, so the year depends on whose account you cite.
The Rosies are the Alberta Film and Television Awards, run by AMPIA since 1974. AMPIA calls them the oldest awards show in Canada, which is the group’s own claim. The 2025 edition in October was the 51st, and independent juries of three industry professionals score each entry.
Independent juries of three industry professionals from across North America score each entry on content, creativity and overall execution, according to the 2025 Rosies program. The six highest scorers in each category become finalists. The evaluation happens outside Alberta to reduce bias.
David Billington arrived in Alberta in 1975 and died in 1987. AMPIA named an award for him that recognizes an invaluable contribution to Alberta’s production community. The first one went to him posthumously in 1988, with his son Dai Billington accepting, and Anne Wheeler received it in 1999.
If this one hooked you, we think Alberta Puppeteers Now Have a Sizzle Reel Worth Watching is a good next read.
