Canada’s Youth Media Alliance (YMA) has announced two winners of its annual YMA Andra Sheffer Scholarship—Julia Dillon-Davis and Nour Mallouh.

Dillon-Davis holds a Master’s degree in screenwriting from Toronto’s York University and is currently enrolled at the University of Victoria in British Colombia, Canada. And Mallouh is a student at Centennial College in Toronto and has a certificate in screenwriting from Ottawa’s Algonquin College.

The scholarship is usually awarded to one person each year—past recipients are Anthony Suen (2016) and Elizabeth Nunan (2017). But the seven-member committee of YMA jurors selected two students this year for unique reasons—Dillon-Davis for her screenwriting and production experience, as well as the quality of her projects currently in development; and Mallouh for the impressive original characters in her developing project, and for her determination to create kids content that voices unusual and inspiring stories.

Supported by the YMA Andra Sheffer Scholarship, Dillon-Davis and Mallouh will attend Kidscreen Summit 2019 in Miami next February, as well as the Banff World Media Festival in June 2019. Winners also receive a US$1,500 travel grant to cover transportation and accommodations.

The scholarship also provides both students with personalized mentoring and meetings with members of the Youth Media Alliance. Dillon-Davis and Mallouh will visit CBC and TVO studios in Toronto for various meetings with representatives of the kids entertainment industry, and a one-year subscription to Kidscreen magazine.

The YMA Andra Sheffer Scholarship seeks to recognize an outstanding Canadian university student who intends to pursue a career in youth animation, TV or digital media production. Last year, Nunan benefited from personal introductions to industry professionals and attended networking meetings at Kidscreen Summit. The year prior, Suen received mentoring from Breakthrough Entertainment execs, met with Andra Sheffer and Kim Wilson, and visited Kids’ CBC studios with Marie McCann.

Andra Sheffer is CEO of the Independent Production Fund and Cogeco TV Production Program, both of which are private funds supporting the Canadian digital media, TV and film industry. The scholarship’s financial partners include 9 Story Media Group, Apartment 11 Productions, Breakthrough Entertainment, Brunico, CMPA National and CMPA-BC Producers Branch, DHX Television, Give me Chocolate, Guru Studio, marblemedia, Portfolio Entertainment, Boat Rocker Media’s Radical Sheep, Secret Location, Sinking Ship Entertainment and Shaftesbury.