Jordan Canning
Canadian film and television director
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Jordan Canning is a Canadian director for film and television. She is known for her independent feature films We Were Wolves (2014) and Suck It Up (2017), as well as her work directing on television series Baroness Von Sketch Show, Burden of Truth and Schitt's Creek.
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Jordan Canning | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 2005 - Present |
Early life
She was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. She attended Concordia University in Montreal.
Career
Canning's films have won a number of awards, including two Golden Sheaf Awards,[1][2] three awards at the NSI Online Short Film Festival,[3] and top prize at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival RBC Emerging Filmmaker Competition.[4][5] She directed all twenty-three episodes of the IPF-supported web series Space Riders: Division Earth for CTV. The show won the 2014 Canadian Screen Award for Best Digital Series and four Canadian Comedy Awards, including Best Director.
Canning's 2014 feature film We Were Wolves made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival[6] and is distributed by Unobstructed View.[7] We Were Wolves stars Peter Mooney and Steve Cochrane. Canning's debut feature was also awarded the Best Feature Prize from the Atlantic Film Festival.[8]
In 2015, Canning was awarded the Women In the Director's Chair Feature Film Award[9] for her second feature film, Suck It Up (2017), which premiered at the 2017 Slamdance Film Festival and is distributed by Level Film. Suck it Up stars Grace Glowicki and Erin Carter, and won Best Feature Film at the 2017 B3 Frankfurt Biennale,[10] and Canning was nominated for the Directors Guild of Canada's DGC Discovery Award.[11]
In 2016, Canning made a foray into television, directing on Saving Hope and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, where she became the first female director on the show. The following year, she directed episodes of the series The Detail (CTV), Burden of Truth (CBC/The CW), and Baroness Von Sketch Show (CBC/IFC).[12] In 2018, she directed on Schitt's Creek, Little Dog (CBC) and season four of Baroness Von Sketch Show.
Canning was nominated for two 2020 Canadian Screen Awards: one for Best Direction, Comedy (Schitt's Creek, "Meet The Parents")[13] and one for Best Direction, Variety or Sketch Comedy (Baroness Von Sketch Show, "Humanity is in An Awkward Stage" - with co-director Aleysa Young).[14]
In 2023, Canning was recognized for her direction of the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "Charades", which was listed as one of the ten Best TV Episodes of 2023 by Rolling Stone.[15] Canning's directorial work on "Charades" also garnered her recognition from Indiewire, which ranked the episode #22 on their list of the 25 best TV episodes of 2023,[16] and Vanity Fair, which also listed the episode as one of the best of 2023.[17]
Canning also directed a number of music videos, including:
- "Death is Quick" by Hey Rosetta!
- "There's an Arc" by Hey Rosetta
- "Best Served" by Pathological Lovers
- "All Hands" by Tim Baker
- "Dance" by Tim Baker
She is a 2010 graduate of the Director's Lab at the Canadian Film Centre and an alumnus of TIFF Pitch This! and Talent Lab.
It was announced that filming would begin in early 2026 for Oddly Flowers, a film based on the novel Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant, which would be written, directed, and produced by Canning.[18]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Pillowtalk | Writer, director | Short Film | |
| 2006 | Thick & Thin | Writer, director | Short Film | |
| 2007 | Here On In | Writer, director | Short Film | |
| 2008 | The House Series - Bedroom, Kitchen, Bathroom | Director | Short Film Trilogy | |
| 2009 | Countdown | Writer, director | Short Film | National Screen Institute Drama Prize |
| 2010 | Best Served | Director | Short Film | |
| 2010 | Not Over Easy | Director, Co-Writer | Short Animation | NSI Short Film Festival Awards |
| 2011 | Oliver Bump's Birthday[19] | Director | Short Film | Canadian Film Centre Short Dramatic Film; Yorkton Film Festival Golden Sheaf Award - Short Subject |
| 2012 | Seconds[20] | Writer, director | Short Film | TIFF RBC Emerging Filmmakers Award[21] |
| 2012 | The Tunnel | Director | Short Film | |
| 2014 | We Were Wolves | Director, Co-Writer | Feature Film | 2014 Toronto International Film Festival |
| 2015 | Space Riders: Division Earth | Director | Web Series | Canadian Screen Award - Best Digital Series |
| 2017 | Suck It Up | Director | Feature Film | WIDC Feature Film Award[22] |
| 2017 | Ordinary Days | Co-Director | Feature Film | Canadian Film Festival - Best Director |
| 2020 | 4 North A | Co-director, writer | Animated short |
Television
| Years | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | This Hour Has 22 Minutes | Director | Season 24; four episodes |
| 2017 | Saving Hope | Director | Season 5; one episode |
| 2018 | Burden of Truth | Director | Season 1; two episodes |
| 2018 | The Detail | Director | Season 1; two episodes |
| 2018–21 | Baroness Von Sketch Show | Director | Season 3; five episodes, Season 4; five episodes |
| 2019–20 | Schitt's Creek | Director | Season 5; seven episodes |
| 2019 | Little Dog | Director | Season 2; two episodes |
| 2020–21 | Nurses | Director | Season 1; one episode, Season 2; one episode |
| 2021–24 | Family Law | Director | Season 1; two episodes, Season 3; two episodes |
| 2022–24 | Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock | Director | Season 1; three episodes, Season 2; five episodes |
| 2022 | Astrid & Lilly Save the World | Director | Two episodes |
| 2023–25 | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Director | Season 2; one episode, Season 3; two episodes |
| 2024 | Brilliant Minds | Director | Season 1; one episode |