Thankfully for the sake of his nerves, Stephen Paniccia didn't have to wait long to find out the result of his team's nomination for an International Emmy Award for their work on the documentary Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On.
As Canadian musician Paul Schaffer took the stage Monday night to announce the nominees in the Arts Programming category to kickoff the ceremony, Paniccia was trying to soak in the moment.
Seconds later, his documentary was announced as the winner and a flood of emotions overcame the Cambridge film producer.
"I wasn't expecting it," Paniccia said.
"You never expect it because there's so many great films. I was overjoyed, excited and flabbergasted."
The road from the first film shoot to the stage at the International Emmy's was a long one that began back in 2019.
A combination of Piniccia's company White Pine Pictures, director Madison Thomas and production company Eagle Vision worked long days with hundreds of hours of interviews, filming and editing, to tell Sainte-Marie's story.
"We put together an amazing team who really understood Buffy and understood the project," Paniccia said.
"There's so many people to thank. It’s an amazing film but it's not about the award, it's about telling Buffy's story. For me, its about her trusting us to tell her story. It’s nice to get recognition on an amazing film."
Once Paniccia received the award, he was led backstage for interviews before finally being able to call his family and tell them the good news.
Since the awards weren't live streamed, Paniccia's wife and son followed along on social media.
"My son, who's 18, walked down to my wife and said 'hey, I found out they won, eh?'" Paniccia said with a laugh.
"Typical teenager response but they were super excited."
In a statement received on behalf of Sainte-Marie, she expressed her gratitude for the documentary being recognized.
"I want to begin by thanking the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the honour," Sainte-Marie's statement read.
"As one of the most prestigious awards in the global entertainment industry, it is a true recognition of the outstanding team who worked on my story – the true story of my life."
But her story entails recent controversy.
A recent CBC Fifth Estate piece on Sainte-Marie called into question her Indigenous heritage, citing a birth certificate from Stoneham, Mass. and several family accounts contradicting her claim she was born on the Piapot Reserve near Craven, Sask. to Cree parents.
White Pine Pictures, Thomas and Eagle Vision have all come out in support of the singer, songwriter and activist.
And now Sainte-Marie has spoken.
"I’ve always believed it takes rain and sunshine to bring a rainbow," her statement continued.
"This great honour does indeed come after the rain – as I continue to absorb and process the recent attack on my character, life and legacy. I have never lied about my identity."
As for Paniccia, it's been a whirlwind week but he's already looking ahead to what's next.
"Hopefully it's going to help us recognize the team we put together and help us get more work."
