Judging by the luminosity of its hosts, the Elan Awards show would appear to have been a hit. William Shatner, Seth MacFarlane (the creator of Family Guy), and Tom Kenny (the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants) have all served as master of ceremonies for the formerly Vancouver-based awards ceremony that recognizes outstanding achievement in video-game development and animation.

However, after a reasonably flashy first event in 2006, the production declined dramatically in the second and third editions. Producer Holly Carinci plans to hold the fourth annual Elan Awards in San Diego in July, a shift she characterizes in publicity materials as being driven by growth.

A Georgia Straight investigation shows the move to the U.S. may be more of an escape.

Carinci declined repeated requests for an interview, but the Straight spoke with a number of people who were involved with the first three productions. All of those interviewed said they will have nothing to do with subsequent events. Criticisms levelled against Carinci and the Elans include poor planning and organization, dismal personnel management, and alleged unpaid debts. Representatives of major video-game companies have expressed concern to the Straight about previous shows.

While Carinci calls herself the founder of the Elans, Vancouver actor Ross Tweedale is the person who came up with the idea to stage a video-game awards ceremony in Vancouver. This fact was acknowledged by Carinci in an e-mail to the Straight on July 15, 2006.

Back then, Tweedale was doing some contract work—“writing PR pieces and stuff like that”—for HollyWords Publicity (Carinci’s public-relations agency, which no longer has a listed telephone number or a Web site) as a way of supplementing his “meagre income as an actor”, he explained in a phone interview with the Straight. He was also writing and doing voice-over work for video-game giant Electronic Arts. Tweedale realized that Canada was “a huge epicentre for video games” but that there was no means of recognizing achievement within the domestic industry.

Having no event-production experience himself, Tweedale said he took the idea to Carinci, knowing that she had staged a few small events and private competitions centred around beauty make-overs—“little, cheese-ball stuff”.

The first event, held on September 14, 2006, at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond, was called the Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts. Dozens of industry members showed up to see awards handed out in 36 categories. Shatner was the host of the black-tie affair, but Tweedale, an associate producer of the show, said the actor’s participation nearly didn’t happen because there wasn’t enough money to pay him. “I basically tapped out my credit cards for as much as I could,” Tweedale said.

It wasn’t enough. Two days before the event, Shatner still hadn’t received his full fee, and his assistant made it clear that he wouldn’t appear until he had. “We needed a Hail Mary, a magical investor to bail us out,” Tweedale said, “and I had nothing left.” He isn’t sure who came through with the money that saved the show, but he said Carinci told him it was a client of her publicity agency.

“Considering none of us knew what the hell we were doing, and that we somehow managed to pull off a show and have Captain Kirk there, I thought it was all right for a first year,” Tweedale recalled. “It came to the point where we just needed to get the show on—with all its problems, with all its issues.”

That first event took its toll. In addition to using his credit cards to pay for expenses, Tweedale said he agreed to temporarily forgo a salary. Carinci, he said, promised to pay him later. Tweedale has an agreement stipulating this that was signed by Carinci on February 15, 2006. He said that when he asked to be reimbursed after the event was over, he was told there wasn’t any money available. According to Tweedale, money came in from sponsorships and submission fees, but he doesn’t know where that money went. “All I know is that I wasn’t seeing any of it,” he said.