Canadians Samantha Bee, Jean-Marc Vallee, Ellen Page among Emmy nominees

TORONTO – Quebec director Jean-Marc Vallee, Toronto-born late-night comic Samantha Bee and Halifax native Ellen Page were among the Canadians announced as Emmy Award nominees on Thursday.

Montreal-born Vallee picked up a nomination for directing HBO’s acclaimed limited series “Big Little Lies,” which got a total of 16 nods.

David E. Kelley based the darkly comedic murder mystery on Liane Moriarty’s bestselling novel. The star-packed cast includes Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Zoe Kravitz, Alexander Skarsgard, Adam Scott, and Nova Scotia native James Tupper.

Quebec cinematographer Yves Belanger, who has worked with Vallee on films including “Wild” and “Dallas Buyers Club,” also got a nomination. A number of other Canadians who worked on the show are competing in categories including best picture editing, sound mixing and contemporary costumes.

Alberta-shot “Fargo,” which picked up 16 nominations, also has a slew of Canadians in contention in categories including best casting, sound mixing, sound editing, hairstyling and non-prosthetic makeup.

Meanwhile, “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” is up for best variety talk series, best writing for a variety series and best interactive program for its web content. Bee’s “Not The White House Correspondents’ Dinner” was also named in several variety-special categories, including best special, best directing, best writing and best production design.

Page got her second Emmy nod as executive producer on Viceland’s “Gaycation,” which is up for best unstructured reality program, while Vice Media co-founder and executive producer Shane Smith got nominations in the best informational series or special and best documentary or nonfiction special categories.

“Being able to report on the forgotten stories, the underreported issues or follow important investigations even when they are out of the news cycle is a real blessing,” said Smith in a statement. “Now, more than ever, logical, non-political, non-partisan news is vital.”

Other Canadians nominated for Emmys include Shawn Levy, a Montreal executive producer and director on Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” which got a total of 18 nominations. As a producer, he shares in the nomination for best drama series.

“The way it’s been embraced by fans, critics and now the Television Academy has turned our world upside down,” Levy said in a statement, “which is just the way we like it!”

Toronto-shot “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the much-heralded series based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel, picked up 13 nominations, including best drama series. A Canadian visual effects team is also nominated for their work on the show.

“Orphan Black” star Tatiana Maslany, who won the best lead actress in a drama Emmy last year, was not in the running again because the show’s latest season didn’t air during the eligibility window.

The 69th annual Emmys will be staged on Sept. 17.