Back in December of 2019, the AWAE Fan Projects team started a GoFundMe campaign to get a billboard up in hopes to garner press and network attention, and ultimately help the fandom fight to get our show renewed. The fandom pulled through, donated their own money, and over a period of time we were able to get two runs of billboards in Toronto, and a long-weekend in New York City (after funding our first board, we debated over using the continually incoming funds for something else/something charity-related but ultimately decided to use them for the billboards as that is precisely what people were donating their money towards. As well, many fans had expressed their desire for a board in NYC in an attempt to get attention in the United States).
Not only did several cast members visit the billboards in both Toronto and New York City, including showrunner Moira Walley-Beckett, but the Metro City Mall in Phoenix, Arizona sponsored further runs of multiple boards in that city as a result of one local fan’s advocacy. While we did receive some pushback from some who stated this was a waste of money, it was ultimately the result of hundreds of fans (we counted) who donated usually around $5, $10 each of their own money (a cup of coffee, a lottery ticket, a smoothie) for something they loved. This fandom has brought many, many people together and provided them with life-long friendships. Not only this, but this show has opened the eyes of many people and exposed them to storylines they wouldn't have known about (for example the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Canadian history) and ultimately inspired them to learn more about such histories. For that alone, we say it was worth it.
The Canadian Press, The Sunday Times, Irish Independent, FreshDaily, Film Daily, 1010 Wins NYC, CBC PEI Island Morning all wrote coverage about the billboards and the fandom movement to get our show back.
Anne Nation thanks everyone who donated to the boards and participated in the fun back in January.