AFI to establish ‘Academy’ and align with awards season
The Australian Film Institute (AFI) has today proposed the establishment of an ‘Australian Academy’ akin to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science (AMPAS) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). The institute will also shift the AFI Awards from December 2011 to January 2012.
In preparation, the AFI has announced a period of consultation, available from Wednesday 1 June until Thursday 30 June.
AFI CEO Damian Trewhella said the aim of the consultation was to discuss “how we can do our activities better- the pursuit of excellence and how we best acknowledge achievements in the screen community.”
Specifically, the consultation will discuss core principals with the film and television community, debating and discussing structure. From there, the AFI will create the honorary council.
“Through the longstanding AFI Professional Membership program we have a structure that’s not too bad but I’ve been listening to what the industry has said. We want to see a transformation toward the well recognised and understood international models, of the ‘academy’, with an honorary council with more industry leadership and smarter structures.”
“The (international) guilds and their awards are a nice feeder system towards the likes of the Oscars and BAFTAS. We need to start by bringing people together to discuss what is important and help create a better media discourse,” said Trewhella.
Without disclosing who will be on that council, Trewhella said, “It will include screen industry leaders who are relatively proven in their craft as well as at least one representative from each guild and organisation and from a balance of film and TV, gender, age and geography,” to provide better representation for our broad and diverse screen industry.
The arrival of the academy will also see a change of date for the AFI Awards.
The decision to move the awards from December to January was not only to align with the calendar year but to bring them more prominently into the public’s mind by repositioning the awards closer to international industry buzz around the Golden Globes, Academy Awards and BAFTA Awards.
“The awards season is the only real collective interface between the public and industry where the public understand the industry, so we need to promote the industry in this time,” said Trewhella.
The other reason for the move, said Trewhella, is to move closer to Australia Day.
“We’re wondering if there is a narration that happens around that time of year, of cultural reflection.”
“Australians pay to go to the cinema more often than to sporting events and per capita we are among the highest consumers on cinema globally. This is a time to reflect, on one of our more important days of the year, to think about the cultural impact of the moving image on big screens and small on our national identity.”
The Award ceremony will also return from Melbourne to Sydney.
Regarding the consultation paper, “We know the AFI has touched a lot of people and they all have a view,” said Trewhella. “We encourage people to have a look at the consultation paper and let us know what they think.”
Supporting the online consultation, the AFI shall host two industry forums (Melbourne and Sydney) late June to provide an opportunity for inclusive and open discussion. Further information shall follow in the coming weeks.
To review the proposed changes, and contribute to the AFI industry consultation, available throughout June, visit AFI.org.au/consultation.
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Review Proposed AFI Developments.
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Bad idea. January and February are too busy with international events; AFIs will be lost among Golden Globes, Oscar noms, Sundance, Berlin and others.
Late November/early December is a good way to finish the year, so why change it!?
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More window dressing?
Sincerely hope the rejigged AFI Awards don’t get lumbered with “Australian Academy Awards” or “AFTA’s”.
Or something equally cringeworthy…
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“….repositioning the awards closer to international industry buzz around the Golden Globes, Academy Awards and BAFTA Award”. Huh!
Q: Is it 1st June or 1st April??
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Well this year the Golden Globes were Jan 16, the Baftas 13 Feb and Oscars 27 Feb so moving the AFIs from December to January will move them closer.
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Methinks the AFI might over-rate its own importance and the importance of the Awards. This is really a “The emperor has got no clothes scenario”. The awards are irrelevant to the consumer (check ratings) and broadcasters don’t care unless the show is subsidised by Government (check past history). The results are out-of-date by announcement and barely assist increases in ancilliary sales. Sure the gong is good for the practictioner, but does that warrant the millions being spent on this. (Say, how many of George Miller’s films have been entered in the AFI Awards anyway??) It is rather ironic that Film Victoria gets bashed up for their farewell for Sdraulig (and rightly so), but no-one seems to give too hoots about the massively subsidised piss-up called the AFI Awards. But, hey — maybe changing the AFI Awards to January will enhance their international broadcast audience. Events NSW can ensure that the show is broadcast live to an international audience of 300 millions. Oh yeh.
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