BAFTA Changes TV Award Rules to Increase Recognitions for Women and International Programs

thewrap.com:

announced Tuesday.Under the new rules, the top three male and top three female candidates in both the Director categories, which include Factual, Fiction and Multi-Camera awards, in the BAFTA Craft Awards and the entertainment performance category in the TV Awards from the round one membership vote will now automatically go through to jury consideration.“This new intervention, a first for the TV Craft Awards, will increase the visibility of women at longlisting stage, with the longer-term aim to encourage a greater representation of women considered,” BAFTA’s press announcement read. “This sits alongside BAFTA’s wider charitable work to level the playing field for all.”In terms of the international category, the top three non-scripted and top three scripted programs will now automatically be longlisted, as a way to offset the historic “prevalence of scripted programs making it through to jury consideration” despite both non-scripted and scripted programs being eligible for the category since its conception.The changes also include splitting the Original Music category into two — Original Music: Fiction and Original Music: Factual — in order to recognize “the high volume and quality of entries.”“Television and the way in which audiences consume content is ever-evolving, and it’s essential we adapt alongside,” said Sara Putt, Deputy Chair of BAFTA and Chair of the BAFTA Television Committee. “As a mirror to the industry, we are in the privileged and unique position of being able to drive and influence positive change.

I’m delighted that the updates to our 2023 BAFTA TV Awards announced today including specific interventions to address historic gender inequity, reflecting our commitment to widening representation,.