The British Academy has made some changes to the voting rules and regulations for its BAFTA TV and BAFTA TV Craft Awards, which it says are aimed at increasing diversity.
With entries for the 2023 awards opening on Wednesday, October 5, BAFTA announced that in two director categories (in fact, fiction and Multi-Camera) and Entertainment Performance categories, the top three male and top three female names in the first round of membership voting will now automatically enter the jury for consideration. BAFTA said the move, the first of two sets of TV awards, would “raise the profile of women at the finalist stage, with the long-term goal of encouraging more women to participate.” It is all part of the academy’s wider work to “level the playing field” .
Emphasizing BAFTA’s point, this year’s TV Awards nominees for Best Director are all-male: Fiction and Best Director: Factual category, with only one woman in the top six Best Entertainment Performance nominations.
Among other changes, in recognition of the quantity and quality of entries, the Original Music category will now be split into two sections: Original Music: Fiction and Original Music: Fact. In the International category, BAFTA acknowledges the historical prevalence of scripting, although both unscripted and scripted shows have always been eligible. From 2023 onwards, the top three non-scripted programs and the top three scripted programs will be automatically shortlisted.
“TV and the way viewers consume content are constantly evolving, and we have to adapt at the same time,” said Sara Putt, Vice President of BAFTA and Chair of the BAFTA Television Committee. “As a mirror of the industry, we are in a privileged and unique position to drive and influence positive change. I am delighted that the update to the 2023 BAFTA Television Awards announced today includes addressing historic gender inequality specific interventions that reflect our commitment to broadening representation, expanding key craft roles and balance in both awards ceremonies
For the first time, both BAFTA TV and the BAFTA TV Craft Awards are To be held on London’s South Bank, the BAFTA TV Craft Awards will be held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in April 20, and the BAFTA TV Awards at the Royal Festival in May Lobby 14, 2023.
