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AFIs proposes “Australian Academy.”

The AFI Awards proposes an "Australian Academy", with previous winners voting for their peers -but is it time to separate the TV awards into a night we can all be proud of?

The Australian Film Institute is looking to revamp the AFI Awards, by proposing an Oscars-based model of an “Australian Academy.”

The overhaul will tackle more than just the presentation, but seeks to redefine what the award means and how it they are voted, with previous winners voting for their peers.

A new model would also shift the upcoming awards from early December to late January in line with international awards including the Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTAs.

Now in its 53rd year, the AFIs will next be staged at the Sydney Opera House.

The Australian Film Institute is currently inviting input on its proposed changes. Leading industry organisations have all endorsed the notion of change and discussion, including Screen Australia, Screen Producers Association of Australia, Australian Directors Guild, Australian Writers’ Guild, Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Australian Cinematographers Society, Australian Screen Editors Guild, and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPxgfgRRV0I[/youtube]

But whilst the new changes embrace the notion of a revamp, so far there is no indication if the AFIs might adopt a BAFTAs model of separate events for film and television awards.

Currently the AFIs has a two-night event:  “Industry Awards” for production categories including sound, make-up, cinematography and even TV comedy, and light entertainment awards; and its red carpet AFI Awards with premium categories including best film, TV drama, and major acting gongs.

But the BAFTA Awards separates its film and television into two events (staged in separate months), allowing for more time in the spotlight for nominees and achievements.

At a time when a Logie win comes under fire for not always representing the views of the audience and industry, the AFIs has an opportunity to project a new image. Staged in May, the Logies are also criticised for being too late for the year they are representing.

But the Logies does have something over the AFIs -audiences connect to the faces they see on their television screens and therefore have an investment in the awards. They pull more attention from public and media than any other awards night in the country.

The AFIs will always need to contend with the difficulty that many Australians may not have seen any Aussie films in a calendar year. But they all know the faces from Packed to the Rafters and Spicks and Specks. The AFIs (which have screened in a delayed broadcast late on a Saturday night in December) desperately need the television stars in order to resonate.

A potential way forward could be to stage a TV awards night first, to gain maximum exposure, followed by a Film awards the night after. Staged back to back in late January, it could also give a television network a perfect promotional opportunity at the top of the ratings year. Nine, which has been host broadcaster in recent years, must surely be interested in a chance to counter-act Seven’s Australian Open juggernaut.

So revamp the AFIs by all means, but please give us a comprehensive television awards night where the best on the box isn’t just awarded to someone who ran the best marketing campaign?

You can comment on the AFI proposals here.

7 Responses

  1. Really liked this piece….I think folk who get these awards…would want something credible…not , as you said….something won by a good marketing campaign

  2. You make some good points there, David. The Logies have been a bit of a joke for years but with the campaigns run over the last few years for various nominees, it has become soiled beyond redemption.

    I think it’s def time for the AFI to step up and, as you suggest, run a separate award ceremony for television.

  3. David, I love your idea for a separate night for TV – at the moment their two-night split is so confusing, and there seem to be so many acting awards created to drag stars in, that it’s a little bit like “every child wins a prize”.

    Only problem with that, as you point out, is that they desperately need the TV categories to prop up interest in the awards in general – when Aussie films have such a toxic reputation with mainstream audiences.

    Still, I guess it’s good that they’re looking at ideas – did you notice they’re also talking about renaming them and redesigning the statuette?

  4. i don’t think AFI’s are won by marketing campaigns. logies yes but not so AFI’s. Look at ABC2’s review with myles barlow winning best comedy for the last two years. A great show with no marketing budget.

  5. Great topic, and one that i suspect will need considerable debate and argy bargy before anybody makes a decision on it. The AFI’s were never TV friendly, i recall the 80’s presentations, one of which I attended, and they became so obscure that networks stopped running it, shame ABC, shame. The half baked way the Nine Network airs it is something, but our glorious film industry deserves a proper voting system, a proper telecast, and I think TV should be quite separate. I have never really agreed with the incorporation of small screen prizes in and among the feature and documentary prizes. From some of the recipients of AFI tv prizes, the judging panels are as flawed and skewed as the Logies peer voted awards. In the 70’s we had 3 TV awards – The Logies, The Penguins and The Sammys. The latter was scrapped i recall by the late 70’s, the Penguins faded away by 1990 or so. We even had the People’s Choice on 7 for a couple of years, which i am not recommending resurrecting. I agree we need a comprehensive and exclusively small screen television award that has equanimous input judging wise from all networks incl cable, and industry elders, previous winners. Give it some pomp and grandiosity like the Emmy’s and BAFTA’s – The Logies have always been the awkward mix of beloved soap stars and quality performances – but the whole event belittles the peer elements, in my opinion. Boy, David, you chose a doozy for first day on hiatus. Great topic,though, and thanks for the opportunity to partake in it.

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