The days when a male performer and a female performer each won an award for a given category during the Gemini ceremony are now a thing of the past. The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television – Quebec section announced Monday that all of its acting categories will now be gender neutral.
For example, the categories “Best Male Lead: Drama Series” and “Best Female Lead: Drama Series” will be combined into a single category, “Best Lead Actor: Drama Series”.
The same goes for the categories “Best leading role: annual or daily drama series” – note also the grouping of the annual and daily divisions in this category –, “Best leading role: comedy or dramatic comedy”, “Best leading role: youth”, as well as the counterparts for the “Best supporting role” of these same categories.
The Academy indicated that this redesign is part of the goal that “everyone still has their place in this competitive competition”. She added that the overhaul of the categories has been under consideration since 2021.
“It’s something that is changing, that is to say that we have certain categories of artists who feel more comfortable with non-gendered categories”, explains the director general of the Academy. Canadian Film and Television Association — Quebec section, Mara Gourd-Mercado, in interview with The Canadian Press.
“We consulted last year, when changing to digital media categories, the mosaic committee of [l’Union des artistes] who had received the news very well. […] It’s in the movement, we got there, so really, for us, it was natural to follow in this movement. »
The number of finalists for the non-gendered categories will increase from five to eight, and ultimately only one person will leave the gala with a statuette.
The English-speaking side of the Gemini Awards, the Canadian Screen Awards – which reward the best of cinema and television in Canada – also announced last summer that their performance categories would all become gender-neutral next year. Both events are organized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
A more dynamic gala
The abolition of gender categories is part of a broader desire; merging several categories in order to “better meet the expectations [des] members and to follow the evolution of the industry”, so that next year there will be 88 categories, rather than 139.
Apart from the merging of gender categories, the other combinations mostly affect very similar divisions. The Academy believes that these changes will “increase the competition’s competitiveness and, by the same token, improve the value of the prizes awarded”.
In light of the questioning of the relevance of this type of event — the TVA Artis gala and the Québec Cinéma gala presented on Radio-Canada having both lost their broadcaster this year — the Académie recognizes that it must find ways to reinvent itself to keep its gala relevant in the eyes of the public.
“The galas, we questioned their relevance, mentions Mme Gourd Mercado. I think that, for us, it concerns us, so we’re looking at what we can do to make galas that are shorter, more dynamic and where there are fewer categories, so it’s definitely going in that line . »
In addition, the Academy made a point of specifying in its regulations that the series in the running in the categories “Best annual drama series” and “Best daily drama series” must have been broadcast on television to be eligible. Series produced for digital are entitled to their own distinct categories.
Also, in categories involving programs, the ratings during the broadcast counted, until last year, for 10% of the rating used to choose a winner. However, as of next year, this rate will increase to 20%, “so that productions that stand out in a remarkable way on this criterion can be highlighted”.
“When content stands out particularly [avec ses cotes d’écoute] we wanted it to be reflected, ”explains Mme Gourd Mercado.
38e Gemini Awards Gala will take place on Sunday, September 17, 2023, while the Industry Gala will be presented three days earlier. All finalists will be announced on June 15, 2023.