Men, women, Gemini

The public has zero embarked on the non-gendered “movement”, neither has the television sector. Result ? The mixed performance categories disappear from the Gemini awards gala, which goes backwards, beep, beep, and returns to the classic formula, that of the Emmys and the Golden Globes, which separates men from women.

Finally, the Academy which oversees this ceremony regains its senses. No one in Quebec actively campaigned for the implementation of these unisex categories, which only lasted one year, thank God. A good decision, which corrects a bad one.

The president of the Academy’s board of directors, Caroline Gaudette, admitted Thursday that the public wanted to see a unifying gala that resembles it. “The public likes their stars and likes to see their stars. The public recognized much less of themselves in this choice,” she explains.

In fact, the Academy unilaterally imposed the mixed awards last year, without even warning its partner Radio-Canada, which nevertheless broadcasts the Quebec TV festival. The bosses of the public broadcaster learned, at the same time as the journalists, that their gala was taking the same “degendered” route as that of the Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto, which arouses no interest, what a boring event. Let’s say that the pill was difficult to pass.

In hindsight, The Academy recognizes gaps in explaining the changes and communicating its intentions. In short, it went too quickly, everything was wrong.

Internally, the majority of the 1,000 members of the Academy in Quebec, which brings together producers, actors, directors, screenwriters and other audiovisual artisans, pushed for a return to the future, that is to say the reestablishment of interpretation categories feminine and masculine.

Since the controversial September gala, where Indefensible beaten down STAT, no one has yet understood how and why, several important producers have denounced the exorbitant costs that the Academy charges to register and participate in Gémini. In 2023, KOTV’s Louis Morissette (Zenith, The eye of the storm) raised $60,000 to join the TV festivities. That’s a lot, a lot of money, especially in these less prosperous times for the small screen.

Speaking of those hefty notes, the Academy is offering a 15% discount on all registrations made before February 2. It feels like Black Friday, hurry up! The general director of the Academy, Chantal Côté, recalls that membership fees have been frozen for four years and that they are compared to those required at similar galas in the United States and Europe.

Unfortunately, the announcement of these changes did not convince the Gemini dissidents to return to the fold. No, Fabienne Larouche will not submit STAT in the next race for trophies, which will eliminate the daily series category, which will merge with that of soap operas.

“The Academy did not consult us, but reading their press release, we understand that their priority is funding. Give 15% off, like a ski pass, and then add categories to fund it. The problem will always remain the same, it is systemic. Gemini is earned through membership cards. The fact remains that the formula must be rethought in its foundations, in its relevance and, above all, in the way of financing it,” believes Fabienne Larouche of Aetios (STAT, Reasonable doubt, With a beating heart).

Alexis Durand-Brault and Sophie Lorain, who co-direct the ALSO company (Mégantic, Innocence Project), will also boycott the next presentation of the golden statuettes. “It’s a good decision to bring back the gendered categories. Still, it doesn’t tempt us to come back. I don’t have $60,000 to spend on this. If an actor wants to register, call me, I have no intention of harming anyone,” says Alexis Durand-Brault.

Producer Guillaume Lspérance from A Média (Discussions with my parents, Bad weather) said he was disappointed to see the number of categories swell from 91 to 109. There were 144 categories in 2022, which was far too many. “I thought the Academy would do a better job of cleaning up. It’s ridiculous that there are so many prices. I had decided to stay and not leave completely. I’m going to think about all that,” confides Guillaume Lspérance.

The boss of Attraction (The Chiefs !, Love is in the meadow), Richard Speer, is still procrastinating over the idea of ​​withdrawing (or not) from the Gemini competition.

Among other changes, the weight of audience ratings, which counted up to 20% in awarding a Gemini to a show, was revised downwards. It will now only count for 10%, but only for soap operas and daily series. In the case of drama series and reality shows, for example, their popularity in Numeris audience meters will no longer weigh at all in the final balance.

The night Laurier Gaudreault woke up And Mégantic, two Club illico titles, suffered from this 20% rule last year. As these series had not been broadcast on traditional television, their viewing was not measured and they automatically lost the 20 points based on Numeris surveys.

According to KOTV’s Louis Morissette, these changes are moving in the right direction, “but I’m going to cut registrations, that’s for sure.” The business is difficult and I will have to make choices,” he says.

And Louis Morissette, like many other influential people in showbiz, deplores a certain snobbery in the granting of Gemini. ” Some shows, like The Master of the Game, will never be the Academy’s favorites,” he notes, not at all angry, but resigned. The slogan of 2024, it seems.