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At the fortieth annual general meeting of BAFTA on July 3, four new mem- bers were elected to the Council. Three – Dianne Nelmes, Adam Kemp and Dan Chambers – joined the Television Committee. The fourth, David Parfitt, became part of the Film Committee.
The full Council, headed by new BAFTA Chairman Simon Relph, is now as follows - Film: Stephen Woolley, Michael Harris, Norma Heyman, Duncan Kenworthy, Stephen Norris, David Parfitt, Mark Shivas, Ernest A. Vincze. Television: Michael Attwell, Hilary Bevan Jones, Dan Chambers, Jill James, Adam Kemp, Dianne Nelmes, Kenith Trodd, Desmond Wilcox. Interactive: Peter Molyneaux, Sue Thexton. Children’s: Floella Benjamin, John Richmond. Events & Education: Jill James.
In “any other business” – covering everything from screening times to event listings - the matter of jury selection came, principally, under the microscope.
Simon Relph said that the selection of juries would be raised at his first Council meeting as Chairman and added that the Film Committee was trying to increase the size of its juries to involve more people.
Stephen Woolley stated that juries were an ongoing matter of discussion for the Film Committee. He believed juries need to reflect the business process as a whole – from film making to distribution – and welcomed any member to put their name forward as a jurist. Woolley said he would consider BAFTA members first, checking if they fitted the necessary crite- ria and were truly qualified as jurors.
Michael Attwell cited the example of a member who had put forward a request to sit on the TV jury; the request was reviewed and accepted. He also stated that jury selection was very complex and often at short notice. Boyd Catling sug- gested that BAFTA members be always considered first; if they were not suitably then others could be sought.
David Jenner identified two main issues with jury selection: a lack of trans- parency and dislocation from the final result. He referred to the Oscar process, whereby the total membership votes on the final award, with the jury selected to create a short list. Members then dis- cussed the history of the BAFTA jury selection process and why it had evolved differently than in the U.S.
The following officers were elected (or re-elected): Michael Attwell, Deputy Chairman of the Academy, Stephen Woolley and Duncan Kenworthy, Chair and Deputy Chair of the Film Committee; Beatrice Ballard and Hilary Bevan Jones, Chair and Deputy Chair of the TV Committee; Sue Thexton, Chair of Interactive Entertainment Committee; John Richmond, Chair of Children’s and John Chambers, Honorary Treasurer.
Dianne Nelmes started her television career with the BBC as a journalist and presenter. She joined Granada Television as a news editor and sub- sequently became a World In Action jour- nalist. She was a producer/director on the BBC Current Affairs series Brass Tacks. In 1988, Dianne launched ITV’s Daytime programme, This Morning. As Director of Programmes for Granada’s Satellite Television, she created five Lifestyle channels and TV’s first masthead programme Good Housekeeping. She became ITV’s
Controller of Daytime Programming in 1998 and was appointed Controller of Documentaries and Features at ITV in April.
Nelmes: “As a longstanding BAFTA member, I have always felt that the cre- ative community within ITV is not as well- represented or as active as it might be. I hope that my involvement in BAFTA will enable me to make a real contribution towards changing that.
“Specifically, I hope to champion the recognition of popular programming and the breadth and excellence of the talent working within it.”
Ado About Nothing. He was also co-pro- ducer of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Parfitt: “I have watched with huge
interest the impressive changes at BAFTA over the past few years and felt that rather than continue to observe these from the outside I should put myself for- ward to see if I could be of any direct
help. I am particularly interested in the membership drive that has been so suc- cessful over the past year and would like to help come up with new ways of getting the whole industry to be part of BAFTA.”
Dan Chambers is Editor of Science at Channel Four where he oversees a wide range of series including Secrets of the Dead, Scrapheap Challenge, Escape from Colditz, Under the Knife, Better By Design, as well as sharing responsibility for Big Brother.
Before coming to the Channel a year and a half ago, he was a free- lance producer, making current affairs, features and science. His last two films were both Equinoxes: Sun Storm and Russian Roulette. He has
worked as a journalist and writtenplays includ- ing Selling Out, directed by Alan Ayckbourn. Dan was co-opted on to the TV Committee last year and became involved in setting up the Craft awards.
Chambers: “I am look- ing forward to throwing myself into all aspects of the TV awards. I’d like to explore updating the
awards’ categories to cover the most innovative areas of TV, including night- time output and the best of cable and satellite.
A
pendent sector in 1989 where he pro- duced investigative current affairs, busi- ness and science documentaries. He joined the BBC in 1994 working in the new Factual Independent Commissioning Executive and was made Acting Head in 1996. He has executive produced a wide range of factual programmes, including Two Fat Ladies, Children of Crime,
Neighbours At War, Nightclub, Gaytime TV, Money, Money, Money and Finest Hour.
Kemp: “I am excited to be part of BAFTA’s drive to modernise itself and set its face to the future. I hope to catalyse fresh thinking about television and film, especially at a time of such momentous change in the industry.” ■
NEWCOUNCILFACES
NEWCOUNCILFACES
ners, Shakespeare In Love and B
The Wings Of The Dove, David Parfitt co-founded the Renaissance Theatre Company with Kenneth Branagh after enjoying a career as a young actor. Together with Branagh and business partner Stephen Evans he then formed Renaissance Films responsible for Henry V, Peter’s Friends and Much
efore moving into film producing,
most recently on a pair of Oscar-win-
Bafta AGM
dam Kemp was appointed Editorial
Executive, BBC 1 in 1999, deputising
to the Controller. He joined the inde-
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