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the big picture
The carpet didn’t foam, the weather was unseasonably mild and despite the threat of war, the nominees, citation read- ers and guests travelled from far and wide to be there.
The television viewing figures increased, the press attendance and coverage was greater than ever and many described this year’s Orange British Academy Film Awards as ‘the best yet’. The Academy exists to reward the very best in filmmaking worldwide and I am very proud of what we achieved this year.
However, it hasn’t all been plain sailing! Moving before the Oscars® has definitely focused more attention on the awards and although the vast majority of our press coverage has been excellent, inevitably with success comes criticism.
One article carried the head- line ‘Oscar’s Little Helper’ and another asked ‘Who needs the BAFTAs?’ Our view? We maintain that it must be a good thing to host an event that attracts both British and international talent and focuses worldwide attention on the ceremony and the film industry in the UK.
Holding the ceremony when we do means that the public has an appetite for film, rather than coming at the end of an extremely long awards season.
Following the nominations announcement, we received crit- icism about the films that were chosen and the lack of British films; however, in every category there were British nominees no matter where the film originated.
Naturally we are proud when British talent and British films are nominated – it is recognition that we have world-class film making talents in the UK. And it is you, our membership, who vote and we know that you are passionate about film and the British film industry.
However, this doesn’t mean that you limit your votes to films made in Britain, you vote for what you con- sider to be the very best. This year that included films from as far afield as Brazil, Mexico and India.
However, some of the issues raised do merit further debate and I assure you they will be dis- cussed in detail by the Film Committee and Council.
After the event, even our critics had to agree that the results were good indeed. The combination of membership voting and specialist juries had ensured that we proved our independence and that we spoke with a distinctive voice.
As well as the prime time broadcast on BBC1, the pro- gramme was aired in 19 countries from Iceland to China to the USA. The ceremony was also screened in cinemas around the UK and at events organised by BAFTA East Coast and BAFTA LA.
We couldn’t have done it without our film-voting members. Thank you for your enthusiasm for film and your outstanding com- mitment to the Academy. I would also like to thank all the people who elected to vote online.
We realise the first round of voting was laborious but I am sure that most people will agree that the second and third rounds worked extremely well.
We are already discussing ways of improving the service for next year and would welcome any suggestions. The lucky winner of the draw for two Business Class flights to the States, courtesy of American Airlines, is Christine Gernon. Congratulations.
As usual, the film awards couldn’t have happened without a great team doing a great job. We have now been working with the same teams for a number of years and the success of the event is a tribute to the passion and commitment of these dedi- cated folk.
Amanda Berry, Chief Executive
So thanks must go to Michael Attwell, Simon Relph, Duncan Kenworthy, David Parfitt and the Film Committee and the entire Awards team at the Academy. To our fantastic sponsors Orange, Lorraine Heggessey and Jon Beazley at the BBC, Malcolm Gerrie, Andy Ward, Lisa Chapman and Katherine Allen and their team at Initial, Patrick Keegan, Kate Lee and their team at Freud Communications and Mark Pogachefsky and his team at MPRM, our US publicists, and, last but most definitely not least, our truly wonderful host, Stephen Fry.
What’s next? We have The British Academy Television Awards sponsored by Radio Times on Sunday, April 13, hosted by Anne Robinson and broadcast on BBC1 at 8pm, closely followed by the fourth British Academy TV Craft Awards on May 11.
We also continue with monthly screenings and our events pro- gramme that goes from strength to strength... a busy time (as always) at the Academy.
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