Page 19 - 07_Bafta ACADEMY_Stephen Fry_ok

PRINCESS ANNE STEPS DOWN
After 25 years as President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne has reluctantly announced that she will be standing down to spend more time with her husband and family. We shall miss her commitment, support and guidance tremendously.
Lord Attenborough, Chairman of the BAFTA Trustees, was the first to comment on the announcement: “We could not have asked for a more enthusiastic or, indeed, a more wise President over this past quarter of a century which has seen significant advances, both at the Academy and within the British film and television industries.
“It has always been an immense pleasure to welcome Princess Anne to our award ceremonies and we shall greatly miss the special star quality she brought to those occasions.”
Vice President Lord Puttnam, who will hold the fort on a tem- porary basis until a new President is appointed, said: “The Princess Royal has been unstinting in her duties over a long peri- od. BAFTA has been more than well served. We are extremely sorry to see her go but understand and respect her decision.”
The Princess became BAFTA President in 1975 to coincide with the Academy’s move into new headquarters at 195 Piccadilly where she opened the 213-seater cinema named after her. She has been a frequent visitor over the years.
Keith Jordan, Assistant Director, who has also been with the Academy for 25 years recalls: “She visited us in the Projection Box on a number of occasions. She was always well briefed, gen- uinely eager to learn about state-of-the-art equipment and discuss the latest British films.”
Since 1975, the Princess has worked with 13 Academy Chairmen: Sir Sydney Samuelson CBE (1973-76), Richard Cawston CVO (1976-79), Mike Wooller (1979-81), Timothy Burrill (1981-83), James Cellan-Jones (1983-85), Graham Benson (1985-87), Johnny Goodman (1987-89), Kevin Billington (1989-91), Richard Price MBE (1991-93), Ted Childs OBE (1993-95), Edward Mirzoeff CVO CBE (1995-97), Tim Angel OBE (1997-2000) and Simon Relph (2000-)
Princess Anne told ACADEMY: “I have very much enjoyed my long association with BAFTA in Britain and the United States. I am sorry to have had to make this decision and send best wishes for the Academy’s continued success.” ■
BAFTA TV CRAFT AWARDS 2001
This year’s BAFTA Television Craft Awards promise to be a very exciting evening. They are to be held at Sadlers Wells on April 22. We are delighted to announce three new awards which will celebrate the outstanding pool of new talent in our industry - Best New Writer, Best New Director (Factual) and Best New Director (Fiction).
All nominations for these categories must have had their first broadcast credit in the year 2000. As well as the existing awards there will be two Special Awards in the Gift of Council.
The evening will start with a champagne reception, followed by the awards ceremony in the auditorium and then dinner and dancing. The BAFTA craft committee consists of Kenith Trodd and Hilary Bevan Jones. The event will be produced by Gilly Archer, ex Head of Production BBC Entertainment, who has just come on board.
One happy consequence of our taking the ceremony to a bigger venue is that for the first time we are able to offer individuals and companies the opportunity to buy tickets and to join the celebrations.
For further details please contact Lisa Prime or Gilly Archer at BAFTA on 020 7292 5820. ■
Photos opposite page: Gamecube, Sony Playstation 2, Dreamcast and Xbox consoles This page above: Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal attending various functions and on her many visits to BAFTA.
TAPS 7TH WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
With writer-producer Paul Abbott as guest-of-honour, more than 200 guests attended the event held in the Princess Anne Theatre at BAFTA on December. Project Director Jill James reported that although there were continuing funding diffi- culties, the year had seen the showcasing of 19 writers and the workshop training of
85 while eight short film makers had their work presented.
The winners:
Shorts – Anthony
Alleyne (Nightstorm),
runner-up Colin Wilson
(The Lost Chord);
Comedy-Sitcom –
Bennett Aron (Pros And Cons); Drama – Des Dillon (Six Black Candles). In a new award for Completed Short Film, Tracy Spottiswoode (Codename Corgi) won from over 100 entries.
All the winners received a bronze award, a cheque from the Peggy Ramsay Foundation and a year’s free membership of BAFTA and The Writer’s Guild of Great Britain. ■
UK PRODUCTION TOPS £750M
Arecord-breaking £750 million was invested last year in British-based film production, including £211.7m in UK –pro- duced films like Bridget Jones’ Diary, Enigma, Born Romantic and Shiner.
The bulk of the sum, over £500m, came from megadollar pro- ductions like Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Mummy Returns, Proof Of Life, Tomb Raider, 51st State, Chocolat, Possession and Pearl Harbour.
According to the British Film Commission, a division of the Film Council, the total revealed an overall inward investment increase of 33 per cent over the previous year. ■
CHRISTMAS QUIZ WINNER
Many thanks to all those who responded to Sir Sydney Samuelson’s Christmas Film and Television Quiz. Only one member got all the answers
right, so congratulations go to Mark
McKeown of London W12. An invitation to a Champagne Dinner for Two at the Academy is on its way, Mark.
For the record, the answers were -
Film: 1. (a) Little Voice (b) Jane Horrocks
(c) Brenda Blethyn; 2. Marni Nixon;
3. (a) Deborah Kerr (b) Natalie Wood
(c) Audrey Hepburn; 4. Apollo 13;
5. (a) Cate Blanchett (b) Judi Dench;
6. Three Colours Blue, White, Red; 7. (a) The Grapes Of Wrath (b) A Clockwork Orange (c) Wild Strawberries.
Television: 1. (a) Cathy Come Home (b) Shelter
(c) Carol White; 2. Three Mills Island Studios, East London; 3. (a) Captain (b) Corporal (c) Sergeant;
4. (a) Volvo 1800 (b) Jaguar XJS V12 (c) Reliant Regal Supreme III three wheeler; 5. (a) 12 (b) John Cleese & Connie Booth; 6. (a) Quentin Crisp (b) John Hurt. ■
Photos top: TAPS Award winners and guests Anthony Alleyne, Tracy Spottiswoode, Peter Cregreen, Paul Abbott, Jill James, Bennett Arron and Des Dillon; inset: Shorts runner-up Colin Wilson; above: Christmas Quiz winner Mark McKeown - congratulations and enjoy the Champagne dinner.
News Digest
17