If it’s true – as the Renaissance Italian sculptor and painter Leonardo da Vinci once claimed – that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, then Canada’s homegrown TV and movie award ceremonies just became a little more sophisticated.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television’s announcement Tuesday that it will combine its annual film, television and digital media awards into a single gala event will be welcome news to those who could never separate the Genies from the Geminis. It may also have the added benefit of drawing more attention to efforts to create a purely homegrown star system. And it may encourage more people to watch Canadian TV programs, or see Canadian movies, if they now know those movies exist.
There will be complaints from some of those who work in the industry, no doubt. Canadian television insiders like the idea of a gala evening devoted entirely to TV, and filmmakers are probably no different.
The academy’s decision reflects both a hard truth, and an acknowledgment that award shows themselves are changing.
The hard truth is that few entertainment consumers cared about either the Geminis or the Genies, judging from the overnight ratings. The Geminis, in particular, have been bounced around from one Canadian broadcaster to another in recent years, and, on one ignominious occasion, were scheduled directly opposite Hockey Night in Canada on a Saturday night, with the entirely predictable result.
Award shows have changed, too, and so have the habits of people who watch them. In recent years, the Golden Globes – long considered an inside joke by industry insiders – have become a more entertaining TV broadcast than the Oscars and Emmys, in part because they bring stars from film and TV together under one roof, and in part because the event is more relaxed, free-flowing and less reverential. The Golden Globes are less stuffy than the Oscars. And while the Oscar ratings far surpass those of the Globes, Oscar ratings have been falling in recent years, while the Globes have steadily grown from one year to the next.
Shining a single spotlight on Canadian film and TV could, in theory, give the homegrown film industry a much-needed boost. If as many filmgoers bought tickets to see a Canadian movie in a movie theatre as viewers watch The Rick Mercer Report in any given week, that movie would immediately become a box-office sensation.
Combining film and TV awards has proven to be a boon for the U.K. film industry, as that country’s annual BAFTA Awards have celebrated mainstream pop-cultural TV hits like Doctor Who and Sherlock, while also drawing attention to small, independent, British-made films that might otherwise be completely overlooked by the British public.
The inaugural Canadian film- and TV-award broadcasts is slated for March 3, 2013. That date may change – nothing in TV is set in stone, as any regular TV viewer knows – but that date also reflects shrewd thinking. The Canadian film-and-TV gala will follow on the heels of the Oscars, which are confirmed for Feb. 24.
That means the gala will air just after the traditional award season, but not so far after the award season that it’s likely to be forgotten. Early March also keeps it away from the Stanley Cup playoffs. And while NHL hockey has nothing to do with arts and entertainment, or Canada’s movie and TV industry, the reality is that hockey drives TV ratings, and if the gala were planned for a playoff hockey night – any playoff hockey night – most casual viewers would choose not to watch.
And make no mistake: This decision is all about the casual viewer – and the average moviegoer who wants to see a decent movie over the weekend, but doesn’t follow the industry closely enough to obsess over every tiny detail.
Canada’s film and TV academy is thinking about the consumer, for a change. This time, it’s change we can believe in.
astrachan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/astrachantv