BAFTAs Creating A Casting Category – Could The Oscars Be Next?
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The British Academy has decided to add a casting category to the BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Oscars. Beginning in 2020, voters will be able to weigh in on the film and TV projects they think had the best casting of the year, marking the first time that BAFTA has introduced a new category across both its film and TV sections at the same time. Now that this is in effect across the pond, is there a chance the Academy Awards follow suit and add a similar category?
The Hollywood Reporterbrings word about the BAFTAs addition of the new casting category, which is the first new category added to the awards in twenty years. (In 1999, the organization added the “outstanding debut” award.) In a statement, BAFTA chairPippa Harrissaid:
Could the Oscars introduce a similar category? Casting is, as Harris said, an essential part of filmmaking, and the contributions of casting directors are often unheralded. How many casting directors can you name off the top of your head? My answer is embarrassingly low: only two. I know aboutAllison Jones, the casting director responsible for early Judd Apatow movies likeThe 40-Year-Old VirginandKnocked Upand last year’s breakout indie hitEighth Grade, andNina Gold, who castGame of Thrones,Attack the Block,Chernobyl, and the newestStar Warstrilogy. Adding a casting category to the Oscars would be a great opportunity to shine more light on this part of the industry, one that seems to have more women in key positions than other departments. It’d be icing on the cake for young girls tuning into the Oscars to be introduced to more role models in an industry that’s traditionally dominated by men.
But I must admit, in all of the discussions I’ve taken part in or read about over the past ten years or so about possible new Oscar categories, a category for stunts seems to be the most prominent discussion point. (We’vewritten a lotabout that on /Filmover the years, especially as blockbusters have become an increasingly larger part of the cinematic landscape.) I’m certainly not implying that casting isn’t as important as stunts, but I do wonder if there were to be a new category added, if the loud support for stunts would mean that category would be added to the lineup first.
To learn more about the ins and outs of what a casting director actually does, check out the 2012 documentaryCasting By, which iscurrently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
In any event, you’re able to readThe Hollywood Reporter’s full articleto find out the other tweaks and small additions viewers can expect when the BAFTAs take place onFebruary 2, 2020.
