Chapter and Jury Voting
14 June 08
Winners in the following categories are determined by either Chapter or Jury voting:
- Best British Film
- The Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film
- Director
- Original Screenplay
- Adapted Screenplay
- Music
- Film Not in the English Language
- Animated Film
- Cinematography
- Production Design
- Costume Design
- Editing
- Sound
- Special Visual Effects
- Make-Up & Hair
- Short Film
- Short Animation
Note: nominees for the Carl Foreman Award, the Short Film and Short Animation Awards are also decided by juries
CHAPTER VOTING
- Chapters are made up of Academy Members with expertise and experience in the specialised field relating to a category (Sound, Music, etc). A Chapter must contain 80 or more Members. Any categories with less than 80 Chapter members will be decided by a jury;
- In Round One, the votes of Chapter members will be counted separately to those of general Film Voting Members. The top five films voted for by the Chapters will be included in the long list for the second round of voting, where they will be highlighted, to distinguish them from other films selected by the general membership vote;
- In Round Two, the entire Film Voting membership will vote for the five nominees in all categories included in the membership/Chapter vote;
- In the final round, the relevant Chapter or jury only will vote to select the winner in their category.
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CHAPTER
A Chapter was introduced for this category for the first time in 2007/08. Members may opt to join this Chapter in addition to their original Chapter if they watch a large number of non-English language films throughout the year. Provided that there are at least 80 members of this Chapter at the time the voting list is finalised, the Chapter will select the nominees, which will then go to membership vote in the final round:
Round One:
The Chapter vote for their top five films. These nominations are released early, at the time of the long lists being released at the start of the second round. By releasing the nominations for this category early, the membership has more time to watch the nominated films. This allows the Members to decide the winner in this category for the first time, replacing the jury system used in the past.
Round Two:
No vote.
Round Three:
The membership at large decides the winner from the five nominations. If there are less than 80 members of this Chapter, the membership will vote in rounds one and two, with a jury deciding the winner.
COSTUME DESIGN AND MAKE UP & HAIR
A Chapter has been formed to judge these categories for the first time in 2008/09. Costume Design and Make Up & Hair practitioners will combine to form a voting Chapter. This Chapter’s votes for both categories will be counted separately in Round One; the top five films voted for by the Chapters will be included in the long list for the second round of voting, where they will be highlighted, to distinguish them from other films selected by the general membership vote. In the final round, this Chapter will vote to select the winners in both categories.
If the combined Make Up & Hair and Costume Chapter members do not number 80, then the winners will be decided by two juries (one for Make Up & Hair and one for Costume).
ACTING CHAPTER
For the first time in 2008/09, the votes of the Acting Chapter will be counted separately in Round One. The top five films voted for by the Chapter will be included in the long list for the second round of voting, where they will be highlighted, to distinguish them from other films selected by the general membership vote. In Round Three, all Academy Film Voting Members will vote to select the winners in these categories.
JURY VOTING
Appointing a jury
- Members of the Film Committee are allocated a category for which they will act as chair (for those categories not voted for by Chapter). Each chair is responsible for appointing their jurors, in consultation with the Film Committee Chair;
- Juries should always amount to an odd number with a recommended number of nine. A minimum of seven and maximum of 11 members is allowed. The majority must always be practitioners working within the craft of the category under consideration;
- If, for any reason, a jury member becomes unavailable, every effort must be made to obtain a replacement. In case of difficulty, the Film Committee Chair should be contacted for assistance;
- Any individuals with a conflict of interest will not be allowed to serve on the jury;
- Each jury chair is responsible for initially informing members that, by accepting the invitation to serve on the jury, they agree to: a) observe confidentiality at all times, and b) be present at the voting session until the procedure has been completed and a winner has been identified;
- All jurors will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement;
- It is the responsibility of the chair to ensure that, when inviting persons to stand, no one organisation connected via their business backgrounds could become a majority influence;
- Each jury chair will decide upon their own method of inviting potential jury members and later, when the jury have been appointed, of keeping them informed of nominations, dates of jury screenings and the jury session as they become known;
- It is the responsibility of jury members to see all five nominated films (three for Animated Film and Short Animation) and, prior to the commencement of discussion, the chair will ensure that this requirement has been fulfilled. If not, the member(s) concerned must stand down.
- Jury chairs should ensure that no juror sits on more than one jury (PLus the Best British Film jury)
Jury session
- Jury chairs should contact Doreen Dean (see page 21 for details) to book a date, time and venue for their jury session to take place;
The chair will be provided with a jury paper in advance of the jury session, outlining the voting rules and procedures. The chair is responsible for accurately imparting the information to jury members; - The chair will, during the briefing, inform jurors of the following procedure to be adopted for: reducing the five nominations (three for Animated Film and Short Animation), the event of a tie at any stage and, if necessary, the use of a casting vote. These procedures will be outlined in the jury paper;
- The procedure, when available, may be forwarded to jury members by the chair as soon as the jury is appointed;
- The chair may engage in discussion but may not 'lead' the jurors in any way;
- The chair will make it very clear that, at the end of the jury session, a tie (i.e. no result) is not acceptable; - The Academy's Film Committee Chair must be informed of any circumstance that could be construed as a conflict of interest. If the chair or any member of the jury has a business connection or other personal association with a nominee or nominated film, they must step down. If considered necessary, a replacement will be arranged.
Voting procedure
- Pre-printed voting forms with the five nominations listed (three for Animated Film and Short Animation) will be distributed by the chair at the beginning of each jury session;
- The chair will instruct jury members to print their name where indicated at the top of the voting form;
- Discussion followed by voting will then take place. Each jury member will confirm their vote by signing the form next to the nomination they have selected as the winner;
- The chair will collect the forms and count the votes without reference to who has voted for which film;
- In the event of a clear majority at the first vote, the chair will only inform jury members that a decision has been reached. The name of the winner will not be disclosed.
Tied vote
- In the event of a tied first vote, the jury chair will call for a second vote. Nominations which have gained no votes or one vote only, will not go forward as contenders;
- The chair will return the voting forms and instruct members to refer to the box headed 'second vote';
- The chair will state which nomination(s) received no votes or one vote only in the first vote, and will confirm to jury members that these films must now be disregarded;
- The chair will then confirm which nominations remain. Jury members will enter them in the second vote box themselves;
- Discussion on the remaining nominations will then take place;
- Before the second vote takes place, the chair will inform the jury that, in the unlikely event of a further tied vote, he/she will exercise the right to a casting vote. However, when the voting slips are handed in (after the second vote) there will be no comment on them by the chair. Whether a casting vote must be used or not will not be stated.
Result slips
- The chair will enter the final result on the result slips, a pair of self-carbonated papers;
- Result slips are forwarded in pre-printed, colour-coded sealed envelopes.
- The top copy (white) will be forwarded to the Chief Executive of the Academy;
- The second copy (pink), together with all jury voting forms will be forwarded to the Academy's scrutineers;
- The scrutineers will confirm the results of each category in writing to the Chief Executive at the end of the jury process;
- The scrutineers will retain voting forms - together with their (pink) copy of the result slip - for one year following the date of the Awards ceremony.
Further information on voting rules and procedures may be obtained from Doreen Dean at the Academy. Click here
for contact details.
NOMINATIONS/WINNERS
- The nominations for each category will always be listed in alphabetical order;
- The winners press release is the definitive source of award winners information;
- All individual named nominees will receive a certificate of nomination;
- All individuals named as award winners will receive a British Academy Award and a winner's certificate;
- The British Academy Award may not be reproduced or used in any commercial manner unless prior permission has been obtained from the Academy;
- The Academy does not issue replicas of the British Academy Award.
- The British Academy Award (BAFTA mask) remains the property of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, to remain in the care of the recipient or his/her descendents. Should the British Academy Award leave the care of the recipient or his/her descendants, the Academy reserves the right to purchase the mask back for a fee of £1. The Award must not be sold on to any third party.
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