Feb. 8, 2004 has suddenly become a date of contention between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
SAG last week announced that date for SAG's 10th annual live awards telecast on cable's Turner Network Television (TNT). The announcement didn't sit well with BAFTA. The Brits back in January had announced the same date for their annual honors. SAG has been holding its awards in March, before the Academy Awards take place late in the month. BAFTA commonly presents its honors in April.
Both groups are responding to the Academy of Arts and Sciences moving its annual Oscar ceremony up from its traditional March date to late February. And now BAFTA has responded to SAG's maneuver.
"Obviously, we are very sad that SAG has moved its ceremony to the same date as our awards," Duncan Kenworthy, BAFTA's film committee chairman said last week. "We will have to look at the calendar and carefully consider our options. We have time to consider our position and weigh up the options because it is about the awards in 2004."
The problem doesn't concern a television-broadcast conflict, since the BAFTA awards aren't aired in the U.S. The difficulty lies in the conflict for stars who might be up for the high-profile honors from the British academy and the actors' own performers union. Say Tom Hanks might receive best-actor nominations for both BAFTA and SAG awards. It's important to both groups that he appear in person, especially if he wins. What's a famous actor to do?
The Academy Awards are set for a Feb. 29, 2004 date. BAFTA's Kenworthy stating that his academy is weighing its options would indicate it would be looking at a suitable date between Feb. 8 and Feb. 29.
"We look forward to working with the industry in 2003-2004, as together we celebrate a decade of honoring the outstanding work of actors in film and television and the unique significance of peer recognition which impelled the conception and continued growth of the Screen Actors Guild Awards," Yale Summers, chairman of the SAG awards committee, said last week in announcing the date change. "We looked carefully at the projected awards schedule for 2004 and in concert with our network, TNT, we have adjusted our dates to fit the new awards season."
BAFTA obviously is questioning that careful look in 2004.
As for SAG's 2003 awards ceremony, it will take place on Sun., March 9. SAG annually honors outstanding performances in five film categories and eight television categories, including the unique ensemble awards, which commend the collaborative performance by a cast in a motion picture and by the ensemble casts of both comedy and dramatic television series.
Submissions for the 2003 SAG awards open on Mon., Sept. 23 and close on Fri., Nov. 22. The guild announces the nominations on Tues., Jan 28, 2003.
-- Roger Armbrust