British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual award ceremonies, BAFTA has an international programme of learning events and initiatives offering access to talent through workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures, and mentoring schemes in the United Kingdom and the United States.
BAFTA's annual film awards ceremony, the British Academy Film Awards, has been held since 1949, while its annual television awards ceremony, the British Academy Television Awards, has been held since 1955. Their third ceremony, the British Academy Games Awards, was first presented in 2004.
Origins
BAFTA started out as the British Film Academy, founded in 1947 by a group of directors: David Lean, Alexander Korda, Roger Manvell, Laurence Olivier, Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell, Michael Balcon, Carol Reed, and other major figures of the British film industry.David Lean was the founding chairman. The first Film Awards ceremony took place in May 1949, honouring the films The Best Years of Our Lives, Odd Man Out and The World Is Rich.
The Guild of Television Producers and Directors was set up in 1953 with the first awards ceremony in October 1954, and in 1958 merged with the British Film Academy to form the Society of Film and Television Arts, whose inaugural meeting was held at Buckingham Palace and presided over by the Duke of Edinburgh.
195 Piccadilly
The Society of Film and Television Arts acquired the historic Prince's Hall facilities at 195 Piccadilly, following the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours' move to the Mall Galleries. Queen Elizabeth, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal and The Earl Mountbatten of Burma opened the organisation's headquarters in 1976, and it became the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in March 1976.In 2016 BAFTA embarked on an extensive renovation of the Grade II listed property. Benedetti Architects oversaw a £33M+ remodel, doubling its original capacity with an additional floor, raising and restoring two large Victorian rooflight structures and decorative plasterwork, creating an entire floor devoted to BAFTA's learning and new talent programmes, and revamping the property's food, beverage, and events operations in order to maximize revenue to sustain property maintenance and operations. The new facilities were reopened in 2022.
Organisational structure
BAFTA is a membership organisation comprising approximately 8,000 individuals worldwide who are creatives and professionals working in and making a contribution to the film, television and games industries in the UK. In 2005, it placed an overall cap on worldwide voting membership which stood at approximately 6,500 as of 2017.BAFTA does not receive any funding from the government; it relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work.
BAFTA has offices in Scotland and Wales in the UK, in Los Angeles and New York in the United States and runs events in Hong Kong and mainland China.
Amanda Berry served as chief executive of the organisation between December 2000 and October 2022. Jane Millichip has held the position since October 2022.
Initiatives
In addition to its high-profile awards ceremonies, BAFTA manages a year-round programme of educational events and initiatives including film screenings and Q&As, tribute evenings, interviews, lectures, and debates with major industry figures. With over 250 events a year, BAFTA's stated aim is to inspire and inform the next generation of talent by providing a platform for some of the world's most talented practitioners to pass on their knowledge and experience.Scholarships
BAFTA runs a number of scholarship programmes across the UK, United States and Asia.Launched in 2012, the UK programme enables talented British citizens who are in need of financial support to take an industry-recognised course in film, television or games in the UK. Each BAFTA Scholar receives up to £12,000 towards their annual course fees, and mentoring support from a BAFTA member and free access to BAFTA events around the UK. Since 2013, three students every year have received one of the Prince William Scholarships in Film, Television and Games, supported by BAFTA and Warner Bros. These scholarships are awarded in the name of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge in his role as president of BAFTA.
In the U.S., BAFTA Los Angeles offers financial support and mentorship to British graduate students studying in the US, as well as scholarships to provide financial aid to local LA students from the inner city. BAFTA New York's Media Studies Scholarship Program, set up in 2012, supports students pursuing media studies at undergraduate and graduate level institutions within the New York City area and includes financial aid and mentoring opportunities.
Since 2015, BAFTA has been offering scholarships for British citizens to study in China, and vice versa.
Albert
In 2011 BAFTA founded the organisation Albert, which promotes sustainable film and television production through its carbon footprint calculator and certification. All BBC, ITV, Channel 4, UKTV, Sky and Netflix productions in the UK are required to register their carbon footprint using the Albert carbon calculator, and the BBC requires all television commissions to be Albert certified.Awards
BAFTA presents awards for film, television and games, including children's entertainment, at a number of annual ceremonies across the UK and in Los Angeles.BAFTA awards
The BAFTA award trophy is a mask, designed by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe. When the Guild merged with the British Film Academy to become the Society of Film and Television Arts, later the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the first "BAFTA award" was presented to Sir Charles Chaplin on his Academy Fellowship that year.A BAFTA award – including the bronze mask and marble base – weighs and measures high × wide × deep; the mask itself measures high × wide. They are made of phosphor bronze and cast in a Middlesex foundry.
In 2017, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts introduced new entry rules for British films starting from the 2018/19 season to foster diversity.
Awards ceremonies
Film Awards
BAFTA's annual film awards ceremony is known as the British Academy Film Awards, or "the BAFTAs", and reward the best work of any nationality seen on British cinema screens during the preceding year. In 1949 the British Film Academy, as it was then known, presented the first awards for films made in 1947 and 1948. Since 2008 the ceremony has been held at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden. It had been held in the Odeon cinema on Leicester Square since 2000.Since 2017, the BAFTA ceremony has been held at the Royal Albert Hall. The ceremony had been performed during April or May of each year, but beginning 2002 it has been held in February to precede the Academy Awards in the United States, making the BAFTA Film Awards a major precursor of the eventual annual results of the Oscar ceremonies since.
In order for a film to be considered for a BAFTA nomination, its first public exhibition must be displayed in a cinema and it must have a UK theatrical release for no fewer than seven days of the calendar year that corresponds to the upcoming awards. A movie must be of feature-length and movies from all countries are eligible in all categories, with the exception of the Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film and Outstanding Debut which are for British films or individuals only.
Television Awards and Television Craft Awards
The British Academy Television Awards ceremony usually takes place during April or May, with its sister ceremony, the British Academy Television Craft Awards, usually occurring within a few weeks of it.The Television Awards, celebrating the best TV programmes and performances of the past year, are also often referred to simply as "the BAFTAs" or, to differentiate them from the movie awards, the "BAFTA Television Awards". They have been awarded annually since 1954. The first ever ceremony consisted of six categories. Until 1958, they were awarded by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors.
From 1968 until 1997, BAFTA's Film and Television Awards were presented together, but from 1998 onwards they were presented at two separate ceremonies.
The Television Craft Awards celebrate the talent behind the programmes, such as individuals working in visual effects, production, and costume design.
Only British programmes are eligible – with the potential exception of the publicly voted Audience Award – but any cable, satellite, terrestrial or digital television stations broadcasting in the UK are eligible to submit entries, as are independent production companies who have produced programming for the channels. Individual performances can either be entered by the performers themselves or by the broadcasters. The programmes being entered must have been broadcast on or between 1 January and 31 December of the year preceding the awards ceremony.
Since 2014 the "BAFTA Television Awards" have been open to TV programmes which are only broadcast online.
Games Awards
The British Academy Games Awards ceremony traditionally takes place in March, shortly after the Film Awards ceremony in February.BAFTA first recognised video games and other interactive media at its inaugural BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards ceremony during 1998, the first major change of its rules since the admittance of television thirty years earlier. Among the first winning games were GoldenEye 007, Gran Turismo and interactive comedy MindGym, sharing the spotlight with the BBC News Online website which won the news category four years consecutively. These awards allowed the academy to recognise new forms of entertainment that were engaging new audiences and challenging traditional expressions of creativity.
During 2003, the sheer ubiquity of interactive forms of entertainment and the breadth of genres and types of video games outgrew the combined ceremony, and the event was divided into the BAFTA Video Games Awards and the BAFTA Interactive Awards Despite making headlines with high-profile winners like Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 the interactive division was discontinued and disappeared from BAFTA's publicity material after only two ceremonies.
During 2006, BAFTA announced its decision "to give video games equal status with film and television", and the academy now advertises video games as its third major topic in recognition of its importance as an art form of moving images. The same year the ceremony was performed at The Roundhouse by Chalk Farm Road in North London on 5 October and was televised for the first time on 17 October and was broadcast on the digital channel E4.
Between 2009 and 2019, the ceremonies have been performed at the London Hilton Park Lane and Tobacco Dock, and have been hosted by Dara Ó Briain and Rufus Hound. In 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced that the ceremony was changing format from a live red-carpet ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London to an online show. The online show was presented by Dara Ó Briain from his home and was watched by 720,000 globally.
In 2021 the 17th British Academy Games Awards was hosted by arts and entertainment presenter Elle Osili-Wood and was watched by a global audience of 1.5 million.