Press release from the AFI Awards
Jurors are required for the Feature Film Pre-Selection, Documentary, Television, Visual Effects, Short Animation and Short Fiction Film juries. Jurors play an integral role in selecting this year’s AFI Award winners, each AFI Awards jury includes representatives from across all industry crafts.
If you are a member of the AFI with professional film or television credits, you are eligible to become an AFI Awards juror. If you are not an AFI member, but are a member of another screen industry guild we encourage you to consider taking part in the AFI Awards by becoming a professional AFI member.
Prospective jurors should be familiar with the 2010 AFI Awards Rule Book and entry guidelines and they should also not have any vested interest in any of the entries they will be assessing, and will be required to sign a statutory declaration to this effect. Jurors will have a minimum of four weeks to view the relevant productions. An independent auditor will attend all meetings.
Jurors’ names will be publicly released at the end of each year to ensure transparency and authenticity in the judging and voting process, however they will not be attributed to specific juries. In addition, all voting is conducted via secret preferential ballot and winners are not revealed by the scrutineer at any of the jury meetings.
As part of the jury process, jurors will be required to:
• View all productions entered in their relevant category
• Assess and shortlist selections prior to the jury meeting
• Participate in a jury meeting. All jury meetings will occur in Melbourne (interstate jurors will participate via conference call).
• If selected for the Television Grand Jury (comprised of jurors from the three Television juries) additional viewing and participation in one additional meeting will be required.
• If selected for the Documentary Craft Jury (comprised of jurors from the three Documentary juries) additional viewing and participation in one additional meeting will be required.
As a guide here are each juries viewing timelines:
JURY VIEWING & MEETING
Feature Film Pre-Selection June – July
Short Fiction & Short Animation June – July
Documentary [Series, Under One Hour and Feature juries] June – July
Television Drama July – September
Television Comedy Series & Light Entertainment Series July – September
Children’s Television [Drama and Animation] July – September
Visual Effects August – September
Documentary Craft Jury September – October
Television Grand Jury September – October
Young Actor September – October
AND WHAT ABOUT VOTING?
There are several distinct AFI Awards categories and each category is decided differently, here’s a snap shot of the judging process that keeps the AFI Awards department busy year round:
FEATURE FILM
The entire professional membership of the AFI is entitled to vote and decide the four nominees and winner of the AFI Award for Best Film. In the craft specific feature film categories such as acting, screenwriting and directing, the nominees and winners are selected by professional AFI members, who vote according to their area of accreditation and expertise. The AFI Members’ Choice Award is voted for by the general membership of the AFI.
DOCUMENTARY
AFI appointed juries of industry professionals vote for the nominees and winners in each of the Documentary Under One Hour and Documentary Series award categories. The Feature Length Documentary Jury determined the four nominees in this category, with all professional AFI members being eligible to vote for the winner of the AFI for Best Feature Length Documentary. In addition, a separate Documentary Craft Jury then determines the final nominees and winners in each of the craft awards across all three Documentary categories.
SHORT FICTION FILM AND SHORT ANIMATION
All general and professional AFI members can vote for the winner of the AFI Award for Best Short Fiction Film, and the AFI Award for Best Short Animation Film. The nominees and winner of all other short film awards are determined by a jury of industry professionals.
TELEVISION
Three juries of industry professionals vote for the nominees and winners in each of the Drama, Children’s Television (Drama and Animation) and Comedy and Light Entertainment award categories. A separate TV Grand Jury then meets to determine the final nominees and winners the categories across all three areas of television.
As you can see it’s quite a rigorous and complex process. The involvement of AFI members in the judging and voting of the 2010 Samsung Mobile AFI Awards and beyond is extremely important and we encourage all AFI members to participate fully by voting in accordance with their voting rights, or becoming an AFI Awards juror.
Let’s hear from two of our 2009 jurors as they share their experience:
Stephen R Smith
Managing Director – Sound Services | Tracks Post Production
"Participating as an industry juror for the AFI Awards has been a great experience. It has given me the opportunity to see many documentaries that I otherwise would have missed. It brought home the diversity and depth of work that had been released in the previous year. It also highlighted the fact that big budgets don’t necessarily mean big winners. Some of the nominees and winners came from the unexpected films; films that made an impact on the panel.
Damian Walshe-Howling
Winner of the AFI Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama for Underbelly
“Volunteering as a juror for the AFI Awards was a highly satisfying experience which allowed me to gain an insight into the breadth of creative talent we have in this country. Watching the films, debating with other jurors on the qualities of each piece and then being an active part of awards night was extremely rewarding”
FINAL CALL
To register your interest to be a juror for the AFI Awards, please email Helene Carter – AFI Awards Manager at awards@afi.org.au with a current CV or details of your professional guild accreditation by Friday 14 May.