Canadian Screen Awards gender neutral actings categories
Film & TV

Canadian Screen Awards for acting to go gender-neutral in 2023

by Lorraine Carpenter

Lead and supporting acting categories in film and TV will expand from five to eight nominees each.

The Canadian Screen Awards are going gender-neutral in 2023, following a five-year consultation with 40 industry bodies. There will now be half as many award categories for the best lead roles and for the best supporting roles in film, TV comedy, TV drama and TV movie. Each of the acting categories will feature up to eight nominees.

“The Canadian Academy believes this is a progressive, necessary step towards an equitable screen-based industry by ensuring all Canadian performers are eligible to be honoured by their peers, and are thrilled to be among the first Academy of its kind in the world to implement this format.”

—Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television chair John Young

The L.A.-based Independent Spirit Awards also announced a shift to gender-neutral acting categories this week, with 10 nominees per acting category.

The digital media component of the Canadian Screen Awards have been gender-neutral since 2019.

Canadian Screen Awards for acting to go gender-neutral in 2023

For more about the CSAs, please visit the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television website.

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Posted in Film & TV

by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.