It’s a grumpy and stormy year ahead for the Gemini Awards Gala.
Posted at 6:00 am
First, the Québec Television Festival loses its star presenter Véronique Cloutier, who hangs up her microphone after four consecutive rounds.
“My instinct tells me that after four good galas, two of them with health restrictions, there is a risk of one gala too many and it will be good to have offspring,” Véronique Cloutier tells me.
Also, Vero is still brewing up Gemini with her team from the Zénith show, who lacks the time to schedule this other contract. Véronique Cloutier’s professional agenda also includes L’œil du cyclone, which will be filmed during the summer, and the daily program Véronique et lesfantastics on Rouge FM. “For a few years now, my fall comebacks have been exciting but exhausting,” the blonde hostess continued.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, which oversees the cast of Les Gémeaux, has not yet announced the identity of the person who will succeed Véronique Cloutier, known as the Queen Mother, who has since headlined a total of nine Gemini galas 2008
They are big but pretty shoes to wear. A couple is rumored to be taking control of the 38th Gemini ceremony scheduled for Sunday, September 17 on Radio-Canada.
I hear a lot of grumbling behind the scenes about the awarding of these golden statuettes. The main complaints? The so-called control of voting by an influential core, the predictability of ultimate winners, juries’ disdain for popular television – as opposed to more specialized and prestigious television – as well as the emergence of non-gender categories, which No member has claimed.
After consultation with his teams, producer Guillaume Lespérance from A Média has created the programs Bonsoir bonsoir! and discussions with my parents at the upcoming twin race. “Talks With My Parents is always at the top of audiences’ favorite shows, but never wins anything. It is the comedy that scores best but is never named. With bonsoir bonsoir! we’ve never had anything in four years,” notes Guillaume Lespérance.
Do not forget that participating in Gemini is very expensive, often to serve as an extra in the room. Because no, the Academy does not choose the most deserving shows itself. It accepts entries and charges producers between $260 and $1,390 (average is around $400) for a single entry in a single category.
Thus, a producer like Guillaume Lespérance, who also takes care of Les Mecs and Tout le monde en parle, can spend between 25,000 and 35,000 US dollars to enter this competition.
“The amount is less important this year,” continues Guillaume Lespérance, without specifying the exact price of his bill for 2023. He adds: “I won Gemini and I’m very grateful. But it’s still very arbitrary. I’ve won twins that I shouldn’t have won and I’ve lost a few that I should have won. I remain in solidarity because the Academy has really made an effort to reform and eliminated several categories. »
In fact, the number of prizes awarded has fallen from 143 to 92. “It’s important that the winners feel like it matters,” says the Quebec Academy’s director-general, Mara Gourd-Mercado.
Also, producer Fabienne Larouche, who makes Heartbeat, STAT, Happiness and Reasonable Doubt, reduced her registrations for the 2023 Gemini campaign. “We have registered where we believe there is competitive logic. Who will face Xavier Dolan with all the time, money and talent he’s had? Nobody stands a chance against him,” says Fabienne Larouche, who has already paid $60,000 in registration and participation fees for the Gémeaux. She no longer spends such large sums.
The miniseries The Night Laurier Gaudreault Woke Up, which released on Club illico in November, will be part of the competition, confirms producer Nancy Grant. Laurier Gaudreault’s budget has never been publicly announced, but Xavier Dolan managed what was probably the most expensive set in Quebec television history.
The Academy recognizes that this is a transitional year for Gemini and that not everything is perfect. “You have to trust the process,” demands its general manager Mara Gourd-Mercado.
Luc Dionne, he wants nothing more to do with the Gemini gang. The prolific author, who has won four awards for writing District 31, isn’t even a member of the academy anymore.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, ARCHIVE SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Luc Dionne at the Gemini Gala in September 2022
“I tried to change things by getting involved in committees. I hit a wall. I find it unacceptable that the writers and directors are not present at the evening gala. Without an author, there are no fictional series. The fact that the academy cannot recognize the work of screenwriters is beyond me. At the afternoon gala we are treated like cattle,” says Luc Dionne in an interview.
The one who also signed Omertà and Blue Moon is very tough on the Gemini organization. “For me personally, the Gémeaux Awards Gala is over. It’s old fashioned. There are more Gemini trophies in circulation than Gold Star stamps. It lacks seriousness,” quips Luc Dionne, who prefers people to watch his shows rather than garnishing his shelves with golden rewards.
“The real twin, that’s it,” he philosophizes.