DCHP-3

Gemini Award

DCHP-2 (Jul 2012)

Spelling variants:
Gemini, The Geminis

1n. — Entertainment

an annual award for excellence in Canadian English-language television, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 1986 to 2012.

Type: 1. Origin — When the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (ACCT) assumed responsibility for television awards from the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) in 1986, the Gemini Awards were created to honour Canadians in the English-language television industry. The Gemini statuette given to awardees (see Image 1) was designed by Scott Thornley (see ACCT reference).
At the time of the award's dissolution in 2012, there were 87 categories of awards, as well as several special awards given for various reasons, such as lifetime achievement. In 2012, the ACCT announced that the Gemini and Genie awards would be discontinued and replaced by the Canadian Screen Awards for all forms of media, including film, television and digital media (see the 2012 quotation). The Canadian Screen Awards were first awarded in 2013.
See also COD-2, s.v. "Gemini" (3), which is marked "Cdn", ITP Nelson, s.v. "Gemini" (3).
The Gemini Award was only awarded to English-language television. The ACCT holds a French counterpart of the Geminis, Les Prix Gémeaux, in Quebec (see the 1986 and 1996 quotations).

Quotations

1986
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television yesterday unveiled a new award - the Gemini - to honor excellence in Canadian television. The Gemini replaces the 15-year-old Nellie award which is given out by the Alliance of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, the country's main union of performers, to its own members and associates. The Nellies were much criticized for failing to go beyond the scope of ACTRA. The new award is a brass statue cut in the profile of a human face so that a second face appears to exist beside it in an optical illusion, much like the old textbook example of a vase that also forms a face on either side.
1996
[The awards committee] had settled on a complementary pair of names for the separate French and English competitions, the Geminis and the Gemeaux.
2007
When it comes time for next year's Geminis, why not take viewers into consideration? Stop the endless roll call of awards and give those off camera before the show starts. Save the hour for truly celebrating Canadian TV by turning it into a big party like the old ACTRA Awards.
2008
The 23rd Annual Gemini Awards, recognizing the year's best in Canadian English-language television, return to Toronto this fall. The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (ACCT), along with broadcast partner Canwest Broadcasting, announced yesterday that the awards will air on Nov. 28.
2012
The new Canadian prizes for film, television and digital media will be known as the Canadian Screen Awards, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announced today. [...] The academy announced earlier this year that the Genie Awards for Canadian English-language film and the Geminis for Canadian TV would be combined. The decision came after extensive consultation with the film and television industries. A new logo that will be reflected in the winning statuette was also unveiled Tuesday in Toronto. The awards will be extended to digital media – though the academy did not specify how it would approach cellphone or internet video.
2012
Say goodbye to the Genies and the Geminis, and get ready for a sleek and elegant new statuette that will honour Canada's outstanding achievements on screens everywhere: in the cinema, on TV screens or on your laptop. Helga Stephenson, CEO of the recently revamped Academy of Canadian Cinema, introduced the new award at a media conference on Tuesday. Her timing is apt in announcing the marriage of the Genies and the Geminis. This week last year, the Geminis were handed out the night before the opening of the Toronto International Film Festival. No doubt a nickname will come later, but for now the official name for the new prize is the Canadian Screen Awards. The first batch of them will be handed out on Sunday, March 3, 2013 during a two-hour live telecast in prime time on CBC's main network.
2015
In 2014, the CSAs earned a mere 534,000 viewers, a dip of more than 30% from the year before, when 756,000 tuned in. Somewhat appropriately, the latter figure is what you would get if you combined the average yearly viewership of the Genie and Gemini awards, which were married in 2013 to create the Screenies. By contrast, last year's Oscars were watched by 6.1 million Canadians.

References

Images

Image 1: a Gemini statuette. Source: Canadian Encyclopedia.

Image 1: a Gemini statuette. Source: Canadian Encyclopedia.