The Television Academy on Monday announced rule changes for the 74th Emmy Awards that will align with the evolving television industry.
New changes include the elimination of categorization based on program length for a comedy or drama series, and that episode lengths will no longer dictate submission categories. Instead, producers will determine category submissions, but the Academy’s Industry Panel has the right to review the producer’s preference.
Comedy and drama series will now be deemed as programs with multiple episodes (with a minimum of six) with an ongoing theme, storyline and main characters presented under the same title. Programs under 20 minutes are the exception and must be submitted in shortform categories. Previously, 30-minute shows were automatically considered comedies while 60-minute shows were deemed dramas.
The Interactive Program category and the juried award for Innovation in Interactive Programming have also been eliminated for the 2021-22 competition.
Previously, it was announced that any film placed on the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences platform will be deemed a theatrical motion picture and therefore ineligible for the Emmys. It was also announced that outstanding stunt coordination has been split back into two categories, one for stunt coordination for a comedy series or variety program and the other for outstanding stunt coordination for a drama series, limited or anthology series or movie.
The Academy also added new eligible titles. For example, VFX editor has been added as an Emmy-eligible title in the special visual effects categories, and supervising story producers has been added in the structured, unstructured and competition program categories. Voice director has been added for animated programs.
“This year our Awards Committee has worked with industry colleagues to further define program eligibility for the Emmy competition,” says Frank Scherma, Chairman and CEO for the Television Academy. “We’ve made great strides in differentiating what is eligible for our respective competitions, in concert with ongoing changes in content development and distribution.”
Additionally, the Governors Award description has been revised as follows: “The Board of Governors may, when warranted, recognize an individual, company, or organization that has made a profound, transformational, and long-lasting contribution to the arts and/or science of television by presenting them with the Governors Award.”
Last week, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which is behind the Daytime Emmys, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which is behind the Primetime Emmys, announced a major realignment, shifting to genre-based awards rather than time-based awards as part of an effort to ensure the competitions’ continued relevance. However, there is no plan for the two academies to merge, and the two ceremonies will remain separate and retain their current names.
The 2022 Emmy Awards will take place on Sept. 18. The full list of rule changes can be found here.
