Film Independent Spirit Awards move to gender-neutral categories, up indie budget cap
The Film Independent Spirit Awards have adapted their competitive categories and key nominations standards for the 2023 ceremony.
Beginning with next year's presentation, the awards body will move to gender-neutral acting categories across both film and television. The awards were previously handed out based on male and female classifications.
The film categories include Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance with 10 nomination slots each, as well as the new Best Breakthrough Performance, which is capped at five nominees.
On the TV side, the acting categories are now Best Lead Performance in a Scripted series (10 nominees) and Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series, a new division that's also set at 10 nominees.
George Pimentel/Getty Images Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Film Independent further announced Tuesday that it will increase the budgetary cap for films eligible to receive Indie Spirit nominations up from $22.5 million to $30 million, with the John Cassavetes Award for a writer-director-producer increasing from $500,000 to $1 million.
"We're thrilled to join the other festivals and award shows that are already moving to celebrate great acting without reference to gender. We're also happy to welcome non-binary performers into the Spirit Awards without forcing them to choose to identify as male or female," said Josh Welsh, Film Independent's president, in a press statement. "Additionally, it has been a long time since we substantially increased the budget limit for eligibility. This new cap allows us to continue to celebrate the same breadth of work that we have in the past."
Citing a "response to the continuing effects of COVID on filmmakers and the industry," the Indie Spirits will again suspend the usual qualification standard that requires films to have a theatrical run before being nominated.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Maggie Gyllenhaal at the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Film Independent's tastes sometimes align with the Academy's, though its voting base encompasses anyone who chooses to pay for a membership regardless of their standing in the filmmaking industry. The Indie Spirits' Best Feature winner has crossed over into Oscar territory several times in the past, with past prizes going to Nomadland, Moonlight, Spotlight, Birdman, and 12 Years A Slave. Last year, Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Lost Daughter won the Spirits' top prize before sitting out of the Oscars' Best Picture nominations list altogether.
Nominations for the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards will be announced on Nov. 22, followed by TV nominations on Dec. 13. The ceremony will take place on March 4.
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