Sam Mendes opens up about gender-neutral awards, says they are "inevitable"

Washington [US], January 8 : British filmmaker Sam Mendes recently spoke about how he feels regarding gender-neutral awards and also opened up about award shows in general.
According to Deadline, a USA-based entertainment news outlet, during an interview with BBC, Mendes was asked about actor Emma Corrin's call to eliminate gender from award shows.
"I have total sympathy with it, yeah, and I think it might well be inevitable in the end. I think that's the way it's moving and I think that it's perfectly reasonable," he said.
Mendes won an Oscar in the year 2000 for his directorial work on 'American Beauty' and a BAFTA Award for '1917'.
Speaking on the topic of award shows, Mendes added, "For me, people forget with awards, I think this happens all the time, they use it as a bellwether for the industry but the truth is awards are a TV show."
He continued, "You know, awards are there to promote films. If that film wins an award, I'm more likely to go and see it and that's what you're doing there. It's not about yourself, it's not about the art or craft of the industry, especially, it's about selling films."
As per Deadline, Corrin, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, plays Diana, Princess of Wales, in 'The Crown'. They are nominated for a Golden Globe award for her work on 'The Policeman' in the Best Actress -- Television Series Drama category.