Saturday night (9/9)–the first half of this weekend’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards presentation–belonged to 13th (Netflix), writer/director Ava DuVernay’s documentary which delves into the history of racial inequality in the U.S, zeroing in on the fact that the nation’s prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans. 13th won four Emmys, tying for the evening’s highest tally, topping the categories Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, Writing for a Nonfiction Program (DuVernay and Spencer Averick), Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics for the song “Letter to the Free” (lyrics by Common who teamed on the music with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins) and a previously announced Television Academy juried award for Outstanding Motion Design (co-creative directors Angus Wall and Leanne Dare; designer Lynn Cho, animators Dan Meehan and Ekin Akalin).
The title 13th is in reference to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” Filmmaker DuVernay segues from that second qualifying clause to an eye-opening exploration of the American prison industry, our justice system and the horrors of mass criminalization.
In the press room after the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, DuVernay said it was “incredibly important to tell this story,” noting that awards recognition helps “to amplify” that story. DuVernay went on to affirm, “When all kinds of people are feeling aggressively demoralized and devalued, people of justice and dignity need to stand up and make our voices heard. Our voices are stronger than those that try to silence us.”
The four Emmys are the latest honors to be bestowed upon 13th, which earlier earned a Best Feature Documentary Oscar nomination as well as a Peabody Award.
Meanwhile the other alluded to winner of four Emmys on opening night of the Creative Arts proceedings was Samurai Jack, the Adult Swim cartoon series (Cartoon Network Studios), which collected all its previously announced juried awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation (for storyboard artist Bryan Andrews, production designer Scott Wills, character designer Craig Kellman and background designer Lou Romano).
Trio of threes
Next up with three wins apiece were Hairspray Live! (NBC), Saturday Night Live (NBC) and RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1). SNL’s Emmy came in production design, technical direction and makeup. Hairspray Live! was honored for production design, technical direction and hairstyling. And RuPaul’s Drag Race scored in the host (RuPaul Charles), picture editing and costumes.
Winning two Emmys each were The Beatles: Eight Days a Week–The Touring Years (Hulu); Planet Earth II (BBC America), most notably heralded as Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series; Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO); Dancing With The Stars (ABC); Born This Way (A&E); and O.J.: Made In America (ESPN). The latter beat out, among others, 13th, in the Outstanding Direction for a Nonfiction Program (Ezra Edelman) and the Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program (Bret Granato, ACE, Maya Mumma, ACE, and Ben Sozanski, ACE) categories.
Other top program honors went to: James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special (CBS) for Outstanding Variety Special; the Corden-hosted 2016 Tony Awards (CBS), winner of the Special Class Program Award; United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell (CNN) for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program; Bob’s Burgers (Fox) for Outstanding Animated Program; Shark Tank (ABC) for Outstanding Structured Reality Series; and Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (A&E) for Outstanding Informational Series or Special.
Remini was emotional in accepting the Emmy on stage, flanked by those who came forward to share their experiences with Scientology in her series. Backstage Remini, a former Scientologist, said that the Emmy belongs to those who had the courage to “put their stories out there,” noting that she’s honored to have her series “be the vessel” for them to tell those stories. As an actress, Remini said she always wanted to win an Emmy. But this win is extra special because it has a sense of purpose and social relevance.
Network tally
The first night found ABC on top with seven Emmy wins, followed by NBC with six, Netflix with five, Adult Swim and Fox with four apiece; A&E, CBS, HBO and VH1 with three each, BBC America, ESPN, Hulu and National Geographic with two apiece, and one each for Cartoon Network, CNN, Comedy Central, Disney XD, TBS and Viceland.
Here’s a rundown of the evening’s Emmy winners:
Outstanding Animated Program
Bob’s Burgers • Bob, Actually • FOX • 20th Century Fox Television and Bent o Box Entertainment
Outstanding Casting For A Reality Program
Born This Way • A&E • Bunim/Murray Productions Sasha Alpert, CSA, Casting by; Megan Sleeper, Casting by
Outstanding Character Voiceover Performance
Family Guy • The Boys In The Band • FOX • 20th Century Fox Television Seth MacFarlane as Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin, Glenn Quagmire
Outstanding Cinematography For A Nonfiction Program
Planet Earth II • Islands • BBC America • A BBC Studios Natural History Unit Production in co-production with BBC America Cinematography Team [Contributors: Mark MacEwen, Max Hug Williams, Jonathan Jones, Mateo Willis, Richard Wollocombe, Pete McCowen, Warwick Sloss, Paul Stewart, Derek Frankowski, John Shier, Tom Fitz]
Outstanding Cinematography For A Reality Program
Born This Way • Rough Waters • A&E • Bunim/Murray Productions Bruce Ready, Director of Photography
Outstanding Costumes For Variety, Nonfiction Or Reality Programming
RuPaul’s Drag Race • Oh. My. Gaga! • VH1 • World of Wonder Productions; Zaldy Goco, Costume Designer (RuPaul); Perry Meek, Costume Designer (Lady Gaga)
Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special
The Oscars • ABC • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Glenn Weiss, Directed by
Outstanding Directing For A Nonfiction Program
O.J.: Made In America • Part 3 • ESPN • ESPN Films and Laylow Films Ezra Edelman, Directed by
Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Within An Unscripted Program
The Oscars: All Access • Oscar.com • ABC Digital Studio and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Meghan de Boer, Executive Producer; Rich Preuss, Co-Executive Producer; Teeny Stillings, Producer; Augie Vargas, Producer; Shelby Sundling Lathrop, Supervising Producer
Outstanding Interactive Program
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver • HBO • HBO Entertainment in association with Sixteen String Jack Productions and Avalon Television Partially Important Productions
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Series
Dancing With The Stars • Cirque Du Soleil Night • ABC • BBC Worldwide Productions Simon Miles, Lighting Designer; Matthew Cotter, Lighting Director; Suzanne Sotelo, Lighting Director; Matt McAdam, Media Server Programmer
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Special
Super Bowl LI Halftime Show Starring Lady Gaga • FOX • NFL Network Robert Barnhart, Lighting Designer; David Grill, Lighting Director; Pete Radice, Lighting Director; Jason Rudolph, Lighting Director
Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special (Non-Prosthetic)
Saturday Night Live • Host : Alec Baldwin • NBC • SNL Studios in association with Universal Television and Broadway Video Louie Zakarian, Department Head Makeup Artist; Amy Tagliamonti, Key Makeup Artist; Jason Milani, Key Makeup Artist; Daniela Zivcovic, Makeup Artist; Rachel Pagani, Makeup Artist; Andrew Sotomeyer, Makeup Artist
Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Special
13th • Netflix • Forward Movement, LLC and Kandoo Films Angus Wall, Executive Producer; Jason Sterman, Executive Producer; Spencer Averick, Producer; Ava DuVernay, Produced by; Howard Barish, Produced by
Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Series
Planet Earth II • BBC America • A BBC Studios Natural History Unit Production in co-production with BBC America Michael Gunton, Executive Producer; Tom Hugh-Jones, Series Producer; Elizabeth White, Produced by
Outstanding Informational Series Or Special
Leah Remini: Scientology And The Aftermath • A&E • The Intellectual Property Corporation in association with No Seriously Productions Eli Holzman, Executive Producer; Aaron Saidman, Executive Producer; Leah Remini, Executive Producer; Alex Weresow, Executive Producer; Devon Graham Hammonds, Executive Producer; Erin Gamble, Co-Executive Producer; Rachelle Mendez, Co-Executive Producer; Jeana Dill, Supervising Producer
Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special
Hairspray Live! • NBC • Universal Television, Sony Pictures Television, Storyline Entertainment Miia Kovero, Hair Designer; Terry Baliel, Head Hairstylist; Roxane Griffin, Hairstylist; Lawrence Davis, Hairstylist; Jill Crosby, Hairstylist; Joy Zapata, Hairstylist
Outstanding Music Direction
Taking The Stage: African American Music And Stories That Changed America • ABC • Don Mischer Productions Rickey Minor, Music Direction by
Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics
13th • Song Title: Letter To The Free • Netflix • Forward Movement, LLC and Kandoo Films Common, Music & Lyrics by; Robert Glasper, Music by; Karriem Riggins, Music by
Outstanding Picture Editing For A Structured Or Competition Reality Program
RuPaul’s Drag Race • Oh. My. Gaga! • VH1 • World of Wonder Productions Jamie Martin, Lead Editor; John Lim, Editor; Michael Roha, Editor
Outstanding Narrator
Five Came Back • The Price Of Victory • Netflix • Amblin Television, Scott Rudin, IACF Productions in association with Passion Pictures & Rock Paper Scissors Entertainment
Meryl Streep, Narrator
Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program
RuPaul’s Drag Race • VH1 • World of Wonder Productions
RuPaul Charles, Host
Outstanding Picture Editing For Variety Programming
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver • F*ck 2016 (segment ) • HBO • HBO Entertainment in association with Sixteen String Jack Productions and Avalon Television Anthony Miale, Editor
Outstanding Picture Editing For A Nonfiction Program
O.J.: Made In America • ESPN • ESPN Films and Laylow Films Bret Granato, ACE, Editor; Maya Mumma, ACE, Editor; Ben Sozanski, ACE, Editor
Outstanding Picture Editing For An Unstructured Reality Program
Saturday Night Live • Host : Alec Baldwin • NBC • SNL Studios in association with Universal Television and Broadway Video Eugene Lee, Production Designer; Akira Yoshimura, Production Designer; Keith Ian Raywood, Production Designer; N. Joseph DeTullio, Production Designer
Outstanding Production Design For A Variety, Nonfiction, Event Or Award Special
Hairspray Live! • NBC • Universal Television, Sony Pictures Television, Storyline Entertainment Derek McLane, Production Designer; Joe Celli, Art Director; Jason Howard, Set Decorator
Outstanding Short Form Animated Program
Adventure Time • Islands Part 4: Imaginary Resources • Cartoon Network • Cartoon Network Studios
Outstanding Special Class Program
70th Annual Tony Awards • CBS • White Cherry Entertainment
Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction Or Reality Series
Viceland At The Women’s March • Viceland • VICE Media, LLC Meghan Kirsch, Executive Producer Nacho Gil, Co-Executive Producer; Hannah Gregg, Supervising Producer
Outstanding Sound Editing For A Nonfiction Program (Single Or MultiCamera)
The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years • Hulu • Apple Corps Ltd., White Horse Pictures and Imagine Entertainment in association with Diamond Docs Jon Michaels, Sound Supervisor; Harrison Meyle, Dialogue Editor; Dan Kenyon, Sound Effects Editor; Will Digby, Sound Effects Editor; Melissa Muik, Music Editor
Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety Series Or Special (tie–two winners)
59th Grammy Awards • CBS • AEG Ehrlich Ventures, LLC Josh Morton, Post Audio Mixer; Thomas Holmes, Production Mixer; Mikael Stewart, FOH Production Mixer; Eric Schilling, Broadcast Music Mixer; John Harris, Broadcast Music Mixer; Ron Reaves, FOH Mixer; Thomas Pesa, Stage Foldback Mixer; Michael Parker, Stage Foldback Mixer; Eric Johnston, Playback Music Mixer; Pablo Munguia, Pro Tools Mixer; Bob LaMasney, Sweetening Mixer
2017 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony • HBO • HBO Entertainment in association with Playtone, Line by Line Productions, Alex Coletti Productions and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Al Centrella, Production Mixer; Susan Pelino, Music Mixer; Jay Vicari, Music Mixer; Dave Natale, FOH Mixer; Erik Von Ranson, FOH Mixer; Simon Welch, Monitor Mixer
Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera)
The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years • Hulu • Apple Corps Ltd., White Horse Pictures and Imagine Entertainment in association with Diamond Docs Chris Jenkins, Re-Recording Mixer; Cameron Frankley, Re-Recording Mixer; Nathan Evans, Production Mixer; Sam O’Kell, Music Mixer
Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Series
Saturday Night Live • Host : Jimmy Fallon • NBC • SNL Studios in association with Universal Television and Broadway Video Steven Cimino, Technical Director; John Pinto, Camera; Paul Cangialosi, Camera; Len Wechsler, Camera; Eric Eisenstein, Camera; Dave Driscoll, Camera; Susan Noll, Video Control; Frank Grisanti, Video Control; Jeff Latonero, Camera; Ann Bergstrom, Camera; Randy Bittle, Camera
Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Limited Series, Movie Or Special
Hairspray Live! • NBC • Universal Television, Sony Pictures Television, Storyline Entertainment Charles Ciup, Technical Director; Billy Steinberg, Video Control; Chris Hill, Video Control; Bert Atkinson, Camera; Randy Gomez, Camera; Nathanial Havholm, Camera; Ron Lehman, Camera; Bettina Levesque, Camera; Dave Levisohn, Camera; Tore Livia, Camera; Mike Malone, Camera; Adam Margolis, Camera; Rob Palmer, Camera; Brian Reason, Camera; Damien Tuffereau, Camera; Andrew Waruszewski, Camera
Outstanding Writing For A Variety Special
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee Presents Not The White House Correspondents’ Dinner • TBS • JAX Media Samantha Bee, Writer; Jo Miller, Writer; Ashley Nicole Black, Writer; Pat Cassels, Writer; Eric Drysdale, Writer; Mathan Erhardt, Writer; Travon Free, Writer; Joe Grossman, Writer; Miles Kahn, Writer; Melinda Taub, Writer
Outstanding Writing For A Nonfiction Program
13th • Netflix • Forward Movement, LLC and Kandoo Films Ava DuVernay, Written by; Spencer Averick, Written by
Outstanding Short Form Variety Series
The Daily Show – Between The Scenes • Comedy Central (TheDailyShow.com) • Central Productions, LLC Jennifer Flanz, Executive Producer; Steve Bodow, Executive Producer; Ramin Hedayati, Supervising Producer; Jocelyn Conn, Produced by; Trevor Noah, Host
Outstanding Variety Special
Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2017 • CBS • CBS Television Studios, Fulwell 73
Outstanding Structured Reality Program
Shark Tank • ABC • MGM Television in association with Sony Pictures Television Mark Burnett, Executive Producer Clay Newbill, Executive Producer Yun Lingner, Executive Producer Phil Gurin, Executive Producer Max Swedlow, Co-Executive Producer Brandon Wallace, Co-Executive Producer Becky Blitz, Supervising Producer Sami Aziz, Senior Producer Heather Dreiling, Senior Producer Michael Kramer, Senior Producer Shaun Polakow, Senior Producer Laura Roush, Senior Producer Kate Ryu, Senior Producer Dominique Worden, Producer
Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
United Shades Of America With W. Kamau Bell • CNN • CNN Original Series, All3Media America, Main Event Media Jimmy Fox, Executive Producer Gregory J. Lipstone, Executive Producer Layla Smith, Executive Producer W. Kamau Bell, Executive Producer Donny Jackson, Executive Producer Justin Yungfleisch, Co-Executive Producer Steven Dickert, Co-Executive Producer David E.J. Berger, Supervising Producer Amy Entelis, Executive Producer Lizzie Fox, Executive Producer
Juried Award Winners
Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking
LA 92 • National Geographic • Lightbox TJ Martin, A Film by; Dan Lindsay, A Film by; Jonathan Chinn, Produced by; Simon Chinn, Produced by
Outstanding Choreography (tie–two winners)
Dancing With The Stars • Routines: On Top Of The World & Carol Of The Bells • ABC • BBC Worldwide Productions Mandy Moore, Choreographer
So You Think You Can Dance • Routines: The Mirror & Send In The Clowns & She Used To Be Mine • FOX • dick clark productions, inc. and 19 Entertainment Travis Wall, Choreographer
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation
Samurai Jack • XCIII • Adult Swim • Cartoon Network Studios; Bryan Andrews, Storyboard Artist
Samurai Jack • XCIII • Adult Swim • Cartoon Network Studios; Scott Wills, Production Designer
Samurai Jack • XCII • Adult Swim • Cartoon Network Studios; Craig Kellman, Character Designer
Samurai Jack • XCV • Adult Swim • Cartoon Network Studios; Lou Romano, Background Designer
Wander Over Yonder • The End Of The Galaxy • Disney XD • Disney Television Animation; Justin Nichols, Character Animator
Outstanding Motion Design
Beyond Magic • ABC • Buck; Orion Tait, Executive Creative Director; Thomas Schmid, Creative Director; Daniel Oeffinger, Creative Director; William Trebutien, Lead Animator
13th • Netflix • Forward Movement LLC and Kandoo Films; Angus Wall, Co-Creative Director; Leanne Dare, Co-Creative Director; Lynn Cho, Designer; Dan Meehan, Animator; Ekin Akalin, Animator
Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Programming
Pearl • Patrick Osborne, Director; David Eisenmann, Producer; Karen Dufilho, Executive Producer; Google Spotlight Stories; Evil Eye Pictures
