Category Analysis: Three Outstanding Editing Emmys

by Juan Carlos Ojano

I really loved my experience writing about the Best Film Editing category at the 92nd Academy Awards. I had edited all of my short films when I was in film school, was an assistant editor for a feature-length film once, and continue to edit videos for my podcast. Rarely do I get the opportunity to talk about the craft itself. It is daunting to even try to verbalize it. As an editor, editing is about abiding by the rules and theories but also making choices that just feel right or, even more interestingly, that feel wrong and right at the same time. As a viewer, the impact of good editing is not just about the cuts but also the lack of them. This temporal aspect of storytelling is essential and what makes film and television distinct from other forms of art.

So let's talk about three Emmy categories for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing. I will try to be as candid as I can with my observations and musings per episode submission. Some are even harder to discuss because of shows nabbing multiple spots (hello, The Mandalorian and Hacks), but let’s see how we do...

Click to read more ...

Emmy Category Analysis: Main Title Design

The Film Experience Team takes a look at the major Emmy categories & some extras, too.

By Nathaniel R

If you're a regular reader 'round Emmy time you'll know that this particular category is of significant niche interest to us. That's partially because voters are (mostly) forced into keeping it fresh. Unless your show changes its opening titles significantly each season, you'll only be eligible on your first season. It's also because we dig main titles and we totally miss them in cinema which seems to have (mostly) abandoned this wonderful practice of setting the mood before the story begins. Let's look at the nominated titles.

The nominees are listed below the title and, unless otherwise noted, this is a first nomination for each of them...

Click to read more ...

Emmy Analysis: Who will win Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or TV Movie?

by Cláudio Alves

Like its respective writing category, the Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or TV Movie Emmy race is a mess of inconsistent rulings. Some shows compete with entire seasons, while others have submitted individual episodes. This is allowed, so that miniseries with different directors per episode can compete. However, this year, I May Destroy You's Sam Miller got two nods through a technicality, making the rule feel superfluous and poorly conceived. Beyond that, the big oddity of the category is the presence of Hamilton's Thomas Kail. While similar projects of filmed theater were deemed TV Specials and are competing in that race, the Disney+ musical somehow got into this lineup. If he wins, Kail will repeat his Tony victory. With that out of the way, let's dive in and explore the nominated works…

Click to read more ...

Emmy Analysis: A close race in Outstanding Writing for Limited Series or TV Movie

The Film Experience Team takes a look at the episode submissions for all the major Emmy categories.

by Cláudio Alves 

Unlike the Drama and Comedy writing categories at the Emmys, the Limited Series or TV Movie one can find entire seasons competing against solo episodes or single films. In the recent past, individual chapters of Sherlock and Black Mirror, classified as TV movies, won out against juggernaut series such as Fargo and Big Little Lies. This year, there are no such "movies" nominees. Indeed, despite six slots, only four series are recognized across the board. Wandavision is the nomination leader as well as the only show competing with single episodes instead of seasons. Indeed, with three nods, it thus becomes only the second limited series to score triple writing nods in the same year. The first one was American Crime Story: The People v O.J. Simpson. That Ryan Murphy show won in 2016, despite the threat of vote splitting, and maybe the Disney+ program can do the same. Let's take a look at the nominees…

Click to read more ...

Emmy Nominations Are Here!

By Abe Friedtanzer

Nominations for the 73rd Emmys have been announced, and while it was nice to see short clips of each of the program nominees, the gimmick of having father and daughter, Ron Cephas Jones and Jasmine Cephas Jones, announce together would have worked considerably better if they had been in the same place and not experiencing a delayed reaction to their joke setups. But let’s move on to the nominees, which are mostly good but sure to reveal painful snubs as we break it down by category. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that The Crown is the nominations leader with 24 bids, but it did tie with The Mandalorian, which added to its technical total with a few acting, directing, and writing bids.

It took me until I got into the details of the limited series/anthology categories to realize that Small Axe was almost entirely shut out, earning only a cinematography mention. I think that has more to do with its questionable TV format, though that didn’t stop Hamilton from gobbling up a horrifying seven acting slots. Another underperformer was Girls5eva, which managed exactly one nomination, for writing. It was also a sad day for Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, which didn’t score any of the major bids I and others thought it might. That presumed domination by a few series in the supporting categories absolutely happened, though there were a few positive and unexpected inclusions thrown in. Let’s take a closer look at the categories our Emmy team predicted (plus the guest races) and go from there...

Click to read more ...