Making a Murder nabs four Emmy awards as Game of Thrones dominates
James R | On 12, Sep 2016
Game of Thrones dominated the Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the weekend.
The awards, which were handed out on both Saturday and Sunday night, recognise artistic and technical achievement on the small screen, as well as guest performances, animation and documentary work – in short, all the kinds of awards that would be unfairly skimmed over in an edited highlights package, if they were part of the main Primetime ceremony. Those awards will be handed out next Sunday, but the Creative Arts are no less competitive, with HBO, Netflix and Amazon duking it out to bag the most prizes.
HBO’s Game of Thrones, though, remains unassailable in TV land, with 15 Creative Arts Emmy nods adding to its overall haul of 23 Emmy nominations. Out of those 15, it won nine – up one from last year – including gongs for casting, production design, costume design, editing for a single-camera drama, prosthetic make-up, sound mixing, stunt co-ordination and special visual effects.
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story was another big success, taking home five wins, including one for its documentary short Inside Look: The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
Netflix, though, stole the documentary spotlight, with Making a Murderer winning Outstanding Documentary of Non-Fiction Series – and then taking home another three prizes to boot.
Its success continued with a win for Sean P. Callery’s Original Main Title Theme Music for Jessica Jones and What Happened, Miss Simone?, which was crowned Best Documentary or Nonfiction Special.
Amazon, meanwhile, enjoyed awards for Production Design For A Narrative Program (Half-Hour Or Less) with Transparent, Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation with Mozart in the Jungle, Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series with The Man in the High Castle, and Main Title Design with The Man in the High Castle (designed by Patrick Clair, also behind the credits for Halt and Catch Fire, True Detective and Daredevil). Amazon’s exclusives in the UK, Black Sails and Mr. Robot, also bagged awards for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series respectively.
Other notable victories include Margo Martindale, who enjoyed a record second consecutive win for earned a record-breaking win for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for The Americans, Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler, who became the first duo to share the prize for Oustanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, and RuPaul, who won his first Emmy as for his hosting duties on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver also took home the prize for Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series, while the BBC’s The Night Manager was celebrated for its Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series and Sherlock: The Abominable Bride was awarded for its Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role.
In total, Netflix took home six prizes and Amazon took home four, while HBO raced away with 16.
For a full list of winners, click here.