Eight Is Enough?

July 24, 2023 at 9:03 am

Eight is enough, they say.

But wait a minute. Who says? Okay, okay, there was that sitcom way back when, and sure, eight is enough when you’re talking children. In fact, you could even say that eight is MORE than enough… kids.

When you are talking Emmy Awards, though… well…

It’s still pretty damn good.

Nominations for the 2023 Emmy Awards were announced last week, and I am pleased and proud to report that HOUSE OF THE DRAGON racked up eight nominations:

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A SERIES (ONE HOUR) | “The Lord of the Tides” | Catherine Goldschmidt, Director of Photography
FANTASY/SCI-FI COSTUMES | “The Heirs of the Dragon” | Jany Temime, Costume Designer; Joanna Lynch, Costume Supervisor; Katherine Burchill, Assistant Costume Designer; Paul Yeowell, Assistant Costume Designer; Rachel George, Assistant Costume Designer
PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER MAKEUP (NON-PROSTHETIC) | “We Light The Way” | Amanda Knight, Dept. Head Makeup/Makeup Designer; Hannah Eccleston, Makeup Artist; Heather McMullen, Makeup Artist; Kashiya Hinds, Makeup Artist; Harriet Thompson, Makeup Artist; Natalie Wickens, Makeup Artist; Bonny Monger, Makeup Artist
PROSTHETIC MAKEUP | “The Lord Of The Tides” | Barrie Gower, Prosthetics Designer; Sarah Gower, Prosthetics Co-Department Head; Emma Faulkes, Key Prosthetics Artist; Duncan Jarman, Prosthetic Makeup Artist; Paula Eden, Prosthetic Makeup Artist
PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A NARRATIVE PERIOD OR FANTASY PROGRAM (ONE HOUR OR MORE) | “The Heirs Of The Dragon” | Jim Clay, Production Designer; Dominic Masters, Supervising Art Director; Claire Nia Richards, Set Decorator
SOUND EDITING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (ONE HOUR) | “The Black Queen” | Al Sirkett, Sound Supervisor; Paula Fairfield MPSE, Sound Designer; Adele Fletcher, Supervising ADR Editor; Tim Hands, Supervising Dialogue/Crowd Editor; Mathias Schuster, Foley Editor; David Klotz, Music Editor; Barnaby Smyth, Foley Supervisor/Artist; Timeri Duplat, Music Editor; Paula Boram, Foley Artist
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SEASON OR MOVIE | Angus Bickerton, Visual Effects Supervisor; Nikeah Forde, VFX Producer; Thomas Horton, VFX Producer; Sven Martin, VFX Supervisor; Mark Spindler, VFX Co-Supervisor; Mark Dauth, Virtual Production Supervisor; Sebastian Meszmann, VFX Producer; Mike Bell, VFX Supervisor; Tobias Graa Winblad, VFX

All those, PLUS the big one:

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

Additionally, House of the Dragon: Inside the Episode was nominated for OUTSTANDING SHORT FORM NONFICTION OR REALITY SERIES. Which I suppose means we are up for nine Emmy Awards, not eight, but somehow this last one counts differently, so…

My congratulations to Ryan Condal, Miguel Sapochnick, and the amazing cast and crew of HOT D. They did some amazing work, and this recognition is well deserved. Come Emmy night, I hope some of them get to take home a golden lady… but win or lose, it IS an honor just to be nominated. ((No idea at this writing when that Emmy night will be. The televised ceremony is scheduled for September 18, with the technical awards a week earlier, but if the strikes have not been settled by then, there is an excellent chance everything will be pushed back to November, or even to next year.)) ((Whether that happens or not, it is unlikely that I will be attending this year’s awards. Too much to do)).

This was a record-breaking year for HBO… well, okay, a record-tying year. In addition to HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, THE LAST OF US, SUCCESSION, and THE WHITE LOTUS were also nominated as OUTSTANDING DRAMA (along with some great shows from the other networks and streamers, of course). This is only the third time in Emmy history that one network has had four different shows in the same category. CBS did it in 1973, and NBC in 1992. And now us.

As to whether eight is really enough… well, one hates to be greedy, but I would have loved to see some of our writers, directors, and actors on the final ballot as well. You don’t get to contend for Best Dramatic Series unless you have some great actors, directors, and writers working of you. Most of our team will have other shots at the prize in seasons to come, to be sure ((I lost six Emmy Awards before I won my first)), but that’s not true for Paddy Considine, alas, not unless Ryan brings King Viserys back as a White Walker — and that’s heartbreaking. My gods, his portrayal was magnificent. He earned a shelf of trophies for episode eight alone.

We are living in a Golden Age of television, though. So much great work is being done on so many shows, it is hard to keep up.

Keep watching. The best is yet to come.

Tags: awards, emmy awards, television

Emmy Winners

September 20, 2017 at 10:17 am

Congratulations to all the winners of this year’s Emmy Awards. And especially to my friends at HBO, which once again led all other networks in number of nominations and number of victories.

It was a great show this year, I thought. Yes, even without GAME OF THRONES. Stephen Colbert made a terrific host. I especially enjoyed his opening number.

A strong lineup of nominees this year gave us some great winners… though, as always, that also means some equally deserving finalists wound up as losers. WESTWORLD especially was robbed, as was STRANGER THINGS. But it IS an honor just to be nominated, and the time will come for both of those shows, as it finally did for GAME OF THRONES. The big winners this year were Hulu’s HANDMAID’S TALE (adapted from the novel by Margaret Atwood) and HBO’s BIG LITTLE LIES (adapted from the novel by Liane Moriarity). ((Notice the common denominator there? BOOKS! Do a faithful adapatation of a great book, and you can’t go wrong)). I was also pleased to see BLACK MIRROR get some love, especially for its brilliant “San Junipero” episode.

GAME OF THRONES, of course, was not eligible this year, having shifted from April to August. Which meant that, for the first time in seven years, I was not actually at the awards in LA. Instead Parris and I watched from home. It felt kind of strange not to be there, truth be told. Not bad, just strange. It was actually sort of relaxing. The Emmy weekend can be very exciting, but it is also exhausting, even the parties… the heat, the crowds, the noise. The red carpet seems to get longer (and hotter) every year. Maybe that’s an ordeal that should be left for the younger and more photogenic members of our television community.

Will I be back next year, or the year after, or the year after that? Time will tell. Emmy is a fickle goddess who bestows her kisses where she will. But either way, I’m good.

((Comments on the Emmys welcome. Off topic comments will be deleted)).

Current Mood: contemplative

Tags: awards, emmy awards, television

Season 7 Is Coming

March 10, 2017 at 2:36 pm

Seven gods, seven kingdoms, seven books (eventually)… seven seasons.

The seventh season of GAME OF THRONES is on its way. HBO has released their first teaser.

Enjoy.

<lj-embed id=”886″/>

Oh, and I almost forgot… HBO has also announced the premiere date: Sunday, JULY 16.

There will be gala premieres as usual, of course. Not sure of the details on those yet. But I do know that we hope to have another premiere party right here in Santa Fe, at the Jean Cocteau Cinema… and that we will be running a Season 6 marathon in the weeks running up to the new season, so you can refresh yourselves on what happened last year, and enjoy all the action on our ~~big~~ medium-sized screen.

And speaking of season 6, if you enjoyed the show and would like to nominate us for a Hugo Award, you have only eight days left. Nominations close on March 18. GAME OF THRONES is eligible in two categories. You can nominate the season as whole in Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (which is what I favor, personally), or you can nominate individual episodes in Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. (Or you could do both, if you were so inclined). If you are inclined to take the second course, the episodes most likely to make this year’s (extremely competitive) ballot are “The Door” and “Battle of the Bastards” IMNSHO. “Battle of the Bastards” won Emmy Awards for both writing and directing this year, and “The Door” was also a finalist for directing.

((And though I am of course hopelessly prejudiced toward GOT, I will be the first to proclaim that this was an outstanding year for drama in both categories. The first seasons of WESTWORLD and STRANGER THINGS are also worthy of being nominated for Long Form, along side last year’s best SF movie, ARRIVAL. In Short Form I loved “Leviathan Wakes,” the final episode of season one of THE EXPANSE, and two great episodes of BLACK MIRROR, “San Junipero” and “Hated in the Nation.” I would love to see all of them earn spots on the ballot… along with GOT ))

But enough about last year. A new season is coming.

July 16. Mark your calendars.

Tags: emmy awards, game of thrones, hbo, hugo awards, television

Catching Up

September 22, 2016 at 4:39 pm

I’m back from LA and the Emmy Awards, and as usual there’s a zillion things to catch up on.

The Giants and Jets both won last weekend. They both made it more exciting than it needed to be, of course, but a win is a win is a win, and I’ll take them. Life is magical and full of joy.

GAME OF THRONES also won big, as those of you who watched the Emmy telecast know. Three more wins, for writing, directing, and show. Added to the nine that we won last weekend, that’s twelve, and gave GOT the record for most Emmys ever won by a primetime scripted series. With thirty-eight, we edged past FRAZIER. Congrats to all, and especially to Dan and Dave, who have put together a truly amazing team and made some television history in the process.

(I do wish our nominated actors and actresses had brought some gold home as well, though. With two finalists in Best Supporting Actor, and three in Best Supporting Actress, we ended up dividing the vote and competing against ourselves, I fear. But the performances we got from Peter, Kit, Lena, Maisie, and Emilia speaks for themselves, trophies notwithstanding).

Jimmy Kimmel did a great job as host.

For me, a couple of personal highlights were meeting Jim Kimmel, Jimmy’s father, who is a big fan of GAMES, and getting the Emmy from Dennis Franz, an amazing actor whose work on NYPD BLUE remains some of the finest ever seen on television. Best police show ever, imnsho).

There were great parties both before and after the awards themselves… though I fear I may getting too old for such things. I turned sixty-eight on September 20th, and may have reached the age where I prefer quieter parties with comfortable chairs.

And now I’m home, and there’s more work to do. Later, folks.

Tags: emmy awards, game of thrones

Emmys, Emmys, Emmys

September 13, 2016 at 6:20 pm

GAME OF THRONES kicked ass and took names last weekend in LA, at the Creative Arts Emmys, racking up nine victories, way more than any other show.

“Dominates,” the Hollywood press is saying. Hey, cool, I will go with that.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/creative-arts-emmys-game-thrones-927671

GAME OF THRONES took home the Emmys for casting, for makeup (non-prosthetic), for makeup (prosthetic).

Also for production design, for costuming, and for sound mixing.

And for editing, for stunt coordination, and for special visual effects (that was the fifth consecutive win for our SFX guys)

I’d say “eight is enough, and nine is even better,” but we also lost some… so instead I will just say congratulations to all our winners, and condolences to all our losers, and to all the other nominees as well. Hugo, Nebula, Oscar, or Emmy, it IS an honor just to be nominated.

With these nine wins, GAME OF THRONES has now taken home more Emmy Awards than any other drama in the entire history of television. That is a tribute to HBO, which truly has no rivals when it comes to production quality, and to David Benioff and Dan Weiss and the outrageously talented cast and crew they assembled to bring the Seven Kingdoms and their people to life. I have been thrilled to be a part of this.

And who knows? There are more Emmys Awards this weekend, so we may not be done making television history quite yet. Tune in on Sunday night to find out.

Tags: awards, emmy awards, game of thrones, hbo, television

Three-and-Twenty Golden Gals

July 14, 2016 at 6:27 pm

This year’s Emmy nominations were announced this morning, and once again GAME OF THRONES and HBO kicked ass and took names.

HBO collected more nominations than any other network… once again.

And GAME OF THRONES was responsible for a big chunk of those… 23 nominations all told, more than any other series… for the second year in a row (we had 24 last year).

Last year we won Best Drama, and we’re nominated once again this year, so we have a chance to make it two in a row… against a formidable lineup of competitors in HOMELAND, DOWNTON ABBEY, MR. ROBOT, BETTER CALL SAUL, THE AMERICANS, and HOUSE OF CARDS.

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss got a nod for Writing, which they won last year.

For directing, two nominations: Jack Bender for “The Door” and Miguel Sapochnik for “Battle of the Bastards.”

And in the acting categories, GAME OF THRONES had its best year yet. Max Von Sydow was nominated for Best Actor in a Guest Role. Peter Dinklage and Kit Harrington both got nods for Best Supporting Actor. And in Best Supporting Actress, GOT snagged not one, not two, but three nominations; Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, and Maisie Williams will all be vying for the Emmy.

I am thrilled and happy for all our nominees, of course… but it made me especially happy to see Kit and Maisie get some love from the Academy at last. About damn time, I say. They are several years overdue. (And I would have loved to see Sophie Turner on that list as well. I know, I know, I’m greedy).

For a full list of the nominees, go here:
http://variety.com/2016/tv/awards/2016-emmys-nominees-list-drama-comedy-acting-nomination-1201814021/

The awards will be presented on September 18 in Los Angeles. Two days ahead of my birthday this year, but maybe we’ll get some presents anyway.

Tags: awards, emmy awards, game of thrones, hbo, television

The First Emmys

September 27, 2015 at 12:48 am

Andy Samberg’s joke about my attending the first Emmy Awards ceremony made me curious about Emmy history. This year was the 67th Emmy Awards, and I turned 67 last Sunday, but until Andy appeared beside me I hadn’t actually connected the two. Pretty amazing.

For a few hours I entertained the amusing thought that they were perhaps giving out those first Emmys even as I was being born. Alas, that was not actually the case. Emmy and I may both be 67, but I actually came into the world a few months before her. The first Emmy ceremony took place on January 25, 1949, to honor work telecast during 1948.

Interestingly, those first awards were strictly a local matter: a Los Angeles award, for shows broadcast in the LA media market. Not at all national. The first winner — for “Most Popular Television Program” — was a show called PANTOMIME QUIZ. A drama called THE NECKLACE won for “Best Film Made for Television,” and Shirley Dinsdale won as “Most Outstanding Television Personality.” She was a ventriloquist with a dummy named ‘Judy Splinters.’

It is not recorded whether Judy also got a trophy, or whether she came on stage to accept the Emmy with Shirley.

They also gave an Emmy to the guy who designed the Emmy. And that was it. Four trophies, presented in LA, to local performers. Television was an art form in its infancy back then, and the world was different. (There was WAY more television production going on in New York than in California back in the 40s, but leave it to the Hollywood guys to be the first to think of giving out awards).

The past is another country, truly.

Tags: emmy awards, television

A Birthday to Remember

September 26, 2015 at 5:50 pm

I turned 67 on September 20. So did the Emmy Awards.

Our party was on TV. Andy Samberg gave me a shout-out. HBO gave me a cake. And the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences gave me an Emmy. Well, actually they gave one to GAME OF THRONES as tv’s Best Drama, but since I’m a producer on the show, I get one of the trophies.

In case you missed the moment:
<lj-embed id=”607″/>

Truth be told, I almost missed the moment myself. While I was pleased that we had been nominated once again, I did not expect us to win… and with so much to do at home, so much pressure on so many fronts, I wasn’t sure I wanted to fly out to LA again, put on a monkey suit, and sit through another loss. The first few times you are up for an Emmy it is very exciting, yes, it’s cool and glamorous and all that… but this would be my seventh time. I had been nominated, and lost, six times before; four times with GAME OF THRONES, and twice more back in the 80s with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. No fantasy show had EVER won ‘the big one,’ the award for Best Drama, and with MAD MEN, a four-time winner, up for its final season, it did not seem likely that this would be the year. Great shows often get a valedictory award or three to celebrate their excellence after they have left the airwaves.

So I was seriously thinking of staying home this year. It was Paul Haas, my agent at WME, who changed my mind. He said he thought that GOT might have a shot this year. Yeah, yeah, I said, I’d heard that before. (I’d thought our third season, with the buzz of the Red Wedding behind it, might be the one to break through, but I’d been way wrong). Then Paul pointed out that if we did win, and I wasn’t there to be part of it, I would regret it for the rest of my life. He was right. So I came, and we won, and it was a birthday I will never forget.

Thanks, Paul.

The Emmy is sitting in my TV room right now, golden and shiny. Big thing. Very heavy. Very pretty. I smile every time I see it. (We ate the cake).

It was a great night for GAME OF THRONES, and for HBO as whole. VEEP dominated in the comedy categories, and OLIVE KITTERIDGE in miniseries… which just goes to show all of you who don’t get HBO, you are missing a lot… and as for us, we were up in five categories, and won four. David Benioff and Dan Weiss won for Writing, David Nutter for Directing, and Peter Dinklage took his second for Best Supporting Actor. All of us were pulling for Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke in Best Supporting Actress, but they lost out to Uzo Aduba from ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, whose Crazy Eyes is the most unforgettable character on an amazing and addictive show. And the came Best Drama… It IS an honor just to be nominated, yes it is. But let me tell you, winning is more fun than losing, and 1-6 beats the hell out of 1-7.

Unlike the Hugo Awards (where, if seven people jointly win some award, all of them get to yammer for as long as they like), the Emmy Awards have a strict time limit, and only one or two designated acceptors speak for the group. For us, that was David and Dan, just as it should be. They thanked a lot of people… and then ran out of time.

But there’s never enough time to thank everyone, of course. So I want to add my own thanks for some of those that D&D did not get to.

Starting with David Benioff and Dan Weiss themselves. Without them, there would be no show. Without their talent and dedication, there would certainly be no Emmy.

Also, I want to thank Bryan Cogman. He’s been there since the beginning too, the right hand man to D&D, and he’s written some of our best episodes. I am thrilled that when we finally won, it was for a year in which he’d finally snagged a “producer” credit, which meant that he got to take home a trophy as well.

And of course I want to thank Parris (so glad you were there with me, Phipps), and Paul Haas and the rest of my team at WME, and Vince Gerardis, and Kay McCauley, and Anne Groell and my team at Bantam, and Jane Johnson as my team at Voyager, and my leal minions Raya and Lenore and Jenni and Elias and Jo, and Pat (who left), and even Ty (who left even earlier).

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank the dead. We have the best cast in television, as I have said a hundred times, and many of them were on the stage with us last Sunday. Thanks to all of them, of course, and thanks as well to Emilia and Kit and Dame Diana and Kristian and Natalie and Finn, who were off working and could not be there with us.

But there were ghosts standing behind us. Maybe you couldn’t see them, but I could feel their presence, and I know that without them none of us would have been holding Emmys. Yes, I know, I know, the award was for Season Five… but if you truly believe that the Academy voters did not take our first four seasons into account as well, then let me tell you about this lovely bridge over the Green Fork that Walder Frey would like to sell you.

No. It was the show to date that won, I believe, and our ghosts were a huge part of that. So my thanks go out to Sean Bean, to Mark Addy, to Rose Leslie, to Pedro Pascal, to Michelle Fairley, to Richard Madden, Gethin Anthony, Harry Lloyd, Ron Donachie, Mark Stanley, Esme Bianco, Kate Dickie, Jack Gleeson, Amrita Acharia, Charles Dance, Donald Sumpter, Josef Altin, Peter Vaughn, Margaret John, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Oona Chaplin, Stephen Dillane, Francis Magee, Roxanna McKee, Kerry Ingram, Ian McElhinney, Jason Momoa, and of course Sibel Kekilli… along with all the other noble and ignoble dead that I’ve certainly forgotten, and I’m sure that there’s a lot of them.

Some of you are dead in the books, others only on the show. But if it was up to me, all of you would have been up on the stage beside us. Every one of you played your part, large or show, in making GAME OF THRONES the record-smashing hit it is.

Thank you all.

Tags: awards, emmy awards, game of thrones, hbo

A New Record

September 21, 2015 at 11:16 pm

Back from the Emmy Awards in LA.

A night to remember.

GAME OF THRONES set a new record for number of wins by a series in a single year. Eight last week, and four more on Sunday. That’s twelve.

Pretty impressive haul when you line them up like that.

The previous record was nine, set by WEST WING.

Anyway… I will have more to say about the Emmys and all that, but we’ve only been home a few hours, and I’m still pretty tired (celebrating is hard work, and so is travel) so it will have to wait until tomorrow. I do have more to say, and a lot of people to thank.

For now, let it suffice to say that the Emmy looks very good in my TV room, and while it IS an honor just to be nominated (as I have been, six times before), it’s even cooler to win.

Tags: awards, emmy awards, game of thrones, hbo, television

Eight Is NOT Enough

September 15, 2015 at 5:09 pm

HBO and GAME OF THRONES dominated last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys in LA.

HBO took home 29, way more than any other network. GOT accounted for eight of those, more than any other show.

Awards were given in every category. For the full list of nominees and winners:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/creative-arts-emmys-2015-winners-822621

The rest of this year’s Emmys will be given out this Sunday. I’ll be flying out to LA once more for the ceremony. GAME OF THRONES is nominated for directing, writing, and acting… and of course, for Best Drama. So cross your fingers, cross your toes.

Meanwhile, congratulations to all of our Emmy winners from last week. Well deserved! A hearty round of applause, please… and for the losers too. Not everyone can take home the trophy, but you all did great work.

Tags: awards, emmy awards, game of thrones, hbo

Not a Blog

Eight Is Enough?

Emmy Winners

Season 7 Is Coming

Catching Up

Emmys, Emmys, Emmys

Three-and-Twenty Golden Gals

The First Emmys

A Birthday to Remember

A New Record

Eight Is NOT Enough

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