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Emmy wins for Hannah Gadsby, See-Saw Films

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NewsTV & Streaming
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Hannah Gadsby. 

Australia’s most reluctant Hollywood triumph Hannah Gadsby has capped off a meteoric 18 month ride, securing the Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for Netflix Original production, Nanette.

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards celebrate artistic and technical achievements in television and were held over the weekend at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles. The Primetime Emmy Awards will be held on September 21.

Gadsby’s critically lauded and globally embraced Nanette debuted on Netflix in June 2018 and has transformed her career and opportunities at a global level.

“I wrote Nanette as a way to tell my little story to my little corner of the world.  I wrote it in the hope it would provide catharsis to myself and to those who existed in the same margins I did.  Instead, my story has been pushed into every corner of the world – including places where stories like mine are not told – and I have been connected to so many different people in a way that I could never have expected.  Thank you to everyone who helped Nanette find a voice on stage and then on screens, especially my friends at Netflix and thank you to the Academy for this amazing honour,” Gadsby said of the honour.

The Netflix Original production was executive produced by Guesswork Television’s Kevin Whyte and Kathleen McCarthy, and produced by Frank Bruzzese. The writer, actress and comedian is managed globally by Whyte’s Token Artists.

Despite the show’s premise that it was her exit from the industry, Gadsby has subsequently signed to UTA and is working on a book exploring the damaging effects of marginalisation, ‘Ten Steps to Nanette’, due out next year in the U.S. through publishers Ballantine and in Australia and the UK via Allen & Unwin. Gadsby is also currently in production for her next Netflix special Douglas.

In her winning category, Gadsby beat fellow nominees, Adam Sandler for 100% Fresh; Amy Schumer Growing; Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney Live From Liverpool;  Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé and Wanda Sykes: Not Normal.

Nanette was also nominated for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) but was beaten by CBS’s Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney Live From Liverpool.

See-Saw Films also secured a trio of Emmys for the Sundance TV co-production State of the Union which is executive produced by See-Saw’s Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Jamie Laurenson and Hakan Kousetta in addition to writer Nick Hornby and Stephen Frears. The show aired locally on the ABC.

The win for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series proved to be surprise turn, as the series was a last minute addition to the category due to an ineligibility issue with a prior nominee.

The comedy series written by Nick Hornby and shot in the UK also garnered Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for lead actress Rosamund Pike and Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for lead actor Chris O’Dowd.

Australian creative talent was widely represented among the nominees. Creative director and designer Patrick Clair was nominated for Outstanding Main Title Design for HBO’s True Detective, the win went to Game of Thrones; cinematographer Germain McMicking was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie forTrue Detective, the went to Chernobyl; director of photography Zoe White was nominated for her work on cinematography on The Handmaid’s Tale but lost to the Marvellous Mrs Maisel, and production designer Deborah Riley received a nomination for Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period on Game of Thrones, which was awarded to Chernobyl.

Daina Reid is nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for The Handmaid’s Tale, to be awarded announced at the Primetime Emmys next week.

The full list of Creative Arts Emmy Winners can be found here.