2023 Emmy Awards ‘White Lotus,’ ‘Last of Us’ Lead Creative Arts Nominees – IndieWire

HBO’s acclaimed dystopian survival drama “The Last of Us,” from showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, led all Emmys in the craft category with 12 on July 12 (the TV Academy’s first nod for a live-action video game adaptation). Close behind was the streamer’s “The White Lotus,” with 11 nominations. Mike White’s vacationing social satire has moved to Sicily and is now competing for Best Drama Series after winning Best Anthology/Limited Series in its first season.

“The Mandalorian” followed with nine nominations, a sharp drop from Season 3 after the Disney+ juggernaut “Star Wars” dominated the first two seasons with 15 and 17 nominations, respectively. Netflix’s popular “Addams Family” spin-off “Wednesday” also received nine nominations, as did the final seasons of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Prime) and “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+), both up from last season. .

HBO’s top drama series, “The Successor,” earned eight nominations in its final season (breaking for contemporary costumes with costume designer Michelle Matland), also surpassing the previous season’s tally. This was followed by the streamer’s “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon,” with a somewhat disappointing seven names. Netflix’s “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” and “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” also received seven nominations, and Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” which fell behind last season.

Netflix’s “Stranger Things” collected six awards for its ninth season finale, along with Prime’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “Daisy Jones & the Six.” Scoring five nominations each: “Andor” (but shamefully not for editing), Disney+’s “Star Wars: Rogue One” prequel, and “The Bear,” the well-received chef comedy (Hulu), and HBO’s “Barry” finale compared to the previous season. Interestingly, composer Nicholas Britell, who was nominated for ‘Andor’, is competing against himself with the music for both ‘Andor’ and ‘Succession’.

Netflix’s “The Crown” earned four spots, tied with the streamer’s acclaimed road rage comedy “Beef,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (Disney+) and HBO’s non-fiction “100 Foot Wave.” . Close behind with three names, Marvel’s “Ms. Marvel” (Disney+), “Schmigadoon!”, “Emily in Paris” (Netflix) and “Prey” (Hulu), though not for the much-hyped VFX.

Two nominations each: Peacock’s murder mystery “Poker Face” (contemporary production design and stunt coordination), Paramount+’s “Star Trek: Picard” finale (prosthetics and contemporary non-prosthetic makeup), HBO’s “Perry Mason” ( period production) design and breakthrough in period costumes by costume designer Catherine Adair, Showtime’s biopic “George & Tammy” (limited series filming and period costumes), and Prime’s “The Boys” (sound editing and stunt coordination).

However, only one piece was handled by Hulu’s “The Great” (period costumes), FX’s “The Old Man” (theatrical), Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” (casting again), Prime’s “Dead Ringers” limited series (theatrical) and Peacock. “Ms. Davis” Limited Series (Sound Edit). Paramount+’s popular “Yellowstone” and its prequel “1923” are completely dumbed down.

Meanwhile, Netflix’s “Entergalactic” (“Mad Solar”) has been nominated for animated programming, along with four previous winners: Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers” (“The Plight Before Christmas”) and The Simpsons (“Treehouse of Horror”). , as well as Adult. Swim “Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal” (“The Shadow of Fate”) and “Rick and Morty” (“Night Family”). Interestingly, there were no short-form candidates, because none of the entries received nine-tenths of approval.

Digging deeper, “The Last of Us” certainly had the most visceral impact of any series this season, and was rewarded for its more sophisticated craft. The series was nominated for Contemporary Production Design (“Infected”), Casting, Contemporary Costume (“Endure and Survive”), Editing (“Endure and Survive”), Contemporary Hairstyle (“Long, Long Time”), Theme Design, Contemporary Non-Prosthetic Makeup (“Long, Long Time”), prosthetic makeup (“Infected”), original score (Gustavo Santaolalla, “Long, Long Time”), sound editing (“When You’re Lost in the Dark”), sound mixing (“When You’re Lost in the Darkness”) and special visual effects (Wētā FX and Digital Domain).

The show is built on an organic naturalism that stems from a plague caused by the Cordyceps fungus that infiltrates and controls the mind and body (and differentiates it from the zombie premise). The Cordyceps world building by production designer John Paino is outstanding. And the fact that it was submitted in different contemporary categories is a smart move to avoid sci-fi competition with “House of the Dragon,” “Cabinet of Curiosities” and “The Rings of Power.” However, it was surprising that Eben Bolter and Ksenia Sereda left out the series’ cinematography, given the show’s overall craft dominance.

“The White Lotus,” which goes up against “The Last of Us” in several categories, continues its assault on wealth and privilege in Season 2, but with visual extravagance. As IndieWire’s Sarah Shachat points out, “That’s Amore” brings together multiple crafts for a sly operatic twist.

The series was nominated for Contemporary Production Design (“Ciao”), Casting, Contemporary Costumes (“That’s Amore”), Editing (“Abductions”, “Arrivederci”), Contemporary Hairstyling (“Abductions”), Theme Design, Contemporary Non-Contemporary Film. – prosthetic make-up (“That’s Amore”), original score (Cristobal Tapia de Veer, “In the Sandbox”), music supervision and sound mixing (“Arrivederci”). However, like “The Last of Us,” it was overlooked for its exceptional cinematography (courtesy of Xavier Grobet).

“Wednesday,” Tim Burton’s comedy-horror series starring Emmy-nominated Jenna Ortega, is not to be underestimated as a contemporary craft competitor. The prestigious craft team includes composer Danny Elfman, Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood, production designer Mark Scruton, music supervisor Jen Malone and visual effects supervisor Tom Turnbull.

The series was nominated for Contemporary Production Design and Costumes (both for “Wednesday’s Child Is Full of Woe”), Cinematography (“Woe What A Night”), Theme Design, Contemporary Non-Prosthetic Makeup, Original Score (Elfman/Chris Bacon). , “Woe Is the Loneliest Number”), theme song (Elfman), special visual effects in a single episode (“A Murder of Woes”), and stunt coordination.