Some of the entertainment industry’s top filmmakers will go up against each other at the 76th Emmy Awards.
Oscar winner Ron Howard’s Jim Henson Idea Man earned eight Emmy nominations this morning, more than any other nonfiction contender in the race. The Disney+ film about the Muppets creator is nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, and Howard scored a nomination for directing the film. See the full list of Emmy documentary nominees below.
Howard is far from the only prominent name to earn recognition in the documentary categories. Rob Reiner earned a nomination for directing Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, and his HBO documentary will go up against Jim Henson Idea Man in the Nonfiction Special category. Reiner and Brooks have been friends for over 50 years.
“That’s the best part of it for me,” Reiner told Deadline as he reacted to his Emmy nomination, “that somebody that I’ve been so close to since we met in high school, that I’m getting a chance to introduce him to a whole new audience. People my age, they know who he is and know how brilliant, what a genius he is. But now you’ve seen some younger people learn about him and that to me is the biggest thrill of this.”
Oscar winner Fisher Stevens will compete with Howard and Reiner in the outstanding director category for his Netflix series Beckham, about the English soccer star. Beckham is also nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, part of its haul of five nominations. Fisher told Deadline he didn’t realize Emmy nomination morning had arrived.
“It’s amazing, considering I completely forgot about the whole thing,” he said. “I think it’s better to forget and not have any expectations.”
David Beckham himself apparently didn’t need reminding it was Emmy nomination day.
“I got a very nice text from David,” Stevens said. “One of my first texts was from him, so I guess he was paying attention, and he [wrote], ‘Well deserved mate,’ and so happy for me and the team.”
The parade of Oscar winners in Emmy contention continues with Morgan Neville, director of Steve! (Martin) A Documentary In Two Pieces. He’s nominated for directing the film about the famed comedic actor, and the Apple TV+ two-parter is nominated opposite the Albert Brooks and Jim Henson docs for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.
Martin himself is nominated for starring in Only Murders in the Building. The Hulu series earned a slew of nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series.
“I wrote to Steve this morning to tell him [about the nominations for the doc and the comedy series]. I don’t know if he had heard before, but I don’t think so. And he just wrote back and just said, ‘Yay!’” Neville said. “I think he cared a lot about the film and continues to talk about it… Steve, who’s somebody who never really thinks anybody cares about him or is always the most modest person — I think the kind of love he’s gotten through this project has been pretty meaningful.”
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, who created a sensation with his 2015 Emmy-winning series The Jinx, returns to Emmy contention with the follow up to that true crime documentary about the late accused murderer Robert Durst. The Jinx Part Two, from HBO, earned three Emmy noms, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, and Jarecki scored a nomination in the doc writing categories for his work on the show.
“This was obviously such a labor, and it was a labor of love,” Jarecki told Deadline. Jarecki’s “journey” with Robert Durst began in 2005 when he began work on All Good Things, a fictionalized telling of Durst’s relationship with his first wife, Kathie, who disappeared and whose body has never been found.
“It’s definitely one of those things you look back on and think, if I knew it was going to be 20 years, would I have done what I did?” he pondered. “But [the Emmy nominations are] really encouraging because there’s so much craft that went into creating this series.”
Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss return to the Emmy fold with Girls State, about high school-age young women who participate in an exercise in mock government. It’s a follow up of sorts to Boys State, the 2020 film that won the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.
Girls State, from Apple TV+, earned nominations for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, cinematography and directing.
“It was hard to leap into making the film. I think we were worried about living up to expectations, our own and other people’s, finding a story that felt as meaningful, knowing that the times have changed, the political times have changed. Kids are different now,” Moss said. “But feeling really fortunate. I have to remind myself that the biggest risks we take are the ones that offer the greatest reward — to not play it safe.”
Girls State is one of the few documentaries nominated for Outstanding Special or Series categories that doesn’t fall into the true crime or celebrity genres.
“If we’re making a film about representational democracy and women being underrepresented in that space, it’s nice to have the opportunity really to represent girls, too,” McBaine noted. “So, this [Emmy recognition] had an extra special little win for me. So, yay!”
Emmy newcomer Bao Nguyen earned a nomination for directing The Greatest Night in Pop, the story of the making of the hit song “We Are the World” almost 40 years ago. The Netflix film was nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, recognizing the work of producers Lionel Richie (who was so instrumental in creating “We Are the World”), Larry Klein, Harriet Sternberg, Bruce Eskowitz, George Hencken, and Julia Nottingham.
“I’m on cloud nine. Can’t be happier for and more excited for our team and everyone who helped make this all happen,” Nguyen told Deadline. “I’m kind of speechless, actually.”
In the documentary directing category, Nguyen goes up against Reiner, Howard, McBaine, Moss, Neville, and Fisher Stevens. Not bad company.
“I think just being in the presence of such other great directors — I’m looking at the list now — and to be in the same category, mentioned in the same category, it’s really an honor,” Nguyen said. “I think I can finally tell my parents what I do for a living.”
Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams, who won an Emmy in January for The 1619 Project, secured an Emmy nomination today for Stamped From the Beginning, his Netflix film that examines the history of racism in this country. It’s based on the bestselling book of the same name by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi.
Stamped From the Beginning is nominated in the juried category of Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, alongside Beyond Utopia and Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.
“It’s especially meaningful to me to get nominated in the category of Exceptional Merit because Stamped From the Beginning was a really colossal effort,” Williams said. “A lot of people, Alisa Payne, the producer, David Teague, the writer, John Fisher and Francesca Sharper, the editors, Amani [K. Smith], the music supervisor, Nate [Wonder] and Roman [GianArthur], the composers, so many people worked so hard to create something that was really unique and different. And it’s hard to do that when you are tackling such an important and serious subject like racism in America.”
He added, “Obviously we had the incredible work of Dr. Kendi, but it’s a 540 page-plus book. The challenge from Netflix to me was it needs to be accessible. So, I love a good challenge and I was like, I’m going to create something that people can really – I said this many times, but it’s an oxymoron — it’s an entertaining ride through racism. The needle drop music, animation, the graphics, all of it came together to create something really special and unique, and we all felt it.”
