John Adams and Mad Men lead winners at
Saturday’s Creative Emmy Awards

By Jack Egan

With awards in eight categories, John Adams, the HBO biographical miniseries about the second president of the United States, was the big winner at the Creative Emmy Awards. Mad Men, AMC’s retro-hit about the 1950’s advertising world, was second with four Emmys.

The ceremony held on Saturday, September 13, at the Nokia Theater, honored the contributions of many behind-the-scenes production and crew professionals among the 69 awards handed out, in what was a prelude to the Primetime Live Emmys one week away.

Different John Adams episodes scored for achievements in the long-form category including cinematography, costumes, art direction, prosthetic makeup, sound editing, sound mixing and even special visual effects. “Few viewers realized there were any visual effects but we ended up with over 800 shots,” noted Paul Graff, one of the VFX supervisors for the miniseries.

There were numerous first-time Emmy winners at the Creative Awards including some who had received a number of previous nominations but come up empty-handed. Cinematographer Phil Abraham won an Emmy for his work on Mad Men. He had been nominated four times for his camerawork on seven seasons of The Sopranos. “The ambience and the mood of Mad Men, which comes through the characters, makes it such a rich playing field for cinematographers,” said Abraham.

The winning sound mixing team for Lost worked with “over 100 tracks plus sound effects and music for each show, to create a full 5.1 surround sound mix,” noted re-recording mixer Scott Weber, who was excited about winning his first Emmy.

LIST OF BELOW-THE-LINE EMMY WINNERS

ART DIRECTION FOR A MULTI-CAMERA SERIES
Stephan Olson, production designer; Susan Eschelbach, set decorator — How I Met Your Mother - (”The Yips, No Tomorrow, Miracles”) (CBS) –

ART DIRECTION FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES
Bob Shaw, production designer; Henry Dunn, art director;Rena DeAngelo, set decorator — Mad Men - (”Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” - Pilot) (AMC) -

ART DIRECTION FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Gemma Jackson, production designer; David Crank, supervising art director (USA); Christina Moore, supervising art director (Hungary); Kathy Lucas, set decorator (USA); Sarah Whittle, set decorator (Hungary) –John Adams (HBO) -

ART DIRECTION FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC PROGRAM OR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
Roy Christopher, production designer; Joe Celli, art director– 80th Annual Academy Awards (ABC)

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A HALF-HOUR SERIES
Peter Levy, A.C.S., A.S.C.–Californication - (pilot) (Showtime)

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A ONE-HOUR SERIES
Phil Abraham –Mad Men - “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” (AMC)

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Tak Fujimoto, A.S.C.–John Adams - “Independence” (HBO)

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
Cinematography– Team Deadliest Catch - “No Mercy” (Discovery Channel)

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR REALITY PROGRAMMING
Axel Baumann, Robert Hanna, Ulli Bonnekamp, Mark Brice, Wolfgang Hel– Carrier - “Rites Of Passage” - (PBS) -

SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A DRAMA
Lynne Willingham, A.C.E.–Breaking Bad (pilot) (AMC)

SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A COMEDY
Stuart Bass, A.C.E.–Pushing Daisies - “Pie-Lette” (ABC) -

SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
Alan Baumgarten, A.C.E.–Recount - (HBO)

PICTURE EDITING FOR REALITY PROGRAMMING
Kevin Leffler, Vikash Patel, Marc Clark, Annie Tighe, Steve Lichtenstein, Sue Hoover, Katherine Griffin–Top Chef - “First Impressions” (Bravo)

PICTURE EDITING FOR A SPECIAL (Single or Multi-Camera)
Michael D. Schultz, Jim Kelly, Chad Callner– Justin Timberlake: FutureSex/LoveShow (HBO)

PICTURE EDITING OF CLIP PACKAGES (Single or Multi-Camera)
James Crowe, Bill DeRonde– American Idol (Episode 733) - (FOX)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” - “5th Year Anniversary Show (I’m F***ing Matt Damon) - (ABC) -

PICTURE EDITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING 
Kim Roberts; Autism: The Musical - (HBO)

COSTUMES FOR A SERIES
Joan Bergin, costume designer; Susan O’Connor Cave, wardrobe supervisor– The Tudors (Episode # 202) (Showtime)

COSTUMES FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL
Donna Zakowska, costume designer; Amy Andrews Harrell, costume supervisor; Clare Spragge, costume supervisor– John Adams - “Reunion” (HBO)

COSTUMES FOR A VARIETY/MUSIC PROGRAM OR A SPECIAL 
Shanna Knecht, Elizabeth Tagg– Frank TV - “Ballpark Frank” (TBS)

HAIRSTYLING FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES
Gloria Pasqua Casny, department head hairstylist; Lucia Mace, key hairstylist; Anthony Wilson, Barbara Cantu–Mad Men - “Shoot” (AMC)

HAIRSTYLING FOR A MULTI-CAMERA SERIES
Mary Guerrero, department head hairstylist; Lucia Mace, key hairstylist; Cynthia P. Romo, Maria Valdivia”Saturday Night Live” (Host: Tina Fey) - (NBC) - Bettie O. Rogers, department head hairstylist; AnneMichelle Radcliffe, key ;hairstylist; Jodi Mancuso– Dancing With The Stars (Episode #510A) (ABC)

HAIRSTYLING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL
Alison Elliot, department head hairstylist– Cranford (Masterpiece Theatre) (PBS)

MAKEUP FOR A SERIES (Non-Prosthetic)
Sally Craven, department head makeup artist; Matthew Mungle–Tracey Ullman’s State Of The Union (Episode #102) (Showtime)

MAKEUP FOR A MULTI-CAMERA SERIES OR SPECIAL (Non-Prosthetic)
Melanie Mills, department head makeup artist; Zena Shteysel, key makeup artist, Patty Ramsey, Nadege Schoenfeld– Dancing With The Stars (Episode #503) (ABC)

MAKEUP FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL (Non-Prosthetic)
Lisa Love, department head makeup artist– Tin Man (Sci Fi Channel) -

PROSTHETIC MAKEUP FOR A SERIES, MINISERIES OR SPECIAL
John Adams (HBO) - Trefor Proud, department head makeup artist / special makeup effects artist and designer; John R. Bayless, Christopher Burgoyne, Matthew Mungle

SOUND EDITING FOR A SERIES
Michael E. Lawshe, supervising sound editor; Norval ‘Charlie’ Crutcher III, supervising ADR Editor; Jessica Dixon, dialogue editor; Marc Meyer, supervising sound effects editor; Timothy Cleveland, sound effects editor; Paul Diller, sound effects editor; Albert Gomez, sound effects editor; Casey Crabtree, foley artist; Michael Crabtree, foley artist; Chris McGeary, music editor– Smallville - “Bizarro” (CW)

SOUND EDITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL
John Adams - “Don’t Tread On Me” (HBO) - Stephen Hunter Flick, supervising sound editor; Vanessa Lapato, Dialogue/ADR Editor; Kira Roessler, dialogue editor; Curt Schulkey, dialogue editor; Randy Kelly, sound effects editor; Ken Johnson, sound effects editor; Paul Berolzheimer, sound effects editor; Dean Beville, sound effects editor; Bryan Bowen, sound effects editor; Patricio Libenson, sound effects editor; Solange S. Schwalbe, M.P.S.E., sound effects editor; David Fein, foley artist; Hilda Hodges, foley artist; Alex Gibson, Music Editor

SOUND EDITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING (Single Or Multi-Camera)
Erik Ewers, sound effects editor; Ryan Gifford, sound effects editor; Mariusz Glabinski, sound effects editor; Magdaline Volaitis, Sound Effects/ dialogue editor; Ira Spiegel, sound effects editor; Marlena Grzaslewicz, dialogue editor; Jacob Ribicoff, music editor–The War- “When Things Get Tough” (PBS)

SINGLE-CAMERA SOUND MIXING FOR A SERIES
Robert Anderson, production mixer; Frank Morrone, re-recording mixer; Scott Weber, re-recording mixer– Lost - “Meet Kevin Johnson” (ABC)

SINGLE-CAMERA SOUND MIXING FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Jay Meagher, C.A.S., production mixer; Marc Fishman, re-recording mixer; Tony Lamberti, re-recording mixer– John Adams — “Don’t Tread On Me” (HBO)

MULTI-CAMERA SOUND MIXING FOR A SERIES OR SPECIAL
Griffin Richardson, production mixer; Tony Pipitone, re-recording mixer; Bill Marino, re-recording mixer–30 Rock - “Episode 210″ (NBC)

SOUND MIXING FOR A VARIETY OR MUSIC SERIES OR SPECIAL OR ANIMATION
Thomas Holmes, production mixer; John Harris, broadcast music mixer; Eric Schilling, broadcast music mixer; Eric Johnston, broadcast audio Playback mixer; Tom Pesa, foldback mixer; Mikael Stewart, FOH production mixer; Ron Reaves, FOH music mixer; Mike Parker, stage foldback mixer–50th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS)

SOUND MIXING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING (Single Or Multi-Camera)
Jason King, Sound mixer–American Masters - “Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends” (PBS)

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS FOR A SERIES
Gary Hutzel, visual effects supervisor; Michael Gibson, visual effects Producer; David Takemura, visual effects Coordinator; Doug Drexler, CGI supervisor; Kyle Toucher, CG artist; Sean Jackson, CG artist; Pierre Drolet, CG modeler; Aurore de Blois, senior compositor; Derek Ledbetter, compositor–Battlestar Galactica - “He That Believeth In Me” (Sci Fi Channel)

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL
Erik Henry, visual effects supervisor; Jeff Goldman, visual effects supervisor; Paul Graff, visual effects supervisor; Steve Kullback, visual effects Producer; Christina Graff, visual effects Producer; David Van Dyke, visual effects Producer; Robert Stromberg, visual effects Designer; Edwardo Mendez, Compositing supervisor; Ken Gorrell, Special Effects Coordinator–John Adams - “Join Or Die” (HBO)

LIGHTING DIRECTION (Electronic, Multi-Camera for VMC programming)
50th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS) — Robert Dickinson, Matt Firestone, Andy O’Reilly