By Robert Goldrich, The Road To Emmy Series, Part 12

A cursory assessment early on would have been that Prey (Hulu) didn’t have a prayer of receiving an Emmy nomination. Even its writer-director Dan Trachtenberg acknowledged that the prospect of TV Academy recognition for “making ostensibly Predator, Part 5” would seem a bit far-fetched.

The reality, though, turned out to be a story that was much more than what it might have initially appeared to be as Trachtenberg aspired to make an action movie that was not only a visceral experience but an emotional one as well.

Realizing this vision, Prey wound up garnering six Emmy nominations, including for Outstanding Television Movie, as well as a pair of nods for Trachtenberg–Outstanding Directing For a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, and Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (shared with Patrick Aison).

Prey proved to be a Predator prequel with a story and characters of substance that resonated with audiences. The focus is on Naru, a young woman portrayed by Amber Midthunder who protects her tribe against a strange and mysterious threat, which turns out to be Predator, an unwanted visitor on Earth.

You didn’t need a deep knowledge of the Predator movies to relate to this story that preceded the movie narratives chronologically but had its own unique premise. “Years ago,” recalled Trachtenberg, “I was thinking about all the movies I’d like to make. I had just seen Mad Max: Fury Road and was inspired to make a movie of my own that could be primarily told through action.” Setting out to make a movie that sparked audiences viscerally and emotionally, Trachtenberg said he thought a lot about “an underdog story, taking the engine of a sports film and fusing it into another genre.” This amalgam of action and sci-fi, bonded by humanity, could translate into a moving, maybe even an overwhelming experience, he reasoned. Trachtenberg then found himself in search of an unlikely protagonist, one we never see on screen. This led him to a Native American person, then a Comanche in particular–someone who in past movies or TV would, if seen at all, be relegated to a sidekick or a villain, never the hero. He went with that concept from which evolved Naru who is then dovetailed into science fiction, “a combination we rarely see,” noted Trachtenberg. The notion of putting this underdog up against a sci-fi adversary, Predator, captured Trachtenberg’s imagination–and he hoped it would do the same for viewers.

A prime personal takeaway from Prey for Trachtenberg is the friendship he formed with Midthunder over the course of making the film. Just as he connected with her in a friendship that’s ongoing, so too did audiences connect with the character she portrayed. Trachtenberg found it gratifying that viewers befriended Naru, relating to a protagonist they might never have had a point of connection with otherwise.

Also gratifying for Trachtenberg is having his collaborators on Prey recognized with Emmy nominations–namely composer Sarah Schachner for Original Dramatic Score; Angela M. Catanzaro, ACE and Claudia Castello in the Outstanding Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category; and Chris Terhune and Will Files, part of the audio team which was recognized for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special.

Prey marked Trachtenberg’s first collaboration with Schachner who came over from video games. Trachtenberg had been a fan of her video game work, a medium “not recognized often or appreciated at awards time,” he said, overjoyed that she gained recognition from TV Academy voters. This is Schachner’s first Emmy nomination.

Trachtenberg noted that Catanzaro and Castelllo, also both first-time Emmy nominees, struck a delicate balance in picture editing on Prey. He credited the editors with a remarkable job of “making a 90-minute movie feel at times languid and contemplative in its pacing”–and then bringing in a feel akin to a “rollicking thrill ride.”

And the sound team, including Files whom Trachtenberg worked with a couple of times prior to Prey, brought much to the table–spanning not just “cool weapon sounds” but “the way silence is employed.” The latter is “a big part of their art as well,” observed Trachtenberg. Prey marked the first time that Trachtenberg and Terhune worked together.

Files’ track record with Trachtenberg most notably included serving as a re-recording mixer on 10 Cloverfield Lane, released in 2016. The next year 10 Cloverfield Lane earned Trachtenberg a DGA Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film. Files earned three Emmy nominations this year–the other two being in sound editing and sound mixing categories for Stranger Things. He now has a total of seven career Emmy nominations–the rest all coming for Stranger Things. Earlier this year Files received his first Oscar nomination–Best Sound for The Batman.

Terhune also picked up three Emmy nominations this year–for Prey and the other two also in sound editing for episodes of The Last of Us and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. 

Prior to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, Trachtenberg had been prepping to serve as a director on season five of Stranger Things.

This is the 12th installment of SHOOT’s weekly 16-part The Road To Emmy Series of feature stories. The Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremonies are slated for the weekend of September 9 and 10, and the primetime Emmy ceremony is scheduled for September 18.

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