- LOS ANGELES
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Apple entered the primetime commercial Emmy nominees’ circle for the third consecutive year--this time for two spots: AirPods Pro’s “Jump” directed by Sam Brown of Imperial Woodpecker for TBWA\Media Arts Lab; and Apple Watch Series 6’s “It Already Does That” directed by Craig Gillespie of MJZ.
This marks the second time in three years that Apple has had two Emmy nominees. In 2019, Apple scored with MacBook’s “Behind the Mac--Make Something Wonderful” and iPhone’s “Don’t Mess with Mother.” Last year, Apple “only” had one spot nominated: “Bounce” for AirPods.
Also making a major splash this Emmy season was Melina Matsoukas of PRETTYBIRD who directed two nominated pieces--“Better | Mamba Forever,” a Nike tribute to the late, great Kobe Bryant for Wieden+Kennedy; and Beats by Dr. Dre’s “You Love Me” from agency Translation, LLC.
The latter back in April earned Matsoukas the DGA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Commercials, making her the first woman and first person of color to win the Guild’s spot honor. If “Better/Mamba Forever” or “You Love Me” end up winning the primetime commercial Emmy, she would become the first woman of color to have directed work earning the prestigious TV Academy honor. She would, however, not be the first woman to have directed an Emmy winner. That distinction belongs to Lauren Greenfield for directing Procter & Gamble/Always’ “#LikeAGirl which won the Emmy in 2015. At the time Greenfield was with Chelsea Pictures. She is now with Girl Culture Films, a shop which she co-founded.
Rounding out this year’s field of primetime commercial Emmy nominees were: another Nike ad from Wieden+Kennedy, “You Can’t Stop Us,” directed by Oscar Hudson of Pulse Films; and “Alexa’s Body” for Amazon Alexa, directed by Wayne McClammy of Hungry Man for agency Lucky Generals.
Here are the official TV Academy listings of the nominations for the primetime commercial Emmy:
Emmy Nominations--Outstanding Commercial
AirPods Pro — “Jump” - Apple AirPods
TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Ad Agency
Imperial Woodpecker, Production Company
“Alexa’s Body” - Amazon Alexa
Lucky Generals, Ad Agency
Hungry Man, Production Company
“Better | Mamba Forever” - Nike Wieden+Kennedy, Ad Agency
PRETTYBIRD, Production Company
It Already Does That - Apple Watch Series 6
Apple, Ad Agency
MJZ, Production Company
You Can’t Stop Us - Nike Wieden+Kennedy, Ad Agency
Pulse, Production Company
“You Love Me” - Beats by Dr. Dre
Translation, LLC, Ad Agency
PRETTYBIRD, Production Company
The primetime commercial Emmy winner will be announced and honored during the Creative Arts Emmy awards proceedings in September (date to be announced). The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards will be hosted by Cedric the Entertainer and air Sunday, September 19, on CBS, and be streamed on Paramount+.
Client Nike Agency Wieden + Kennedy Portland Jason Bagley, Eric Baldwin, executive creative directors; Alberto Ponte, Ryan O’Rourke, creative directors; Dylan Lee, copywriter; Naoki Ga, art director; Matt Hunnicutt, director of production; Jake Grand, Krystle Mortimore, executive producers; Katie McCain, Byron T. Oshiro, sr. producers; Samson Selam, Shani Storey, associate producers; Saba Spencer, David Ramirez, creative operations managers; Andy Lindblade, Paula Bloodworth, global group strategy directors; Nathan Goldberg, AJ Blumenthal, brand strategy directors. Production Company Pulse Films Oscar Hudson, director; Logan Triplett, DP; Darren Foldes, Davud Karbassioun, exec producers; Hillary Rogers, managing director; Dennis Beier, line producer. Editorial JOINT Peter Wiedensmith, Jessica Baclesse, editors; Jasmine McCullough, JC Nunez, cutting assistants; Charlie Harrington, Kris Faris, Luke Buckley, assistant editors; Ben Corbin, Damian Riddell, After Effects; Izzie Raitt, footage researcher; Leslie Carthy, post exec producer; Kathleen Russell, post producer; Aubree VanDercar, postproduction coordinator. VFX a52, Santa Monica, Calif. Patrick Murphy, VFX supervisor, lead Flame artist; Andy Wilkoff, CG supervisor; Steve Wolff, Urs Furrer, Matt Sousa, Stefan Gaillot, Andy Rafael Barrios, Hugh Seville, Richard Hirst, Adam Flynn, Dan Ellis, Kevin Stokes, Chris Riley, Rod Basham, Michael Vaglienty, Enid Dalkoff, Susanne Scharping, Flame artists; Dustin Mellum, 3D artist; Joe Chiechi, Mike Bettinardi, Michael Cardenas, tracking; Kevin Stokes, Chris Riley, Sam Kolber, online editors; Andrew Rosenberger, Everett Cross, Jillian Lynes, producers; Patrick Nugent, Kim Christensen, EPs; Jennifer Sofio Hall, managing director; Daniel de Vue, colorist; Jenny Bright, color producer; Thatcher Peterson, color EP. (Toolbox: Flame, Photoshop, After Effects, Maya w/VRay, PF track) Elastic, Santa Monica (design studio) Jeff Han, art director; Paul Makowski, Adam Goins, producers; Nader Husseini, Julia Wright, Chad Danieley, Aziz Dosmetov, Trix Taylor, Lucy Kim, Alex Silver, animators; Zach Wakefield, deputy head of prodn.; Luke Colson, EP; Kate Berry, head of production; Jennifer Sofio Hall, managing director. Music Daylight by Cowboys in Japan Sound Design & Mix JOINT Noah Woodburn, sound designer, audio mixer.
Client Apple AirPods Pro Agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab Production Company Imperial Woodpecker Sam Brown, director; Maria Jose Secco, DP; Megan Lawson, movement coach. Music “Fallin Apart” by Young Franco ft. Pell & Denzel Curry. Talent Kengo Sugino