Gratification over an Emmy nomination goes beyond individual acclaim. And that’s clear from much of what nominees have shared with SHOOT this award season–including in both The Road To Emmy and Cinematographers & Cameras feature stories in this issue.
Checco Varese, ASC, who scored his first career Emmy nomination for Dopesick, noted in our Cinematographers & Cameras coverage that the limited series reaffirmed for him “the power of the medium whether its a series or a movie. It’s the power to help bring about change, the power for good, maybe almost the power for revolution. You can change minds and souls with what we do. That’s what I took out of Dopesick–with or without a [Emmy] nomination. I can change the future of my daughter who is 14–so she doesn’t have to deal with a doctor who gives her OxyContin. You can do this with a TV series. You can do it with a movie–about the events of January 6th or about Roe v. Wade.”
Meanwhile on the directorial front as reported in this week’s installment of The Road To Emmy, Cherien Dabis thanked, among others, actor James Caverly, for his help on an episode of Only Murders in the Building, for which she earned her first Emmy nomination–in the Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series category. Dabis said she was grateful to Deaf actor Caverly who “challenged me to think deeply about visually crafting the episode with a Deaf audience in mind.”
Titled “The Boy From 6B,” the episode is virtually silent, experienced from the perspective of a Deaf character named Theo Dimas, portrayed by Caverly. “We yanked the audience out of that regular point of view and put them in a really different one. It’s interesting and it paid off,” said Dabis. “I think that inclusion is everything. The fact that we’re seeing the point of view of a character we don’t get to see often on television is so important. It’s one of the reasons people respond to this episode. I hope this is one of the takeaways for everyone–it paid off to show new perspectives we’re not used to.”
“The Boy From 6B” reaffirmed for Dabis that risks really do pay off–and it takes support from everyone to take those risks. “If we hadn’t been that bold, I’m not sure the episode would have been as strong. Other choices could have been made that might have made it a little less committed to being in Theo’s shoes.”
Robert Goldrich is a SHOOTonline editor
