Things We Learned At The 2012 Creative Arts Emmys

Who says award shows aren't educational?  Here are a few things we learned attending the 2012 Creative Arts Emmys: 

  * "Mad Men's" Emmy-winning animated opening title sequence, following an ad man tumbling through his world as it's torn apart, would never have existed if Matthew Weiner had his way.  He originally wanted  a live action "suicide sequence" of a man hurling himself from the top of a skyscraper. AMC nixed the idea.  "They were right," confessed Weiner. 

 * The editors who work on "The Deadliest Catch" have to creatively cut around massive quantities of foul language in nearly every sequence that's shot aboard the fishing vessels.

 * Mark Margolis, Emmy nominated outstanding guest actor for his role on “Breaking Bad,” has an in-depth knowledge of face cream ingredients.  "They use little baby foreskins," said Margolis. 

 * Creative Arts Emmy winners are nimble: with only 45 seconds to get from their seat to the stage (or loose their 15 seconds of speach time) everyone made it to the podium in time, even if it required a sprint down the very long aisles of LA Live

The evening's winners also provided quite a bit to talk about.  "Smash" took the choreography trophy away from favored  "So You Think You Can Dance" nominees, "Game of Thrones” would end up being the evening's big drama winner with six trophies including costumes and art direction (which it shared in a tie with "Boardwalk Empire,") and previous Creative Arts Emmy winner "Mad Men" would not only leave this event empty handed, but would ultimately receive no wins out of its 17 nominations.

411 Publishing was on hand at the award ceremony gathering thoughts and reactions to this year's event from some of the evening's nominees and attendees.  

Kevin Shinick, writer/producer, "Mad: Kitchen Nightmare Before Christmas," on being nominated for the first time.

"It's our third season and our first nomination.  Sometimes it just takes the culture a little bit to catch up.  Maybe it was supposed to happen now, because it is Mad Magazine's 60th anniversary and it's just fitting."

Fern Champion, casting director, "Hatfields & McCoys," on finding authentic actors for the period mini-series.

"They were not the prettiest people in the world, but you couldn't overlook some of my younger folks that were just extremely good looking.  I think hair and makeup and wardrobe really lent itself to making them look a little less attractive."

Bertram Van Munster, executive producer, "The Amazing Race," on the impact of a nomination after seven previous wins.

"This is not some casual thing, 'Let's just go there.' No, no, not at all!  I'm extremely passionate about it.  We work so hard month after month in all kinds of crazy situations.  We have seven nominations tonight, and after ten years, that's extraordinary.  We are very honored."

Travis Wall, choreographer, "So You Think You Can Dance," on receiving repeat nominations for his work on the show.

"You just have to be true to yourself and set higher goals.  You never want to feel comfortable but you never want to look for the acknowledgment either.  When we put work on television, we are doing the best we can do, and for us to be recognized by the Academy is such a pleasure."

Vince Gilligan, creator/writer/executive producer, "Breaking Bad," on having the ability to focus on crafting highly nuanced scripts.

"We're lucky Sony and AMC allow us as much amount of lead time as possible to figure out all the story nuances.  I wish every show got to have that lead time.  I feel very blessed and very lucky that we have all that time to dot all the I’s and cross all the t’s story-wise.  Very fortunate." 

Robert Duncan, composer, "Missing," on what he enjoyed the most about composing music for the mini-series.

"Although it's an action series at its heart is a story about a mother searching for her son.  I got to really pull on the heartstrings and write the music I always wanted to write for it, and I'm overjoyed to be recognized with a nomination."

John Lindley, cinematographer, "Pan Am," on being the only nominee from a team he closely collaborated with.

"I stand on their shoulders.  If the show looks good it’s because of them.  I feel that way about the actresses and the wardrobe and the sets and the VFX.  You can't separate my craft out from those things.  If the set is bad, the photography is bad."

Gareth Neame, executive producer, "Downton Abbey," on the popularity of the show.

"It's really surprising.  I've spent 23 years in my career trying to get anyone to take any notice of anything I've ever made and sometimes you have a show were you don't even have to try because people genuinely respond to it.  Millions of people around the world are invested in this show and that's a very heart-warming thing.  That drama and entertainment can have an impact that way is terribly exciting."

To see these and other interviews from the Creative Arts Emmys, please visit:

www.411publishing.com/TechTips

And The Winners of the 2012 Creative Arts Emmys are:

Outstanding Reality Program
Undercover Boss (CBS) – Eli Holzman, Executive Producer; Stephen Lambert, Executive Producer; Chris Carlson, Executive Producer; Scott Cooper, Co-Executive Producer; Sandi Johnson, Co-Executive Producer; Rachelle Mendez, Supervising Producer; Lety Quintanar, Supervising Producer; Rebekah Fry, Supervising Producer

Outstanding Children’s Program
Wizards Of Waverly Place (Disney Channel) – Ben Montanio, Executive Producer; Vince Cheung, Executive Producer; Todd J. Greenwald, Executive Producer; Gigi McCreery, Co-Executive Producer; Perry Rein, Co-Executive Producers; Richard Goodman, Supervising Producer; Greg A. Hampson, Produced By

Outstanding Children’s Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program
Sesame Street: Growing Hope Against Hunger (PBS) – Carol-lynn Parente, Executive Producer; Melissa Dino, Supervising Producer; Mason Rather, Senior Producer; Kevin Clash, Producer

Outstanding Animated Program
The Penguins Of Madagascar: “The Return Of The Revenge Of Dr. Blowhole” (Nickelodeon) – Bob Schooley, Executive Producer/Written by; Mark McCorkle, Executive Producer/Written by; Bret Haaland, Co-Executive Producer; Nick Filippi, Supervising Producer; Chris Neuhahn, Supervising Producer; Ant Ward, Supervising Producer; Andrew Huebner, Produced by; David Knott, Supervising Director; Shaun Cashman, Animation Director; Steve Loter, Animation Director; Christo Stamboliev, Animation Director

Outstanding Short-form Animated Program
Regular Show - “Eggscellent” (Cartoon Network) – Brian A. Miller, Executive Producer; Jennifer Pelphrey, Executive Producer; Curtis Lelash, Executive Producer; Rob Sorcher, Executive Producer; JG Quintel, Executive Producer/Written by; Mike Roth, Supervising Producer/Writer; Janet Dimon, Producer; Matt Price, Writer; Jack Thomas, Writer; John Infantino, Supervising Director/Writer; Robert Alvarez, Animation Director

(Juried Awards) Outstanding Individual Achievement In Animation
Phineas and Ferb, “Doof Dynasty”, Jill Daniels, Background Paint (Disney Channel)
Disney Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice, Bill Schwab, Character Design, (ABC)
Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, “Nighmare Sauce,” Chris Tsirgiotis, Background Design (Cartoon Network)
Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, “Nighmare Sauce,” Robertryan Cory, Character Design (Cartoon Network)

Outstanding Nonfiction Series
Frozen Planet (Discovery Channel) – Alastair Fothergill, Executive Producer; Susan Winslow, Executive Producer; Vanessa Berlowitz, Series Producer

Outstanding Nonfiction Special
George Harrison: Living In The Material World (HBO) – Margaret Bodde, Executive Producer; Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Executive Producer For Sikelia Productions; Blair Foster, Supervising Producer; Olivia Harrison, Produced By; Nigel Sinclair, Produced By; Martin Scorsese, Produced By

Outstanding Variety Special
The Kennedy Center Honors (CBS) – George Stevens, Jr., Producer; Michael M. Stevens, Producer

Outstanding Special Class Program
65th Annual Tony Awards (CBS) – Ricky Kirshner, Executive Producer; Glenn Weiss, Executive Producer; Neil Patrick Harris, Producer/Host

Outstanding Special Class: Short-format Live-Action Entertainment Programs
Childrens Hospital (Cartoon Network) – Rob Corddry, Executive Producer; Jonathan Stern, Executive Producer; David Wain, Executive Producer; Keith Crofford, Executive Producer; Nick Weidenfeld, Executive Producer; Rich Rosenthal, Co-Executive Producer

Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking
Have You Heard From Johannesburg (Independent Lens) (PBS) – Connie Field, Producer; Lois Vossen, Series Senior Producer; Sally Jo Fifer, Executive Producer

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Kathy Bates as Charlie Harper (Two And A Half Men)

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Martha Plimpton as Patti Nyholm (The Good Wife)

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Jeremy Davies as Dickie Bennett (Justified)

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Jimmy Fallon, Host (Saturday Night Live)

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) – Tim Carvell, Head Writer; Rory Albanese, Writer; Kevin Bleyer, Writer; Rich Blomquist, Writer; Steve Bodow, Writer; Wyatt Cenac, Writer; Hallie Haglund, Writer; JR Havlan, Writer; Elliott Kalan, Writer; Dan McCoy, Writer; Jo Miller, Writer; John Oliver, Writer; Zhubin Parang, Writer; Daniel Radosh, Writer; Jason Ross, Writer; Jon Stewart, Writer


Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming
Prohibition – A Nation Of Hypocrites (PBS) – Geoffrey C. Ward, Written by

Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series
Saturday Night Live - “Host: Mick Jagger” (NBC) – Don Roy King, Director

Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming
George Harrison: Living In The Material World (HBO) – Martin Scorsese, Director

Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series
Boardwalk Empire - “21″ (HBO) – Jonathan Freeman, Director of Photography

Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series
Two And A Half Men - “Sips, Sonnets, And Sodomy” (CBS) – Steven V. Silver, ASC, Director of Photography