It goes without saying that the Emmy nominations emerged at a strange time for Hollywood. Announced July 12, they arrived just a day before SAG-AFTRA announced that the union would be striking. Given the timing, actors, still allowed to do promotional work for their projects, were able to hop on the phone to discuss their nods.
For the writing nominees, the celebration was even more muted given the WGA strike already in its second month. Some, who occupy multiple roles on their projects, were able to comment on their success. In all cases, it was a complicated, emotional moment — the glory of recognition combined with the somber acknowledgment of the ongoing fight around them.
“It’s weird,” Bill Hader told The Hollywood Reporter shortly after the nominations were announced. “It’s like celebrating your birthday, but your parents are getting divorced. We’re trying to make the best out of a bad situation.” Hader is a triple nominee in acting, writing and directing for the final season of Barry, making him a player in multiple guilds that were, at the time of the interview, either in the midst or on the verge of a strike.
The conflict could be seen in statements that went out to press from the likes of Craig Mazin, the showrunner of The Last of Us, who was also nominated individually in the writing for a drama series category for the episode “Long, Long Time.” He said that while he was “honored” to be recognized by the Academy, his “priority right now is to see the day when all entertainment industry artists and craftspeople are treated fairly by the companies who convert our work into their profits.” In that spirit, he added that: “Working within the union rules, I intend to focus any promotional efforts on supporting the nominated crew of The Last of Us.”
Beau Willimon, a former WGA East president who earned an Emmy nomination for writing “One Way Out” from Disney+’s Andor, also spoke about how the celebration came with a metaphorical asterisk. “I’d also like to acknowledge that while it’s wonderful to celebrate the value of writers, 11,000 of us are currently on strike to protect the value of every writer on every show and winning that struggle is the most important prize of all,” his statement read.
Celebrating the value of writers, as Willimon said, could also serve as a reminder to studios of their importance in the television ecosystem. For Jury Duty showrunner Cody Heller, whose show was nominated for best comedy series and an individual writing nom for Mekki Leeper (who also appeared on the comedy as an actor), the experience of the nominations was “bittersweet,” she explained in a statement to THR. She added: “My hope is that, in this moment, the corporations who profit off our work are reminded of the great power we hold as storytellers and are compelled to reach a fair deal so we can all get back to doing what we love.”
At this point, it’s unclear whether the Emmys will go on as planned given the now-vast Hollywood labor moment, though there has been no official announcement as to a change of course. They are scheduled to air Sept. 18 on Fox.
