In the Movie/Limited Directing race at this year’s Emmys, Gold Derby contributor Rob Licuria has decided to go against the grain with his prediction. He’s forecasting a victory for Nicole Kassell for the first episode of ‘Watchmen.’ “It’s the pilot that really sets the scene. Those scenes in Tulsa from 100 years ago with the Black Wall Street Massacre were just mind-boggling,” says Licuria during a slugfest with me and fellow contributors Riley Chow and Tony Ruiz (watch the video above).
The rest of us are backing Stephen Williams for the “This Extraordinary Being” episode of “Watchmen.” The showiness of the direction along with the black-and-white cinematography give it that feeling of being the “most directed” of the nominees. But Ruiz thinks this could create a potential problem for the HBO limited series. “Is there enough there to create a vote split? Or is ‘This Extraordinary Being’ so beloved that it could overcome a vote split?” Referencing that Kassell claimed the DGA prize over Williams earlier this year, Ruiz reminds us that even DGA isn’t completely reliable at forecasting winners.
Over in Movie/Limited Writing, we all have “This Extraordinary Being” (written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson) the winner, but I point out that this category could be a bit more wide open than some are assuming. “‘Unorthodox’ did much better than a lot of us were expecting. That type of limited series feels like it could be primed for a writing award win.” I also point out that the “Shirley” episode of “Mrs. America,” written by Tanya Barfield would be a notable win since it’s an episode that centers on the first Black woman to run for president and is written and directed by Black women.
Chow is much more emphatic in his assessment of the category. “I think ‘Watchmen’ is locked here, more than ‘Succession’ is locked in Drama Writing. I’m not entirely sure what is in second place in this category.” He adds that it has far more nominations than any of its competitors, immense critical acclaim and an episode with a theme parallel to the Black Lives Matter movement along with one of the nominated co-writers (Jefferson) being Black as well.
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