The New York Film Academy (NYFA) community came away with multiple award statues this weekend at the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, including NYFA Documentary instructor Bob Eisenhardt’s Outstanding Achievement in Editing win for his work on critically-acclaimed Free Solo.
The Creative Arts Emmys are awarded by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), typically a week before the more well-known televised Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, and recognize technical and other similar achievements in television programming as well as more obscure categories. This year’s Creative Arts Emmys were held at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
Two big winners of the evening were the rock climbing documentary Free Solo and HBO’s juggernaut fantasy series Game of Thrones.
NYFA Documentary Filmmaking instructor Bob Eisenhardt, ACE, won Outstanding Achievement in Editing (Nonfiction) for cutting Free Solo, which has won countless awards over the last year, including the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Eisenhardt has also won several awards for his work on the film, including the editing industry’s highest honor, the Eddie Award.
In addition to the Editing Emmy, Free Solo won an impressive six additional awards: Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Underscore), Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Within An Unscripted Program, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera), and Outstanding Cinematography For A Nonfiction Program.
Game of Thrones also picked up a slew of trophies, which wasn’t surprising considering it’s now the most Emmy-nominated television show of all time. Creative Arts Emmy Award wins included Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour), among many others.
The series also won Outstanding Special Visual Effects for its penultimate episode, “The Bells.” NYFA 3D Animation & VFX alum Alexandra LoRusso worked on the special visual effects team for that episode, as well as the Game of Thrones finale, “The Iron Throne.”
Netflix original series Russian Doll also came away with three Creative Arts Emmys: Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour), Outstanding Contemporary Costumes, and Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour). NYFA Cinematography alum Rebecca Rajadnya worked on Russian Doll’s cinematography team as first assistant camera.
Emmy wins for the NYFA community continued throughout the two-day ceremony. RBG, the wildly popular documentary about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, won for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. The film was shot by Documentary Filmmaking cinematography instructor Claudia Raschke.
HBO’s hit comedy Barry won Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation. The show was created by and stars NYFA alum Bill Hader, who has already won Primetime Emmys for his work on the show.
Hader recently spoke with NYFA students at a Q&A earlier this year. Rachel Bloom, creator and star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, was also a recent NYFA guest speaker. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend won Outstanding Choreography For Scripted Programming this weekend.
Netflix’s nature documentary Our Planet notably picked up Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. The docuseries became event television last spring, with an early Hollywood screening in February moderated by NYFA Acting for Film alum Lana Condor giving Our Planet some early buzz.
New York Film Academy congratulates NYFA instructor Bob Eisenhardt and all of the winners at this year’s Creative Arts Emmys, and looks forward to the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony this Sunday, September 22!
