78th Emmy Awards

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Pluribus, DTF St. Louis Among Editing Award Winners

Editors of series including Pluribus, DTF St. Louis and Hacks were feted during the first two nights of the 78th Emmy Awards (formerly known as the Creative Arts Emmys), Sept. 5 and 6 at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles.

“Television isn’t made by a handful of people, it’s made by thousands of talented people solving impossible problems together to create something great,” said Wanda Sykes, the first presenter of the multi-night show. “Our dedication to our craft has never wavered. We’ve adapted, we’ve reinvented ourselves, and through every challenge and change, we’ve never lost what brought us here in the first place – a big check. No, no, it’s the joy of making great television!”

Presenter Noah Wyle of The Pitt also addressed the community. “We are artisans and craftspeople who put care and heart into everything we do, whether it’s on camera or behind the camera. Whether you’re a director, a stage manager, a grip, a set designer – recognizing you for all your creativity, your ingenuity, and your effort is crucial. It is wonderful that many of you will receive Emmys here tonight, and I hope that you all get to continue to work on exciting projects, continue to hone your crafts, and fulfill your calling, and that you appreciate how special that is.”

Several new series were among the weekend’s big winners, including Apple TV’s comedy/horror Widow’s Bay, which topped the weekend with eight Emmys. A trio of its episodes were nominated alongside one another in picture editing. (You can read more about the work in the cover story of the latest issue of CinemaEditor.)

(L-R): Skip Macdonald, ACE; Kevin D. Ross, ACE, and Max Koepke; David Moon, Patrick Owen, and Matt Pratt. Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Content Services.

Skip Macdonald, ACE, collected an Emmy for the pilot episode, “We Is Us,” of Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus. The Apple TV sci-fi series won four Emmys on Sunday, including Macdonald’s award for picture editing for a drama series. “[For the] first season out to get a few wins so far has been amazing,” he said backstage. “I appreciate it. It’s recognizing the quality of work that we do and the show itself.”

Macdonald has been collaborating with Gilligan for two decades and previously won a 2014 Emmy for the finale of the showrunner’s Breaking Bad. “It’s been a pleasure and a great collaboration,” he said backstage. “Vince is very accommodating and open to any suggestions and thoughts and ideas. So it’s been a great run, and hope to continue on for a while.”

Kevin D. Ross, ACE, and Max Koepke collected Emmys for editing DTF St. Louis – one of six category wins for the HBO Max miniseries. And Peacock’s reality competition series The Traitors also claimed six Emmys including one for picture editing for a structured reality or competition program. Several members of The Traitors editing team in attendance – the full team includes David Moon, Patrick Owen, Matt Pratt and James Seddon-Brown – said they always have an abundance of material to choose from to get “the most dramatic version of the show we can.”

(L-R): Jon Philpot; Kelly Lyon, ACE; The team from Sean Combs: The Reckoning. Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Content Services.

Jon Philpot won his first Emmy (editing for a single-camera comedy series) for the finale of HBO Max hit Hacks. Backstage, the editor stated that the series was a team effort. He said, “I feel very honored to be holding a trophy for this show. It’s great.”

Kelly Lyon, ACE, collected an Emmy for Disney+ series The Muppet Show, for picture editing for variety programming. On stage, she acknowledged the enduring impact of creator Jim Henson and his characters, saying they have been making audiences “laugh and love” for more than 50 years. The series claimed four Emmys this weekend.

Among Saturday’s Emmy winners in picture editing was Sean Combs: The Reckoning (picture editing for a nonfiction program), which surrounds the allegations against Combs. On stage, supervising editor Charles Divak, ACE, acknowledged “all the victims that spoke, and we worked every day to honor that trust that they gave us.”

Backstage, he admitted that the verdict “completely changed the series for us, and it obviously wasn’t something that we expected to happen. Once that verdict came down, we’re like, ‘All right, well, we’re gonna have to really tell the story.’ And I think one of the keys to that was our director, Alex Stapleton.” He described the director as “the heart and soul of everything that we did and so she really guided us in the right direction the whole time.”

(L-R): Russell Griffin, ACE; Andrew Matheson and Amanda Sprecher; Marcus Kjellberg, Leanne Cole, Kim Lloyd, and John Rosser. Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Content Services.

Looking ahead, Adobe and Avid are set to receive Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Awards, during an Oct. 14 celebration at the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center in North Hollywood.

Adobe will be recognized for the development of Premiere. As part of the announcement, the TV Academy noted that Adobe “continued to innovate Premiere by including machine-learning and generative AI functionality as part of native timeline operations.”

Avid will be honored for Avid DNx, its production mezzanine codec family designed to carry creative intent intact from acquisition through post-production and delivery. This marks the 20th Emmy for Avid.

The complete list of Emmy recipients in the editing categories follows:

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

SKIP MACDONALD, ACE, Editor
Pluribus
“We Is Us”
APPLE TV

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE

KEVIN D. ROSS, ACE, Editor
MAX KOEPKE, Editor
DTF St. Louis
“No One’s Normal. It Just Looks That Way From Across The Street”
HBO MAX

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR A SINGLE CAMERA COMEDY SERIES

JON PHILPOT, Editor
Hacks
Hacks (Finale)
HBO MAX

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR A MULTI-CAMERA COMEDY SERIES

RUSSELL GRIFFIN, ACE, Editor
Leanne
“Having Big Feelings”
NETFLIX

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR VARIETY PROGRAMMING

KELLY LYON, ACE, Editor
The Muppet Show
DISNEY+

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR VARIETY PROGRAMMING (SEGMENT)

ANDREW MATHESON, Editor
AMANDA SPRECHER, Editor
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
“The Late Show closes out its storied run at the Ed Sullivan Theater with help from Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello”
CBS

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR A NONFICTION PROGRAM

CHARLES DIVAK, ACE, Supervising Editor
EVAN WISE, ACE, Supervising Editor
JACK GRAVINA, Lead Editor
BENJI KAST, ACE, Editor
ADAM GOLDSTEIN, Editor
JONATHAN MILLER, Editor
JEREMY SIEFER, Editor
Sean Combs: The Reckoning
“Blink Again”
NETFLIX

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR AN UNSTRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM

MARCUS KJELLBERG, Editor
LEANNE COLE, Editor
KIM LLOYD, Editor
JOHN ROSSER, Editor
Love On The Spectrum
“Episode 4”
NETFLIX

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR A STRUCTURED REALITY OR COMPETITION PROGRAM

DAVID MOON, Editor
PATRICK OWEN, Editor
MATT PRATT, Editor
JAMES SEDDON-BROWN, Editor
The Traitors
“The Death Conga”
PEACOCK