2024 Creative Arts Emmy Awards Analysis: ‘Shōgun’ Poised to Cap Record-Breaking Domination With Best Drama Series Win

Bill Desowitz
·4 min read

What “Shōgun” accomplished Sunday at the Creative Arts Awards was unprecedented, grabbing 14 prizes (including 13 craft honors) and sweeping every category except the main title theme and original score by Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, and Nick Chuba.

FX’s Japanese historical drama eclipsed the 13 wins by “Game of Thrones” and is all but certain to take Best Drama Series and more while setting a new Emmy record at the Primetime ceremony September 15.

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“Shōgun” took casting, cinematography, period costumes, editing, period/fantasy production design, period/fantasy hairstyling, main title design, non-prosthetic period/fantasy/sci-fi makeup, prosthetic makeup, sound editing, sound mixing, special visual effects, and stunt performance.

In addition, “Shōgun” cast member Nestor Carbonell snagged guest actor honors while, separately, “Shōgun”: The Making of “Shōgun” took short-form nonfiction or reality series.

In re-imagining James Clavell’s celebrated novel about 16th-century feudal Japan, creators Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks found the right balance of epic sweep and intimate drama. Their old-school style of storytelling was overwhelmingly rewarded for its period-accurate world-building, detailed crafts, and authentic look and behavior.

There were other winners, of course, led by “The Bear” (FX), the acclaimed working kitchen comedy-drama that took home seven awards for Season 2 (including five for crafts): comedy casting, half-hour cinematography, editing, sound editing, sound mixing. Plus, Jon Bernthal and Jamie Lee Curtis earned guest actor and guest actress honors.

“Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu), the popular true-crime mystery comedy, earned three half-hour awards for Season 3: production design and adding original score (“Sitzprobe” by Siddhartha Khosla), and music and lyrics (the catchy “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?” by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Marc Shaiman, and Scott Wittman).

“Ripley” (Netflix), Steven Zaillian’s Patricia Highsmith-adapted miniseries, snagged three limited-series awards: Robert Elswit’s gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, special visual effects for a single episode (“III Sommerso”), and sound editing.

Peter Morgan’s sixth and final season of “The Crown” (Netflix) won two first-time contemporary awards for costumes and production design, principally chronicling Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and Dodi Fayd (Khalid Abdalla) in the South of France on his yacht and the days preceding and following their tragic death in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

“Baby Reindeer” (Netflix) earned two limited-series awards for casting and editing; “The Morning Show” (Apple TV+) scored two for contemporary non-prosthetic makeup and contemporary hairstyling; “Fallout” (Prime Video) came away with music supervision (“The End”) and the separate emerging media program (“Fallout: Vault 33”); and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” (Prime Video) won limited-series stunt coordination and drama series guest actress for Michaela Coel.

Other award-winning shows included Apple TV+’s “Palm Royale” (Jeff Toyne’s rollicking main title theme), Marvel’s “Ahsoka” (fantasy/sci-fi costumes), FX’s “American Horror Story: Delicate” (contemporary limited-series costumes), FX’s “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” (period limited-series costumes), Apple TV+’s “Lessons in Chemistry” (limited-series original score by Carlos Rafael Rivera), Neflix’s “The Gentlemen” (comedy stunt coordination), and Apple TV+’s “Masters of the Air” (limited-series sound mixing).

But the night belonged to “Shōgun.” Here are several reasons why:

Cinematographer Sam McCurdy (the winner of “Crimson Sky”) used natural light and LED oil lamps whenever possible for a stark reality and emphasized a bokeh swirl for the alienation experienced by shipwrecked Englishman John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) among his Japanese hosts.

Production designer Helen Jarvis built feudal Japan on backlots and soundstages in Vancouver, including the harbor, fishing village, royal castle, and samurai houses.

Costume designer Carlos Rosario went into intricate detail and historical accuracy for 2,300 costumes (including the samurai armor), focusing on color and texture and organic connection to nature, all in service of the characters.

Makeup designer Rebecca Lee and her team displayed the appearance of every member of Japanese society based on the levels of hierarchy, including villagers, samurai, lords, ladies, koshōs, and children.

Hair designer Sanna Seppanen and her team also focused on stature and hierarchy, concentrating on hand tying the wig’s hair onto a metal cage and shaping it to the actor’s head, in collaboration with wigmaker Robert Pickens, who designed a new, hybrid headpiece with light plastic.

Editors Maria Gonzales and Aika Miyake focused on the political intrigues through interpersonal dynamics and the particular importance of female empowerment.

The VFX team (led by production supervisor Michael Cliett) seamlessly bridged locations together with an emphasis on the landscapes, samurai fighting, a storm, and an earthquake.

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