While the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards looked a little different this year, with nominees attending virtually from their homes, the Santa Clarita Valley’s film community still represented, taking home a few wins.
With its proximity to Los Angeles, the SCV is a popular filming location for a number of hit shows, including some whose actors won awards for their performances this year.
Zendaya won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the HBO show “Euphoria,” which was partially filmed locally. In addition, Billy Crudup won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for “The Morning Show,” an Apple TV+ show also filmed locally.
“Filming in Santa Clarita is not only a great benefit to the local economy, it’s also pretty remarkable that productions with a Santa Clarita connection go on before the world stage at prestigious award shows like the Emmys, Oscars and Golden Globes,” said Evan Thomason, economic development associate with the city of Santa Clarita.
“Each year, productions combine to spend millions of dollars locally, which directly benefit businesses of all sizes, local nonprofits and agencies, residents and schools,” Thomason added. “The tax dollars generated by production contribute to funding for public safety, roads, parks and other programs and projects that enhance our quality of life.”
Santa Clarita is also home to California Institute of the Arts, and many CalArts alumni also won awards.
Former CalArts School of Theater faculty Ron Cephas Jones made Emmy history, winning Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his work on the NBC drama “This is Us,” which is also partially filmed in the SCV. His daughter Jasmine Cephas Jones took home Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for her role in the Quibi drama “#FreeRayshawn,” making them the first father-daughter duo to take home Emmys the same year.
CalArts alum David Nordstrom, supervising editor on Netflix’s docuseries “Cheer,” was part of the team that won an Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program.
Lighting designer Robert Barnhart, another CalArts alum, was part of the team that won Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special for the Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show, starring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.
CalArts alum Genndy Tartakovsky won Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for his work as storyboard artist on his Adult Swim series “Primal,” an animated action-adventure series.
M. David Mullen, another CalArts alum, was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour) for Amazon Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
“These Emmy wins by our CalArts alumni and faculty are a bright spot in such a topsy-turvy year,” CalArts President Ravi Rajan said. “The recognition of our theater and film artists by the Television Academy illustrates how the arts can inform, illuminate, entertain and bring us closer together — even when we’re physically distanced.”
