Awards Season From the Ground Up

Awards season, I’ll admit, tends to get dominated by the flashiest of names and biggest of performances. It’s probably why a good chunk of you even read this newsletter every week. But look through this year’s Emmy nominations, for instance, and you’ll find some remarkable artists you’ve likely never heard of, who’ve not only contributed remarkable work to the worlds of film and TV, but have helped to shape its history. You’ll want to hear their stories. 

I’m David Canfield, and my colleague Rebecca Ford and I have spent the last few weeks hopping on the phone with a number of such unsung Hollywood heroes: people like Bob Shaw, the production designer who got his big break on The Sopranos before going on to design iconic sets for the likes of Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire, or Vincent Van Dyke, the awe-inspiring prosthetic makeup artist who you can thank for this year’s startling Sean Penn transformation in Gaslit, some wild “medical” work on dramas ranging from Nip/Tuck to Grey’s Anatomy, and much more. 

This is all part of our Highlight Reel series, in which we present a given nominee’s entire body of nominated work. And it reflects a core mission here at Awards Insider, to introduce our readers to the folks who make Hollywood run—both in front of the camera (did you know Mare Winningham was over here breaking Emmy records?) and behind the scenes. We’ve got a few more talented craftspeople to feature in the coming weeks, as Emmy voting inches closer, so catch up on this week’s interviews before seeing who’s next to go over their incredible résumé. 

For an even bigger crafts feature on the film side, we look into the Herculean making of Thirteen Lives—Ron Howard’s epic account of the Thai cave rescue mission, now streaming on Prime Video. The film recalls the director’s most spectacular work, particularly Apollo 13, and in reporting this story out, it became quite clear why he and his team were uniquely equipped to mount such a challenging, technically precise thriller. 

It’s worth keeping in mind as fall-festival season looms ever nearer, and the year’s biggest Oscar contenders snap into focus: It takes a village.

Anatomy of a Miracle: The Making of Thirteen Lives

From building huge tanks in a warehouse to sifting through nearly 400 hours of footage.

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What Will the Women Talking Movie Look Like?

Introducing the new season of the Little Gold Men book club.

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The Artist Behind TV’s Greatest Transformations

This year, Vincent Van Dyke is nominated against himself for three shows that couldn’t be more different.

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Kieran Culkin Finally Falls in Love With Acting

The Emmy nominee tells us about his big career breakthrough.

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How Mare Winningham Built a Wild, Singular Career on TV

The longtime scene-stealer earned her first Emmy nomination in 1980. Forty-two years later, she’s back in the same category.

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