Emmy Awards Has Two New Puppetry Categories
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Sprinkled in the childhoods of many are fun little puppet characters, Sherry Lewis and Lamb Chop or the long-running Sesame Street gang. An art in itself, the puppet is not only worked by its handler through strings or wires but also given a life, personality, emotions, and a sense of timing when working with their human counterparts.
Due to this, NATAS CEO Adam Sharp noted that award nominations would have “strange pairings” as puppet handlers would be nominated against lead actors and actresses despite the difference between one person acting their part and a puppet handler managing and acting for their puppet.
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Rather than receiving awards for the Daytime Emmys for “outstanding performance in Children’s Programming”, two new categories for puppetry will be introduced to recognize the art of puppetry. According to Variety, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences created two new Emmy categories for puppetry performance and puppet design/styling. These two new categories allow “room for puppets and their human handlers to get their due”. In Adam Sharp’s own words,
“This really goes to the heart of the Children’s & Family competition…. I look at these categories and think, these could not exist in any other Emmy competition.”
As the WGA strike continues, the strike allows for more attention to be brought to how the Daytime Emmys will have a more in-depth “transparency report”. This report allows “detailed the inner workings of how NATAS and its counterparts at the Los Angeles-based TV Academy determined whether programs were eligible for the Daytime, Primetime or Children’s & Family Emmys.”
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Moreover, reports have shown a more diverse demographic of viewers for the Children & Family aspects of the Emmys. This more diverse audience will be able to witness submissions including a “behind the scenes” montage “highlighting “the human with the puppet(s), demonstrating how the puppet comes alive, etc.”
While is no set date for the Emmy Awards, the time will be used to find judges for these two new and very specific categories who “have experience in producing, writing, directing, performing, puppeteering, and puppet design”. Judges and viewers will be educated “on the intricacies of the categories” and puppeteers will be awarded on the same level as fellow actors. A great day for all.
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Source: Variety
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