"The winners can give the speech of thanks from the bed": this will be the Emmys of the coronavirus

Less than a month remains for the most particular Emmy Awards in history. On September 20 (the early morning of the 21 in Spain), the American television industry will have its eyes set on the awards ceremony of the Television Academy, which this year broadcasts the ABC network (in Spain it will be seen on Movistar +). Lately, the event is broadcast with more pain than glory, but this year will be special: these will be the Emmys of the coronavirus. The Television Academy was among the last to admit that its awards would not be delivered physically and now it is preparing the first great gala of the pandemic against the clock.

Jimmy Kimmel, presenter of this 72nd edition, will conduct the event, without a live audience, from a stage located in the Staples Center, a multipurpose pavilion in Los Angeles where the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers play their NBA games and which is the venue for the Grammy Awards. In front of the usual Microsoft Theater, this space has more space to work with a greater safety distance, in addition to being better equipped technically to accommodate the dozens of connections that will be necessary on this occasion.

Because the plan is for there to be a live connection for each nominee. That is, a total of 140 transmissions. This has been explained to Variety by executive producers Reginald Hudlin and Ian Stewart, from the Done + Dusted company, which is responsible for the third consecutive year of the realization of these awards. Each candidate will have at their disposal a professional camera which, if possible, will be manned by an operator. As the objective of the producers is that all the nominees feel comfortable with the situation, if they request it, they can dispense with outside personnel and that someone from the nominee's family unit acts as a camera, although always with professional equipment: they ask to flee from platforms like Skype, Facetime or Zoom and mobile or laptop. "We must not lose sight of the fact that the Emmys are prestigious awards, and we do not give them for fun, we give them to reflect excellence", reflects Ian Stewart.

“Often when people win an award, they dedicate it to their children or their family. Now your children can be by your side. Or maybe you can make your thank you speech from bed. It's an opportunity to reinvent every aspect, ”says Hudlin. Nor will a dress code be required, so that the nominees can appear in their best clothes or in pajamas, as they please.

Therefore, the reaction of the nominees and their gratitude speeches will be live, unlike what will happen with the Creative Arts Emmy, dedicated to the technical categories and which will be delivered over five nights between the 14 and the September 19th. For them, the producers have asked the nominees for a pre-recorded video with their thank you speech that will only be broadcast if they win.

The option of having a live audience at the Staples Center was soon eliminated when the Emmys began planning. "It's still too dangerous, especially in Los Angeles right now, to put people that close to each other," Stewart says.

An issue that the award producers have not yet resolved is the awarding of the statuette. “There are nominees who live in Los Angeles, London, Berlin and Tel Aviv. We are studying all the issues and challenges to try to solve them, "says Hudlin, who already worked at the Oscars in 2016 (and this year has become the first black executive producer in the history of the Emmys). “Again it will depend on what they are comfortable with. Do you want someone to knock on your door to give you the award? We are considering a lot of possible solutions ”, adds the producer, who emphasizes that experimentation and variation will be essential. "Once you have the world as a television studio, you can start creating." What they already know is that they will not be able to know in advance the names of the winners even in these special circumstances.

Just after it was decided that the nominees did not attend the Staples Center, the logical decision to cancel the red carpet came. On this occasion there will not be the usual parade of models that is the arrival of the nominees and guests of the great prizes. Reinventing the red carpet as a virtual experience was briefly considered, but the producers decided to focus on the technical challenge of the gala and forget about the rest of the decorations.

As for the ceremony, some of the awards presenters will be at the Staples Center and others will do so remotely. The plans include musical numbers with first-rate artists, an aspect of which no further details have been advanced yet. The broadcast will also show how the show is doing behind the scenes. "We are going to be very transparent on what is happening and why," says Hudlin. The common thread of the gala will be how television has become a lifeline and a form of escape for people trapped in their homes during quarantines.