Here’s some news that might even cheer up Oscar the Grouch: The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has created two new Emmy categories for puppetry performance and puppet design/styling. Both awards will be handed out at this year’s second-ever Children’s & Family Emmys.
“Historically, puppetry performers would enter in the live action performer categories,” said NATAS CEO Adam Sharp, in announcing the new competition. “So, if you were the handler of a puppet, then you would go up against a lead actor or lead actress, and that created for some odd pairings. But managing a puppet is a very different kind of performance than a regular live action performance.”
Back when children’s programming was awarded at the Daytime Emmys, it was usually in the “outstanding principal performance in a children’s program” category (which went through several name changes over the years). In 2021, for example, “Sesame Street” puppeteer Ryan Dillon faced off with actors like that year’s winner, “The Healing Powers of Dude” star Jace Chapman. The creation of a stand-alone Children’s & Family Emmys, however, has allowed room for puppets and their human handlers to get their due.
“This really goes to the heart of the Children’s & Family competition,” Sharp said. “I look at these categories and think, these could not exist in any other Emmy competition.”
Puppets aren’t the only thing on Sharp’s mind, however. The NATAS boss spoke to PvNew on a wide range of issues, including other tweaks to this year’s Children’s & Family Emmys, as well as an update on when the Daytime Emmys — originally slated for June, but postponed in the wake of the WGA strike — might take place now that SAG-AFTRA is on strike as well.
But the main reason for the check-in with Sharp is the release of NATAS’ latest transparency report, covering any disqualifications, judging improprieties/irregularities, eligibility issues or category reassignments that took place in 2022 for the Emmys awards that it administers through peer review panels: Daytime, Children’s & Family, News & documentary, and Sports.
NATAS first launched a transparency report in 2019, following a Daytime Emmys awards debacle in 2018 that rocked the organization and led to a threatened boycott by TV’s major daytime soap operas. Sharp joined the org in the midst of that scandal, and kicked off a reform process that included the report.
NATAS uses a methodology to identify potential judge impropriety at the Daytime Emmys, including algorithms that look at potential coordination, bias or manipulation. Last year, ballots from five judges were disqualified at the Daytime Emmys when it was determined that their scoring patterns deliberately skewed results. Similarly, ballots from five judges for the Sports Emmys were also removed. A total of 28 judges ballots across the NATAS shows were flagged and reviewed in 2022.
This year’s transparency report also 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. For example, two Daytime submissions were disqualified because they were rated TV-MA — which is not allowed in that competition. In the News & Doc competition, several questions were addressed when it came to documentary eligibility, as many had been screened at festivals, for example.
In addition, the report details why some categories had more nominations, including two- or three-way ties for fifth place (NATAS’ practice is to not break the tie). In best documentary at the News & Doc Emmys, there were 10 nominations “because of the viable scores and quantity of entries in the category.”
“The goal of this report is to give a bit of a look under the hood,” Sharp said. “A lot of what we do and what any awards competition does in our space can sometimes seem arbitrary to the audience or even the participants: ‘Why did my show not get in or why did they go in that category?’ And when things appear arbitrary, that reduces confidence. And confidence is critical to our business.
“At a time when public trust in institutions —and in bureaucratic processes in general — seems to be at a generational low, it puts increasing responsibility on organizations like ours to show the homework and be extra transparent,” he added. “To boost that confidence, and demonstrate how we are adjudicating these competitions so that people can have confidence in how that result was reached.”
The transparency report also once again details the demographics of judges for each NATAS Emmy contest, and where the recruiting process still needs to improve. It’s most noticeable in the Sports Emmys, where 80% of judges are white, 68% are male and 90% identify as straight.
In the News & Doc Emmys, judges broke down as 54% female/44% male/2% nonbinary, none or unspecified; 66% white/9% Black/10% Asian/5% multiracial/1% Latino; 77% straight/8% gay or lesbian/3% bisexual/2% queer/10% various or no answer.
And for the Daytime Emmys, 48% male/51% female/the rest either no gender or now answer; 66% white/15% Black/5% Asian/2% multiracial/1% Latino; 73% straight/15% gay or lesbian/4% asexual, pansexual or questioning/1% queer/7% no answer or none.
“A core part of transparency report is the survey of our judges, who are not required to answer — but most do,” Sharp said. “The intent there is so that we can build more representative panels and more inclusive panels for judging. But as you see in the results, it is a bit of a mirror of the industry we represent. Sports is still a bit more skewed white, straight and male, while Daytime, Children’s and News and Doc tend to be more diverse. It’s our hope that we are putting a spotlight on the importance of inclusion as a component of excellence in the industry. And this serving as a reflection of progress or lack of progress in the industry and a bit of a mile marker each year to help move the industry forward.”
Meanwhile, Sharp also gave an update on the state of the Daytime Emmys: As of now, there’s still no plan for when to hold the Daytime Emmys and its related Creative Arts ceremonies. NATAS announced in May that this year’s 50th Daytime Emmys would move from its planned June 16 ceremony to an undetermined later date. At the time, Sharp said he had hoped to hold the telecast in October. But with no sign of resolution in the WGA or SAG-AFTRA strikes, it’s unclear now when it might go.
With the News & Doc Emmys in September and Children’s & Family Emmys in December, NATAS must also navigate its own calendar. And then there’s the competition cycle for the 2024 Daytime Emmys, which this year’s postponed ceremony may soon run into.
“We usually put out the preview of categories in December and open for entries in January,” Sharp said. “So, if we get past the holidays, we’re into the next competition cycle. once we start getting to the holiday season, the window somewhat closes for rescheduling. Otherwise, we’re getting closer to the next show than we were to the last one. But right now, we don’t have a date and without a date, we don’t have a venue. So even if the white smoke comes up tomorrow that all things are resolved, it will take some period of time to secure a new space, reconfigure the set for that space and do everything to actually pull it off. We think there is still some window there in the mid fall. But it’s narrowing. And it’s concerning.”
Back to those Children’s & Family category additions. For both puppetry performance and puppet design/styling, NATAS will also starting next year allow submissions to include a “behind the scenes” video that “highlights the human with the puppet(s), demonstrating how the puppet comes alive, etc.” The intent is to find judges for these two very specific categories who have experience in producing, writing, directing, performing, puppeteering and puppet design, as well as educating judges on the intricacies of the categories.
The Children’s & Family Emmys has also added a public service initiative Emmy for campaigns that include both an on-air and off-air component.
“NATAS used to give a whole set of Emmy Awards for public service, its own standalone ceremony that the Academy retired during the economic downturn of 2008/2009,” Sharp said. “We’ve long wanted to bring back some sort of community service public service recognition to the national awards. So last year, we introduced a public service content category to the Sports Emmys. And now we’re introducing this community service initiative category to Children’s & Family. I’m very excited to see what comes in that category, and being able to recognize excellence in those efforts.”
