Awards

Game of Thrones wins 9 Creative Arts Emmys and breaks a record!

Posted on by Sue the Fury
Clapton
Michele Clapton, accepting her Emmy tonight. Photo: @TelevisionAcad

The Emmy Awards are a three-night affair in 2016, with the Creative Arts ceremony spread out over two nights this weekend, and Game of Thrones kicked off the awards celebration in a huge way. Though the Creative Arts Emmys won’t air on television until September 17th (one day before the live Primetime Awards ceremony), tonight the technical arts winners were announced online, and GoT was the big winner of the evening.

Taking home 9 awards, Game of Thrones is now the most-awarded drama series at the Emmys. This breaks the record held by The West Wing and Hill Street Blues. And we haven’t even reached the live ceremony portion of the Emmys which could drive the new total even higher! The wins tonight include:

Rowley Irlam winner for Stunt Coordination. Photo: @TelevisionAcad
Rowley Irlam, winner for
Stunt Coordination. Photo: @TelevisionAcad

Outstanding Special Visual Effects – “Battle of the Bastards”

Outstanding Production Design – “Blood of My Blood”, “The Broken Man,” “No One”

Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series

Outstanding Stunt Coordination – Rowley Irlam, Stunt coordinator

Outstanding Sound Mixing – “Battle of the Bastards”

Outstanding Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) for a Single Camera Series – “Battle of the Bastards”

Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special – “The Door”

Outstanding Costumes for a Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Movie – “The Winds of Winter”,  Costume Designer Michele Clapton

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series – “Battle of the Bastards,” Tim Porter, ACE, Editor

Max von Sydow with his wife Catherine Brelet. Photo: Emmys.com
Max von Sydow with his wife Catherine Brelet. Photo: Emmys.com

Game of Thrones didn’t win in every category; unfortunately, Max von Sydow as the Three-Eyed Raven lost to Hank Azaria of Ray Donovan in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. The cinematography, hairstyling and sound editing categories were in the loss column for GoT as well.

But there are still several more categories Game of Thrones is up for at the live Emmys ceremony on September 18th, including Outstanding Drama, Directing and Writing. Five of the show’s stars- Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Maisie Williams and Emilia Clarke- will be up for supporting awards that night, but only two can win.

Either way, we’re in for a fantastic red carpet event, and even if Game of Thrones wins no more Emmys this year after tonight, they’ve still won 9 and broken a record. A heartfelt congratulations to the crew and creative talent behind Game of Thrones who work so hard to make this show happen every year!

,
Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

86 Comments

  4. I’m so excited for Michele Clapton and team for winning costume! Cersei’s ensemble was exquisite in TWoW and it alone for me was enough to win the category.

  7. GAME OF THRONES
    GAME OF THRONES
    GAME OF THRONES!!!!!
    The Directing awards is pretty much ours already, and we have a very high chance of picking up Drama series again, also one of the supporting nominations if not both should go to either Kit or Headey.
    the only one I’m not sure about winning next Week is best Writing for a drama series.

  10. The fact that GOT won’t be up for any Emmy’s next year will likely get it many more awards this season than it would have otherwise. Which is likely why they announced it before voting started. So, expect their all-around take to be huge.

  12. That’s an amazing achievement, and all those wins were very deserved!

    I think Directing and Drama Series wins are very likely next weekend as well, but I’d seriously recommend managing expectations for supporting actor/actress after tonight’s guest acting wins. There doesn’t seem to be a force on this earth capable of overpowering the allure of casting mindless votes for undeserving repeat winners where the acting branch is concerned. I’m not holding my breath for them to expand the pool of Emmy-winning GOT performers this year after tonight yielded two massive upsets and the most embarrassing repeat win in recent television history.

    That said, I’m really looking forward to the red carpet interviews. Someone always slips up at least a little.

  14. Elybe- Out of curiosity, what was the most embarrassing repeat win? Downton Abbey?

    In any case, congratulations to the whole GoT for getting the recognition it deserves. I concur with the comment about managing expectations next week. IMO the biggest problem is that GoT is fielding multiple nominees in two major acting categories. Usually that means votes will cancel each other out and someone else will win, meaning they’ll get nil from five deserved nominations. Hopefully they’ll at least win best drama and enough awards to surpass Frasier’s total.

  15. elybe,

    max von sydow is obviously a great actor, but i don’t really feel like GOT gave him much to do. his nomination was his award imo

  16. Yay, congratulations to all our GOT winners tonight!!! I’m especially pleased for Michelle Clapton and the Casting award. I’m surprised GOT lost cinematography to “Man in the High Castle”; I watched that series and I thought its cinematography was eh. I guess Kit’s gorgeous curls and man-bun weren’t enough to sway the Academy into giving GOT the award for hairstyling. I’m bummed Max Von Sydow didn’t win. 🙁

    elybe:

    I’d seriously recommend managing expectations for supporting actor/actress after tonight’s guest acting wins.

    Yeah, I’m with you there. Tonight’s loss might be a precursor of things to come next weekend. I get a LOTR vibe about GOT when it comes to the acting awards. Like LOTR, it cleans up in the technical categories and has even won the big one once, but I fear actors (besides Dinklage) will continue to get overlooked because they work on a popular, epic, VFX-heavy, fantasy series rather than a gritty, hard-hitting drama. I was sure Lena would win last year but (surprise, surprise) she lost to a past winner. Hopefully things will change next Sunday.

  17. There are more Creative Emmys given out tomorrow night, too, right? Is GoT up for any then? Feeling so proud that our beloved show is still knocking it out of the park in its 6th season! As if I had anything to do with it, besides being a devoted watcher. Massive congrats to all tonight’s winners!

  18. Stark Raven’ Rad:
    Elybe- Out of curiosity, what was the most embarrassing repeat win? Downton Abbey?

    I believe they’re referring to Margo Martindale winning Guest Actress Drama again for The Americans. She’s won it two years in a row, both times for single-scene appearances that cumulatively amount to about five minutes of screentime, in neither of which she does anything notable.

    Ironically, if she had won the same award for the show’s first two seasons, where she was a vital part of it, there’d be no cause for complaint.

    I’m surprised the show lost Cinematography; I figured that with vote-splitting minimized, that would have been an easy win. Elsewhere, I thought von Sydow’s name might have gotten him the statuette (as it clearly did for Martindale), but that role really didn’t have all that much to it, so his not winning is fine with me (though I don’t watch Ray Donovan, so I don’t know how Hank Azaria’s part compares).

  20. Yeah, I think the Max Von Sydow loss means that GOT is going to lose out on the supporting actor wins. Popularity alone is not going to get one the win here it seems. Plus everyone was predicting a Sydow win and Azaria came from behind for the surprise win.

    aurane waters:
    elybe,

    max von sydow is obviously a great actor, but i don’t really feel like GOT gave him much to do. his nomination was his award imo

    That does not really matter, considering that Margo Martindale keeps winning for doing absolutely nothing on screen.

  21. Stark Raven’ Rad,

    Margo Martindale for The Americans. She’s a wonderful actress and was fantastic during seasons 1 and 2 when she actually had a meaty role that allowed her to showcase her range. She didn’t win for either of those seasons, though. She won for season 3, last year, for a two-and-a-half-minute scene during which she spoke 95 words of dialogue (the Gold Derby editors actually counted them). She basically does nothing during that scene but sip coffee, and that was her one and only appearance that season. This year, she repeated that win for a one-and-a-half minute scene during which she spoke 65 words of dialogue. In terms of dramatic impact, the only difference is that this scene was outdoors.

    So…yeah. I would love to be pleasantly surprised next week, but I can’t put any stock in a group of voters who actually pulled this shit twice.

    ETA: Or basically what Sean C. said.

    Tyrion Pimpslap,

    I know, Lena needs that Emmy win yesterday.

  22. Well It seems I got most of the wins correct tonight by my prediction

    With this 9 wins GoT will end up with at least 13 wins this year ..

    Drama .,directing for miguel , kit Harrington and lena headey are sure sure winners..
    And I wish they can get the writing as well.

    This means they will again be the most awarded season again

  23. I see Drama, Directing, and Best Supporting Actress going Thrones‘s way.

    Supporting Actor is probably going to go to Jonathan Banks for Better Call Saul.

    If “The Winds of Winter” was nominated for Writing, then I would be behind it but with “Bastards” in, I’m going to go at a bend and say The Americans will take that one.

  24. elybe,

    I had the opposite reaction to those guest acting wins. Peter Scolari winning actually gave me hope that the voters ARE watching the tapes, for once. I mean, A popular vote with not rankings and the winner is not Larry David or Martin Mull? Wow. I’m hopeful that Kit Harington might actually win this damn thing. If they were just voting for their favorites like they always do, Kit wouldn’t stand a chance. But i’m not really holding my breath either, tbh. I’m prepared to see Peter winning again, even though he probably has the weakest tape and season overall.

  25. dragonbringer,

    Jonathan Banks might get a consolation win this time for missing out last year, just like Peter Dinklage got it last year for missing out on S4.
    I really hope Lena finally gets her well deserved award, but Maggie Smith in her final year might just take this for emotional reasons.

  27. i’m really Hopeful Lena will finally get her win this year, count that and best Directing and series.
    Those are the awards i’m really hopeful for.
    Supporting actor and writing are really tricky.

  28. ghost of winterfell,

    Just wait and see its just my gut feeling that this year is going to be kit’s.
    It will make sense after last year and his performance..
    No one can say he is not popular or favorite after last year .even Obama Was questioning about him..
    And what made me so sure was Peter’s submission..

    Yes i have more doubts betwen maggie and lena than i have for kit…but iam feeling lena will win.

  29. with three actresses in supporting actress I would not be surprised if that’s the one we lose, thinking about it lol XD

  30. Akash Singh:
    Congrats to the team! They’re 3 shy of breaking “Frasier”‘s record of 37 Emmy wins! This also might be the most awards won at the Creative Arts Emmys.

    They could still break it this year, but I doubt it. There’s going to be 2 more seasons though, so I guess it’s a given that they eventually will break all the records. 😉

    I didn’t think or expect von Sydow to win. Despite his big name, he didn’t actually stand out for me the way Diana Rigg, for instance, did when she first appeared. My, what an entrance. Granted, she had more interesting stuff to work with, but still, I would have liked the Raven to be more charismatic than the writers/directors/von Sydow ultimately made him.

    It’s a shame though that this spells doom for Kit and ultimately Lena Headey. She should have won last year, and she should win this year – she is simply brilliant, and less deserving actresses have won this for reasons that had nothing to do with acting.

  31. Yes yes yes 😀 GoT is the best series ever! Bravo! A little bummed about losing Guest Actor and Cinematography though.

    I don’t think they”ll win Writing next week. Don’t know about the others, since imo only Directing is 100% certain that it belongs to Sapochnik. I guess Best Drama too? I really wish the Peter Dinklage curse breaks and some other actor/actress is finally awarded.

  34. Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series

    Fantastic! The casting team continues to unearth some real diamonds of new, young British & Irish talent as well as the well known names.

  35. Supporting Actor is probably going to go to Jonathan Banks for Better Call Saul.

    that should have gone to him last year. Its probably even going to dinklage again… lol

  36. I really hope Kit wins his first Emmy!!? He deserves it!
    So does Lena!
    I’m really rooting for you guys!!???❤️

  38. You’re goddamn right Clapton won for that last episode! *Cheers ecstatically* Seriously, she has done some of the most inspired costuming I’ve ever seen.

  39. Congratulations GoT! And of course another record, it wouldn’t be the same other wise 🙂

    Best of luck next week!

  40. Congrats! I’m especially happy for the casting win.

    I wish Kit would win tomorrow, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

  42. Huray, always nice to land some awards! Kudos to all involved in the production – not just those that took the prizes, this is a team effort.

  43. Well deserved wins for casting and costumes in particular. Really hoping Lena Headey wins next week. Both Maisie and Emilia do a fine job but Lena has been crushing it for years and deserves the recognition. Her facial expression when she realized that Mircella was dead was just gut-wrenching. She went from joy to shock to grief to pained acceptance in a matter of seconds. It was brilliant.

    Side note, I see some people mentioning ‘The Man in the High Castle’ as one of the winners so thought I’d ask – did anyone watch that series? I heard good things about it so I started watching the first episode but it didn’t grab me so I quit halfway through that episode and didn’t go back. I liked the concept but found the writing and acting kind of basic by-the-numbers TV drama stuff. So to anyone who watched it – does it get better? Should I give it another try?

  44. This is the best show ever to exist and nothing will ever beat it!
    I’m so happy the creative aspect of the show is getting recognized this much. Amazing!
    Love it!!!!!

  47. I recommend giving it another try. I also had a hard time getting into it the first time I watched; I think I watched eps 1-3 and then abandoned it for months before returning and starting again. Then I enjoyed it and have plans to read the book at some point. It can be pretty bleak, but I found the story to be engrossing, the idea of what life would be like if the USA lost WWII. Chilling.

    The acting and cinematography are excellent. I don’t necessarily think it has better cinematography than GOT, but it’s visually impressive in parts.

  48. Lord of Coffee,

    I recommend giving it another try. I also had a hard time getting into it the first time I watched; I think I watched eps 1-3 and then abandoned it for months before returning and starting again. Then I enjoyed it and have plans to read the book at some point. It can be pretty bleak, but I found the story to be engrossing, the idea of what life would be like if the USA lost WWII. Chilling.

    The acting and cinematography are excellent. I don’t necessarily think it has better cinematography than GOT, but it’s visually impressive in parts.

  49. Congratulations to all for nominations and wins! Well deserved. Now come on Emmys, give Kit and Lena (and the rest) their due!

    And hmm, while the cinematography on Thrones was absolutely fantastic, I’m really happy for the man who won, James Hawkinson. I’ve never seen “The Man in the High Castle” but Hawkinson was an alumnus of “Hannibal” and I’m always thrilled to see one of their team get recognised.

  51. Valerian Sleep,

    Thanks for your thoughts about Man in the High Castle! I’ll give it another try. Need something new to watch now that summer is pretty much over so might as well try that one again. Plus, I didn’t see any new network shows that look worth watching except maybe Designated Survivor with Keifer Sutherland. I might check that one out.

  53. I expect GoT to sweep next week, even get the supporting actors wins. Lena and Kit will win those easily I have no doubt! especially Lena! There’s no way her performance can be overlooked this year it was that good!! No other supporting actress stands a chance against Lena this year and i’m so looking forward to her acceptance speech!

  57. It deserved every one of these, and the ones it lost, too, except for guest actor. I really don’t think it deserved that.

    Especially happy for Clapton: Those costumes are gorgeous. It’s easy enough to get a costume historically correct, and it’s easy enough to change them just right so they’re sexy to contemporary viewers (thinking Outlander here). Clapton started with a fantasy world, and the costumes are consistent, perfect, and occasionally say more about what’s happening in the series than the script does.

  58. I think they might lose in both supporting categories. I fear they will cancel each other out. One of the downsides to having so many nominated from the same show.

  59. maria:
    It deserved every one of these, and the ones it lost, too, except for guest actor. I really don’t think it deserved that.

    Especially happy for Clapton: Those costumes are gorgeous. It’s easy enough to get a costume historically correct, and it’s easy enough to change them just right so they’re sexy to contemporary viewers (thinking Outlander here). Clapton started with a fantasy world, and the costumes are consistent, perfect, and occasionally say more about what’s happening in the series than the script does.

    I am thrilled for Ms. Clapton! The extraordinary detail, beautiful design, quality materials, character-specific patterns, and incredible jewelry explain so much about each character in the episode. I am obsessed with Cersei’s gowns. In the coronation scene, the cut of the gown, the high collar, and the pattern in the leather are very similar to designs that Michele used for Tywin in Season 4. To me, that symbolizes that Cersei is trying to convince Westeros and herself that she is as strong and dangerous as Tywin. Tywin burned and flooded Castamere to destroy the Reynes; Cersei burned the sept to destroy her enemies.

    OT – I would appreciate the irony if it turns out that Cersei is actually

    the daughter of Aerys (and I would love it if Tyrion is the only true child of Tywin; but the show seems to hint that Tyrion is the son of Aerys). Perhaps Euron discovers this and that is why he turns to Cersei? Whether or not he has Dragonbinder, he could use Cersei to take control of a dragon.

  63. Congratulations to all involved, well deserved for all their outstanding craftsmanship and long days for last season.

  64. Rhaenys Stark,

    Oh man, when was this interview done? I hope he was talking based on his S6 story, I am dreading yet another season of “brave but stupid” arc for him.

  65. Rhaenys Stark,

    Oh Kit, what kind of person thinks Heroes are stupid? They can be damn inspirational, maybe some are “stupid” depending on the individual…but…o well I’ll shut up now.

  67. Yeah I agree with everyone hopefully this does not mean anything for season 7 because I will be pissed.

    ghost of winterfell,

    I think it’s a recent one, perhaps one month old? It’s definitely not an old interview.

  70. Dee Stark:
    This is the best show ever to exist and nothing will ever beat it!
    I’m so happy the creative aspect of the show is getting recognized this much. Amazing!
    Love it!!!!!

    I so agree with you. I’ve watched alot of series, but GOT is probably the series I have enjoyed the most so far in my life time. I really hope they take alot more, especially where next year they won’t be in the running. I am still shocked they didn’t take it for cinematography…that just blows my mind.

  73. the most awarded drama in Emmy history!! Well done!! And they deserve every single one!

    i’m also expecting Drama and Directing coming and maybe Lena will take her to home too! Can’t wait for sunday!

  74. Rhaenys Stark,

    Firannion,

    It’s an adorable interview. I can’t find the full thing, but here’s the snippet where he talks about heroes and their “lack of IQ” ? I think he was more referring to their lack of survival instincts!

  75. Sasha:

    Why would it not be up for any next year? Season 7 is filming right now!

    Extrapolating on what Young Dragon said… The Emmy season is from June 1st through May 31st the following year. A series has to qualify as a season before May 31st, which is to have aired six episodes prior to that date. An example is GoT season six aired 6 of 10 episodes by May 31st, qualified and the remaining episodes are then included in Emmy submissions for the September awards. Season 7 won’t even premiere until after June 1st next year so the season will qualify for the 2018 Emmy Awards instead. It’s just like Mr. Robot season 1 from last Summer is in for this year’s awards while their just aired season 2 is in next year.

  76. I am so happy with their early wins, it really wasn’t too much of a contest. GOT did an amazing job this past season. They had a few Bumps with certain Actors. Love me some Peter D, but he was shoe horned in because it is in his contract that he has to appear in a certain amount of episode per season. & It showed during a few episodes this season. I still want to hear that Joke he has been telling for 3 seasons now.

    I do believe that the Women will cancel each other out, not to mention that they are going up against The Dame & her last season on DA.

    So, it is at 9 and Counting.

  79. Lena unfortunately won’t win this year, it’ll be Maggie Smith. I hope Thrones nabs Dram, Directing, and Supporting Actor though. Not sure we’ll get Writing this time.

  80. Jack Bauer 24:
    Lena unfortunately won’t win this year, it’ll be Maggie Smith.

    Much as I love Lena and Maisie, I wouldn’t begrudge Dame Maggie a win for sentimentality’s sake – and I don’t even watch Downton Abbey. She’s such an institution, so brilliant at what she does. And she’s now in her 80s, and a cancer survivor. We won’t have her around much longer. So I could see the Academy really, really wanting to give her one last hurrah.

  83. The production staff of Game of Thrones have collectively raised the quality level of television to a point that equals if not surpasses that of feature films. While its easy to focus on the acting (because of the quality of the story), who doesn’t upon multiple watchings end of discussing the “how did they do that?” about the sets, the FX, the costumes? Brava to all, brava!!!

  85. Firannion,

    I like Dame Mags as much as the next person (I remember going to see the Olivier film of Othello where she played Desdemona when I was – even younger than I am now) and greatly appreciate her but she must already have a cupboard full of awards. Lena has been pipped at the post a couple of times already so I really would like her to (Lena) win. Of course what I would like and what actually happens can be two different things.

  86. singedbylife,

    It’s something to do with a “cut off.” IN order to be considered for nomination the first episode of a season has to air by a certain date in order to make the deadline. So with the late start this season (by 2 possibly 3 months) they will miss that cut-off. Someone correct me if I got it wrong….

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