Auteurs and Showrunners Dominate Emmy Nominations in Writing and Directing Categories

Auteurs are out in force in this year’s writing and directing Emmy races and so are veteran pilot and episodic helmers. Female helmers had a big showing in noms for drama series, documentary and variety shows.

As ever, the nominees in writing and directing categories for the annual Emmy derby are a bellwether for the creative community in terms where they see heat and excellence when it comes to TV programs. It’s a creative popularity poll that sometimes is at odds with the popular vote delivered by viewers and consumers in the U.S. and beyond. Lucia Aniello (“Hacks”), Vince Gilligan (“Pluribus”), Steven Conrad (“DTF St. Louis”), Lee Sun Jin (“Beef”) and Brad Ingelsby (“Task”) are the five power hitters who nabbed both writing and directing noms in series categories.

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In the comedy series field, the writing noms were dominated by auteur forces who are on both sides of the camera for their shows. The nominees for comedy series director, on the other hand, leaned toward seasoned helmers and previous nominees. The documentary/nonfiction race includes Mariska Hargitay for her HBO documentary “My Mom Jayne” and Lawrence Kasdan for his study of Martin Short, Netflix’s “Marty, Life is Short.”

Among drama series, Salli Richardson Whitfield put a notch in Emmy’s record books by becoming the first Black woman to receive two directing nomination in the same category in the same year. Richardson Whitfield’s range is demonstrated in her nomination for HBO’s period drama “The Gilded Age” and for HBO’s “Task,” the earthy crime potboiler starring Mark Ruffalo.

Richardson Whitfield’s will vie against Hannah M. Culpepper for Hulu’s “Paradise.” “The Pitt” star Noah Wyle nabbed a directing nom for his work behind the lens on episode “12:00 PM.” The much decorated “Breaking Bad” creator Gilligan is nommed for the pilot of Apple TV’s “Pluribus.” And Saul Metzstein is up for the “Scars” installment of Apple TV’s “Slow Horses.”

Among comedy directors, the list includes familiar names: Lucia Aniello (“Hacks”), Randall Einhorn (“Abbott Elementary”), Mary Lou Belli (“The Ms. Pat Show”), Hiro Murai (“Widow’s Bay”) and Christopher Storer (“The Bear”). HBO’s quirky dark comedy “The Chair Company” is represented with a mention for Andrew DeYoung.

Netflix’s “Beef” took two of the four nominations for limited series direction. One went to showrunner/creator Lee Sung Jin, the other to Jake Schreier. Jason Bateman is in the mix for the Netflix crime drama “Black Rabbit” while showrunner Steven Conrad is up for HBO’s “DTF St. Louis.”

Liz Patrick of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and Yvonne De Mare of CBS’ “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” were nommed in the variety show category that now covers late-night variety fare. Andy Fisher is up for his work on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

The life of Mel Brooks, the trials of Sean Combs and the work of Martin Scorsese were among the subjects that drew documentary directing noms for Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio (“Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!”), Alexandria Stapleton (“Sean Combs: The Reckoning”) and Rebecca Miller (“Mr. Scorsese”).

The roster of shows drawing nominations for reality directing was close to the list of top series nominees in the category. Bertram van Munster (“The Amazing Race”), Cian O’Clery (“Love on the Spectrum”), Nick Murray (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”), Anna Moulaison (“Top Chef”) and Ben Archard (“The Traitors”).

Among the scribe tribe, four of the six nominees for comedy series writing went to those who are also front and center as stars: “Abbott Elementary’s” Quinta Brunson; Tim Robinson for “The Chair Company” (with Zach Kanin, Lisa Kudrow (with co-creator Michael Patrick King) for HBO’s “The Comeback” and Paul W. Downs (with Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky) for HBO Max’s “Hacks.” Katie Dippold, creator and showrunner of Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay” and Anthony King of Prime Video’s “Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat” took the other two bids.

For drama series writing, showrunners ruled the roost. “The Pitt” claimed two noms, one for Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman and showrunner R. Scott Gemmill and one for Valerie Chu. Gilligan of “Pluribus,” Will Smith of Apple TV’s “Slow Horses,” Brad Ingelsby of “Task,” and Debora Cahn (with Peter Ackerman) of Netflix’s “The Diplomat” are all in the running.

Megan Gallagher is a newcomer to the limited series field with a writing nom for Peacock’s “All Her Fault.” Lee Sun Jin of “Beef” and Conrad of “DTF St. Louis” are contenders as are Gate Rotter and Daniel Pearle for Netflix’s “The Beast in Me” and Mike Makowsky for Netflix’s “Death By Lightning.”

Variety series writing bids went to the staff of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and HBO’s “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.” Standup comedians Chris Fleming, Nikki Glaser and Wanda Sykes all nabbed Emmy bids for variety special writing for their standup specials “Live at the Palace” (HBO), “Good Girl” (Hulu) and “Legacy” (Netflix). Also in the mix are the staff of Disney+’s “The Muppet Show” and ABC’s Academy Awards telecast.

For telling the story of “The American Revolution” as the nation marks its 250th birthday, longtime Ken Burns collaborator Geoffrey C. Ward picked up his 10th career Emmy nomination in the nonfiction program category. “Daily Show” correspondent Jordan Klepper and others are up for the Comedy Central special “Jordan Klepper Fingers The Pulse: Give The Man A Prize.” And Apple TV’s “The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy” grabbed a nom for writers David Reilly and Christine Rose.

(Pictured: Mariska Hargitay, Quinta Brunson and Tim Robinson)