Alumni Take Home Emmy Awards
By Shannon Musgrave and Pam Wigley
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented the 76th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sept. 7 and 8 at the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, California.
Among the winners were two Carnegie Mellon University alumni from the School of Drama, Alana Billingsley and John Zuiker.
Both took home the trophy for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special for their work on this year’s Oscars. Billingsley was the show’s production designer and Zuiker was art director. This marked the fourth Emmy win for Billingsley and the first for Zuiker.
Alumnus Tommy Oliver won for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.”
Alana Billingsley and John Zuiker at the Oscars. Photo credit: AMPAS
Oliver, a graduate of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences in economics and digital media, with a minor in business administration, premiered the film at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023, where it garnered the 2023 Grand Jury Prize award for U.S. Documentary Competition.
Tommy Oliver receives a CMU Alumni Award in 2018.
The film looks at the life of poet Nikki Giovanni and the revolutionary periods in which she wrote, from the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter. The film was produced by Oliver and his company, Confluential Films, in association with JustFilms, Ford Foundation in association with Bertha Doc Society.
“We are absolutely thrilled for Tommy,” said Dan Green, director of the Master of Entertainment Industry Management Program (MEIM), where Oliver serves as a lecturer. “Many of our MEIM students saw this film at Sundance, which was an exciting experience for all of us.”
In addition to serving as a lecturer for the MEIM Program, a collaboration of the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and the College of Fine Arts, Oliver also is on the CFA Dean’s Council. There, he is part of a group of alumni and influencers who work with CFA Dean Mary Ellen Poole to guide efforts for all students within CFA.
Ten alumni from the School of Drama and a professor in the Master of Entertainment Industry Management program racked up a total of 17 nominations this year.
During the Primetime Emmys broadcast on Sept. 15, alumnus and nominee Matt Bomer presented the Governors Award to writer, producer and director Greg Berlanti, who has long helped increase LGBTQ+ visibility in television. The award is given to creators who make a “profound, transformational and long-lasting contribution” to television.
Matt Bomer with Zoe Tsamitis, a MEIM student interning at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.