You are viewing the archive: “David Benioff”

EMMYS: Drama Series Writers Handicap

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday September 18, 2011 @ 8:31am PDTTags: 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff, Friday Night Lights, Game of Thrones, Jason Katims, Mad Men, Matt Weiner, The Killing, Veena Sud

Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s 2011 Emmy coverage. Here’s his scorecard assessing the Outstanding Drama Series Writer race.

Matthew Weiner, Mad Men (AMC)
“The Suitcase”
Why He Was Nominated: What, are you kidding? Weiner has been nominated for 18 of these things and come out on top eight times, including winning both as producer and writer for Mad Men the last three years running. He also took the prize as a producer for a little show called The Sopranos in both 2004 and 2007. The fact that Weiner has personally earned 10 nominations for Mad Men during the past three years alone is a bit astonishing, particularly when you consider that AMC wasn’t on the Emmy map at all until Weiner arrived.
Why He Has To Win: It would take almost an act of God to keep Weiner from taking both the series and writing trophies for a fourth consecutive year, in part because the Mad Men episode for which he’s nominated — “The Suitcase” — is considered both a tour de force for star Jon Hamm and one of the show’s best hours, period. And that’s saying something. The hour was essentially a writing showcase for Weiner and an acting workshop for Hamm and co-star Elisabeth Moss. Cue the bandwagon.
Why He Can’t Possibly Win: That Mad Men is nominated twice here has the possibility of splitting the vote. There’s also the school of thought that the late momentum for Friday Night Lights could carry Jason Katims (nominated for the series finale) to an upset victory. Or, you know, the sun may not rise tomorrow. Anything is possible. READ MORE »

Comments (2)

EMMYS: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Q&A With Showrunners David Benioff And D.B. Weiss

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday August 26, 2011 @ 12:49am PDTTags: 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff, Game of Thrones, HBO, TV showrunners

Feature film writer David Benioff (Troy, The Kite Runner) and novelist D.B. Weiss found mega-success as co-showrunners of their very first TV show, HBO’s freshman medieval fantasy series Game of Thrones. It hauled in 13 Primetime Emmy nominations, including honors for top Drama Series and Writing for an episode they co-penned. That’s more nods than any drama series except Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire. Deadline TV contributor Ray Richmond talked to Benioff and Weiss via email about how they’re dealing with overnight success and where Thrones will go in Season 2:

DEADLINE: So has the early success of Game of Thrones surprised you? This is probably a difficult question to answer honestly: If you say ‘No’ it sounds immodest, and if you say ‘Yes’ it appears insecure.
DAVID BENIOFF and D.B. WEISS: We, the insecure, say ‘Yes.’ We always believed the show would find a loyal audience, but our fear was that it could be an audience of 40. Both the number and the passion of the viewers stunned us.

DEADLINE: The author of the Thrones books, George R.R. Martin, once said that he considered his novels un-filmable. What convinced you both they could be filmed after all?
BENIOFF/WEISS: Ignorance. Read More »

Comments 34

EMMYS: Louis C.K. & Lonely Island Duo Top List Of Multiple Nominees, More Notes

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday July 14, 2011 @ 2:50pm PDTTags: 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards, 30 Rock, Akiva Schaffer, AMC, Becoming Chaz, Comedy Central, Conan O'Brien, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff, Emmy Nominations, FX, Greg Daniels, Idris Elba, Jason Katims, Justin Timberlake, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Louis C.K., Maggie Smith, Martin Scorsese, Matt Damon, Matt Weiner, Melissa Leo, Neil Jordan, Saturday Night Live, Seth Meyers, Steve Levitan, The Kennedys, Tina Fey, TNT, USA Network, Zach Galifianakis
Nellie Andreeva

His eponymous FX comedy may have been snubbed in the best comedy series category, but comedian Louis C.K. still managed to become the most nominated person at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards with four noms, sharing the honors with The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. Louis C.K. was nominated in the lead comedy actor category for his role on FX’s Louie, in the writing for comedy series category for penning the Poker/Divorce episode of the show, as well as in two Variety, Music or Comedy special categories for his Epix comedy special Louis C.K.: Hilarious — for writing and for editing. Three of Schaffer and Taccone’s four nominations were in the Original Music and Lyrics category, in which The Lonely Island’s Schaffer, Taccone and Andy Samberg have a regular presence, often in tandem with Justin Timberlake, having won an Emmy together for Dick In a Box. This year, Saturday Night Live is completely dominating the category with four of the six nominations: three for Schaffer, Taccone and Samberg’s digital music videos I Just Have Sex, Jack Sparrow and their latest collaboration with Timberlake, 3-Way, and one for the song from host Timberlake’s opening monologue. Schaffer and Taccone’s fourth Emmy nomination is in the writing for VMC series category for their staff-writing duties on SNL. Read More »

Comments (8)