September 2023 6 translate into poor reviews and short theatrical windows. One suggestion is for the Emmys to let the studios’ marketing people decide how they want to classify a show. If they did their research, checked their demos, and analyzed their focus groups, they will surely know the right category for a given series. And if they make a mistake and if the Academy members don’t laugh at their comedies, or don’t cry at their dramas, well ...and the Emmy goes to... “Agreed,” said New Yorkbased producer Robert Rose, before adding: “A big impediment to the travel genre growth in the U.S. — which is a massive genre almost everywhere but the U.S. — is the Academy combining nature programming and travel. These two genres may have some similarities (people often travel to experience nature), but they are shot and produced very differently. Many true travel shows focus on urban exploration with a focus on culture and people. It doesn’t make sense to throw them into the same category with big budget nature programming.” Another comment came from Los Angeles-based producer Todd P. Leavitt: “I was president of the Television Academy for a three-year term (starting some 20 years ago). As I understand the situation, there is a default assumption that if a program is shorter than one hour per episode, it will be treated as a ‘comedy.’ Having said that, it was always, as a general rule, up to the producers of a specific series to determine in which category they choose to submit.” He continued: “Thus, The Bear, which is the season’s finest ‘drama,’ was submitted by the production company as a ‘comedy.’ This certainly was motivated by seeking to avoid the significant competition posed by Succession and White Lotus, both of which are inherently dramas. The same rule applies to individual actor categories where the performer will decide which genre to submit in.” Meanwhile, adding to the drama, the 75th annual Emmy Awards show, set to be broadcast on FOX TV network on September 18, has been postponed due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes, and will possibly be rescheduled sometime in January 2024.” Is it drama, comedy, or dramedy? Steve Pond asked this very question in the June 2023 edition of The Wrap as he pondered the tough job facing the powers that be at the Emmys, who are tasked with deciding “where to put shows when the lines between comedy and drama are all but indistinguishable these days.” His solution? “Concede that TV is a giant mess, confusing and glorious, and often not completely unclassifiable. Drama? Comedy? Dramedy? Who cares? Celebrate it all and then throw some golden statuettes into whatever boxes make sense at the moment,” he concluded. Well, let’s ponder this a bit more and recall that this issue is not new. Movie marketing people at the studios wrestled with this problem even before the BBC launched Monty Python’s Flying Circus on television in 1969. To some people it was a comedy, but others found its insipid jokes and sketches to be dramatically sad! In the film business, promoting a movie as one genre when it really falls into another category entirely can spell disaster for its box office. Imagine if a movie were to be promoted as a comedy and the moviegoers came out with tears in their eyes, or it was promoted as a drama and people exited the theater laughing their heads off. In these cases, disappointment would DilEmmy: Should The Academy Decide Genres? World (Continued from Page 4) Africa’s leading film + TV content market HOST CITY BUILT BY PART OF www.mipafrica.com 04-06 September 2023 | CTICC2 Unleash Your Creativity, Connect with Excellence: MIP Africa - Where Content Converges, Networks Flourish, and Deals Take Flight.
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