I told my readers to "Stay tuned for more awards show coverage tomorrow now that I know the winners of the Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards" at the end of 'SNL' tackles E. Jean Carroll judgment, DeSantis endorsement, Nikki Haley, and more. Here are the nominees and my observations from The 2023-2024 Environmental Media Association Awards nominees along with the winners.
And it did. Congratulations!Feature FilmOh, look, a film I voted for twice at the Saturn Awards (Avatar: The Way of Water, another movie I compared favorably to a Razzie nominee (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), which is damning with faint praise, so I didn't vote for it, and another I've never mentioned before (White Noise) but which earned nominations at the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes last year. Oh, and all of these movies came out in 2022. What, no 2023 movies with environmental themes had release dates before the deadline? At this rate, I'm looking for Aquaman 2 to earn a nomination at the next EMA Awards.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Netflix
White Noise – Netflix
Avatar: The Way of Water – Walt Disney Studios / Lightstorm Entertainment
That written, all of these movies deserve their nominations for their environmental themes, even White Noise, which kicks off with a train wreck releasing hazardous chemicals — sounds familiar, doesn't it, although the movie came out before that particular disaster. Since I voted for it twice, I think Avatar: The Way of Water is the best nominee. I also think it has the strongest environmental themes, so it might just win.
As I predicted, Common Ground won. Again, congratulations!Documentary FilmThis category alone justifies my coverage of these awards, as it includes three films I can recommend my students watch for extra credit. Welcome to blogging as professional development.
Deep Rising – The Film Collaborative
Common Ground – Big Picture Ranch
From Devil’s Breath – MSNBC Films, TIME Studios, Day Zero Productions, Sugar23, Mainstay, P&G Studios, Grain Media, Appian Way
The nominees also cover topics I've blogged about. Deep Rising examines the same subject as PBS Terra tells 'The Dirty Truth About Our Clean Energy Future'. Common Ground is another documentary about sustainable agriculture like Food, Inc., King Corn, and The Biggest Little Farm. Finally, I've blogged about wildfires, the subject of From Devil’s Breath, several times. I have no doubts about the environmental content of any of these films!
In 2022, I suspected that star power would sway the EMA voters enough for Eating Our Way to Extinction to win. It did, so I'm making the same prediction for Common Ground. Look at all the famous actors named on the poster, including Laura Dern, who is receiving the EMA Ongoing Commitment Award. It's enough to cancel out Jason Momoa as the narrator for Deep Rising, especially since he is also listed for Common Ground, and Leonardo DiCaprio for From Devil’s Breath, which might be the best-crafted of the three.
Follow over the jump for the television winners.
Nope, Extrapolations won. This will teach me to actually look up all the nominees. If I had, I would have taken its nomination more seriously. As the episode summary from IMDB reads, "Rebecca, a marine biologist, strives to connect with a humpback whale (voiced by Meryl Streep) before it's too late." Yeah, that looks like their kind of show and it has a more explicit environmental message than The Last of Us.Television Episodic DramaSpeaking of nominees I voted for at the Saturn Awards, I voted four times for The Last of Us, so of course I think it's the better nominee. I've never even heard of Extrapolations before I looked at the nominees. I expect a lot of the EMA voters had the same reaction, so I also expect The Last of Us will win.
Extrapolations “Whale Fall” – Apple TV+
The Last of Us “When You’re Lost in the Darkness”– HBO in association with Sony Pictures Television Studios, PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog
Nope, Unstable won. I wouldn't have picked it as winning from its IMDB description other than the opening prepositional phrase of "In a biological research company, a son with social problems is forced to work for the company of his father, an extremely eccentric and exotic man to save him from disaster." I guess "biological research company" was enough. In any event, congratulations.Paul Junger Witt Comedy AwardPoker Face had four Emmy nominations and won one of them, so I think it's the best comedy series of the bunch, regardless of environmental contest. I'd heard of Unstable, but Mulligan? I had to read its IMDB page to discover its premise. Then I could see why it earned this nomination. I don't know if it's enough for it to win, despite the star-studded voice cast.
Unstable “Unstable” – Netflix
Mulligan “Opening Day” – Netflix
Poker Face “The Stall” – Peacock, T-Street, MRC Television, Animal Pictures
I tweeted my reaction to Downey’s Dream Cars winning this award.Documentary SeriesLook, more shows I can now recommend to my students for extra credit! The two award winners are Frozen Planet II, which earned two BAFTA TV nominations, and Down to Earth with Zac Efron, which has earned six Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning two of them over two seasons. If these awards were about production values, I think Frozen Planet II would be favored. Since this is about environmental content and star power, I suspect Down to Earth with Zac Efron has the better chance of winning and Downey’s Dream Cars, which has no award nominations listed on IMDB but an Oscar-nominated host, actually has a chance.
Frozen Planet II “Frozen Worlds”– A BBC, Discovery Channel, Antena 3 Television S.A., ZDF, Skai, Open University co-production in association with Discovery Canada for BBC America
Down to Earth with Zac Efron “Eco Innovators” – Netflix
Downey’s Dream Cars “Electric Stingray”– Max in association with Boat Rocker’s Matador Content and Team Downey
The Environmental Media Association liked my tweet. Maybe they didn't realize it was a bit of a subtweet, or if they did, were being good sports about it. I can't tell.Congrats to the nominee for Documentary Series with the greatest star power! Now, to get this award, the show's first, on its IMDB page.https://t.co/ZzdShFRmAW
— Crazy Eddie's Motie News (@pinkusensei) January 28, 2024
I was able to find an IMDB entry for Monumental: Ellie Goulding at Kew Gardens, but it took some digging. If I had been successful on Saturday doing this, I'd have read its description — "Ellie Goulding performs a variety special in advance of her album release, Higher Than Heaven. Performing at Kew Gardens in London, Goulding also sits down with radio host Roman Kemp and climate scientist Dr. Carly Cowell" — and taken its chances more seriously. Just the same, congratulations.Variety TelevisionThis category features a showdown between Primetime and Daytime Emmy winners in A Black Lady Sketch Show and The Talk, respectively. I suspect The Talk has the advantage, as the nominated episode has an explicit environmental title and theme and probably has more viewers. Speaking of episode titles, Monumental has a good one in “Ellie Goulding at Kew Gardens,” but I couldn't find the show on IMDB. That's not a good sign for its chances.
A Black Lady Sketch Show “Pre Ph.D, Based on a Novel by Sapphire” – HBO in association with For Better or Words, Inc., Hoorae, 3 Arts Entertainment and Jax Media
Monumental “Ellie Goulding at Kew Gardens” – Amazon Studios, Freevee
The Talk “Earth Day” – CBS/Paramount Global
Nope, it was the one show I didn't mention, What Am I Eating? With Zooey Deschanel. Go figure. I guess I wanted an opportunity to acknowledge Queer Eye's Emmy Award. Fortunately, Season 8 just dropped last week, so an opportunity exists already. That written, congratulations to What Am I Eating? With Zooey Deschanel. It's now a show I can recommend to my students.Reality TelevisionThis, the largest field with four nominees, features a father-son contest between Eugene Levy for The Reluctant Traveler and Dan Levy for The Big Brunch. That's an angle I don't recall exploring in more than a dozen years of writing about awards shows! Unfortunately, I don't think either will win. I expect multi-Emmy winner Queer Eye will instead.
Queer Eye “Sowing the Seeds” – Netflix
The Reluctant Traveler “South Africa” – Apple TV+
What Am I Eating? With Zooey Deschanel “Stop Ghosting Greens” – HBO | Max (Warner Bros. Discovery)
The Big Brunch “Farm to Table Brunch” – HBO | Max (Warner Bros. Discovery)
My intuition was wrong; Jane won. I'm not unhappy about that, as Jane is an Emmy winner. Besides, the image above looks like the show is as fun and full of wonder as it is educational.Children’s TelevisionBased on nominations at the Children's and Family Emmy Awards, this contest is between Spirit Rangers with seven nominations and Jane with four nominations and a win. We Baby Bears has only an Annie Award nomination. Between Spirit Rangers and Jane, my intuition is picking Spirit Rangers to win.
Spirit Rangers “Water Protectors” – Netflix
We Baby Bears “Rexford’s Nectar” – Cartoon Network Studios
Jane “Apis Mellifera” – Sinking Ship Entertainment in association with Apple
I close with Laura Dern's remarks at Saturday's awards quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.
“[T]onight we gather in a moment of crisis. Our planet, like our democracy, is under threat.”Dern might just be right.
The star said that “the painful truth remains that despite our efforts, we are not yet winning this battle. We are not yet spurring our entire planet to action, or persuading the people who disagree with us.” She asked the crowd to consider why. She pointed out how many people in red states are experiencing climate change, whether seeing its effect on the agriculture industry or experiencing rising ocean temperatures and increasingly dangerous storms, and yet “are actively resisting the work we’re asking them to do, work that will save their farms and rivers and towns.”
“I propose it’s because they’ve been told we’re crazy. The news they watch has convinced them that we love open borders, caravans of criminals, smash and grab, cancel culture and late-term abortions on demand. They also think we’re elitist, and it’s not hard to see why. Go on Twitter some time, notice how often people you follow talk about how dumb MAGA is,” she continued of Democrats. “Polling tells us that for conservative voters, most congressional elections in this country come down to a simple choice: ‘The Republican was a jerk, the Democrat was an elitist, and at least the jerk never made me feel dumb.’ This is the difference between saving America and scolding it… we need to find a new language, one that works not just in Los Angeles at a fundraiser but in Iowa and Oklahoma and West Virginia.”
“We must recognize, finally, that the people we need to persuade are afraid too, maybe of us,” she said. “Building these bridges will not be without its hurdles, but we will succeed because a majority of Americans fundamentally want community not chaos, just as they want votes not violence, laws not lies, books not bans, and truth not tantrums.”
Dern suggested speaking less about climate change and more about climate rescue, as well as spending less time accusing and more time listening and telling stories. “Let’s place the American farmer who is fighting to change the system and bring us healthy, non-toxic food at the very center of our stories,” she added. “Let’s see all of us not as heroes or villains, but as a community standing together fighting for what’s right.”
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