La Cañada Flintridge’s influence was clearly on display at the Creative Arts Emmy event last weekend. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory won an Emmy for outstanding original interactive program for NASA’s InSight Mars mission on NASA TV, while LCF resident Craig Mazin’s HBO drama “Chernobyl” took home seven awards.
InSight project manager Tom Hoffman, who has lived in LCF with his wife since 1993, said he never expected to win an Emmy for his work in space and was surprised and honored.
“I am proud that the award was because of the breadth of the platforms that we used to engage people across the globe in our landing on Mars,” Hoffman said. “It was a privilege to be able to share the drama of the moments leading up to the landing and then the elation upon successful landing in real-time with the public.”
Michael Greene, director of the communications and education directorate at JPL, added the organization was excited to share its Mars story and NASA’s “journey of exploration” with everyone.
“Our thanks to the Television Academy for this high honor and to the public for supporting JPL missions and science,” Greene said in a statement.
NASA-JPL won the award at the 71st Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15.
Also winning an award for the space agency was NASA and Space X: The Interactive Demo-1 Launch. The program, shown on YouTube, was given an outstanding interactive program award on Saturday, Sept. 14.
Last year, NASA JPL won the Creative Arts Emmy for “Cassini’s Grand Finale.” Project manager Earl Maize, navigation team chief Duane Roth and producer, host and writer Gay Yee Hill, all LCF residents, were among the team members who shared the award.
Meanwhile, the Mazin-created and widely praised “Chernobyl,” earned seven awards on Sunday with more possibly to come during the “Primetime Emmys” on Sunday, Sept. 22.
“I was thrilled to see the love and support for the incredible work our team did across so many categories,” Mazin said in a statement released on Tuesday. “I was lucky to have artists of the highest caliber working with me on ‘Chernobyl,’ and I couldn’t be more proud of their achievements. They deserve all this and more.”
The series, which earned a total of 19 Emmy nominations, is a five-part miniseries about the 1986 Chernobyl event in Soviet Ukraine. The event is the worst nuclear plant disaster in history. The drama stars Stellan Skarsgard, Jared Harris and Emily Watson. Mazin wrote the series at home in LCF and at his office in Old Pasadena. He was this year’s La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation’s Spirit of Outstanding Service Award honoree with his wife, Melissa.
The awards the series won on Sunday include:
• Cinematography for a limited series or movie (for the episode “Please Remain Calm”)
• Sound editing for a limited series, movie or special (for the episode “1:23:45”)
• Music composition for a limited series, movie or special (original dramatic score for the episode “Please Remain Calm”)
• Single-camera picture editing for a limited series or movie (for the episode “Please Remain Calm”)
• Special visual effects in a supporting role (for the episode “1:23:45”)
• Production design for a narrative period or fantasy program (one hour or more)
• Sound mixing for a limited series or movie (for the episode “1:23:45”)
An edited version of the two ceremonies will air on cable channel FXX this Saturday, Sept. 21. Selected Creative Arts Emmys will be shown as part of the live 71st Primetime Emmys on Sunday, Sept. 22, which will air on Fox at 5 p.m.
