2021 Creative Arts Emmy Awards: ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is the top winner

September 12, 2021

by Carla Hay

With nine awards, Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” was the top winner at the 2021 Creative Arts Emmy Awards (the technical categories of the Primetime Emmys), which were presented in a three-part ceremony on September 11 and September 12 on Emmys.com. FXX will televise highlights from the ceremony on September 18, 2021. Other big winners at the 2021 Creative Arts Emmy Awards included Disney+’s “The Mandalorian” and NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” with seven prizes each. Netflix’s “Love, Death + Robots” won six awards. VH1’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and Netflix’s “The Crown” received four awards each. Out of all the TV networks and streaming services, Netflix came out on top with 31 awards, followed by Disney+ with 13 prizes, and HBO/HBO Max with 10 awards.

The biggest categories at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented September 19 in a ceremony hosted by Cedric the Entertainner. CBS will telecast the show in the U.S. at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Paramount+ will livestream the ceremony. “The Crown” and “The Mandalorian” have the most nominations (24 each) in all categories.

First-time Emmy winners at the 2021 Creative Arts Emmy Awards included Dolly Parton, an executive producer and star of Netflix’s “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square,” which won for Outstanding Television Movie. Bo Burnham won Emmys for writing, directing and music direction of his Netflix variety special “Bo Burnham: Inside.” Other first-time Emmy winners were J.B. Smoove (Outstanding Actor in a Short-Form Comedy or Drama Series, for Quibi’s “Mapleworth Murders”) and Keke Palmer (Outstanding Actress in a Short-Form Comedy or Drama Series, for Facebook Watch’s “Keke Palmer’s Turnt Up With the Taylors”).

Here is the complete list of winners for the 2021 Creative Arts Emmy Awards:

Outstanding Television Movie: “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square”
Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program: “RuPaul’s Drag Race Untucked”
Outstanding Structured Reality Program: “Queer Eye”
Outstanding Hosted Non-Fiction Series or Special: “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy”
Outstanding Short-Form Non-Fiction or Reality: “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man”
Outstanding Short-Form Comedy, Drama, or Variety Series: “Carpool Karaoke: The Series”
Outstanding Short-Form Animated Program: “Love, Death + Robots”
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation: “Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal” – David Krentz (lstoryboard artist); “Love, Death + Robots” – Robert Valley (production designer); “Love, Death + Robots” – Patricio Betteo (background artist); “Love, Death + Robots” – Daniel Gill (stop motion animator); “Love, Death + Robots” – Laurent Nicolas (character designer); “The Simpsons” – Nik Ranieri (lead character layout artist)
Outstanding Animated Program: “Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal”
Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Series: “Secrets of the Whales”
Outstanding Documentary/Non-Fiction Special: “Boys State”
Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking: “76 Days”
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series: Dave Chappelle, “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series: Maya Rudolph, “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series: Courtney B. Vance, “Lovecraft Country”
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Claire Foy, “The Crown”
Outstanding Host for a Reality Competition Program: RuPaul Charles, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance: Maya Rudolph, “Big Mouth”
Outstanding Narrator: Sterling K. Brown, “Lincoln: Divided We Stand”
Outstanding Actor in a Short-Form Comedy or Drama Series: J.B. Smoove, “Mapleworth Murders”
Outstanding Actress in a Short-Form Comedy or Drama Series: Keke Palmer, “Keke Palmer’s Turnt Up With the Taylors”
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series: Don Roy King, “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special: Bo Burnham, “Bo Burnham: Inside”
Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program: Nick Murray, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Non-Fiction Special: Kristen Johnson, “Dick Johnson Is Dead”
Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series: “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Limited Series, Movie or Special: “Hamilton”
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series: Bo Burnham, “Bo Burnham’s Inside”
Outstanding Writing for a Non-Fiction Program: Vickie Curtis, David Coombe and Jeff Orlowski, “The Social Dilemma”
Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (half-hour): “The Mandalorian”
Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (one hour): “The Crown”
Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series: “Country Comfort”
Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie: “The Queen’s Gambit”
Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program: “Life Below Zero”
Outstanding Cinematography for a Non-Fiction Program: “David Attenborough: Life on Our Planet”
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Series: “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special: “David Byrne’s American Utopia”
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series: “The Crown”
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series: “Ted Lasso”
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie: “The Queen’s Gambit”
Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series: “The Conners”
Outstanding Picture Editing for a Structured or Competition Reality Program: “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program: “Life Below Zero”
Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Program: “A Black Lady Sketch Show”
Outstanding Picture Editing for a Non-Fiction Program: “The Social Dilemma”
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama series (half-hour) and Animation: “Love, Death + Roberts”
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama (one hour): “Stranger Things”
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special: “The Queen’s Gambit”
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Non-Fiction Program (single- or multi-camera): “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama series (half-hour) and Animation: “Ted Lasso”
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama series (one hour): “The Mandalorian”
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or Movie: “The Queen’s Gambit”
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Non-Fiction Program (single- or multi-camera): “David Attenborough: Our Planet”
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special: “David Byrne’s American Utopia”
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (half-hour or less): “WandaVision”
Outstanding Production Design for Narrative Contemporary Program: “Mare of Easttown”
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative for a Narrative Period or Fantasy Program: “The Queen’s Gambit”
Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Reality or Reality Competition Series: “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special: “The Oscars”
Outstanding Period and/or Character Hairstyling: “Bridgerton”
Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling: “Pose”
Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling for a Variety, Non-Fiction or Reality Program: “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Contemporary Makeup: “Pose”
Outstanding Contemporary Makeup for a Variety, Non-Fiction or Reality Program: “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Period and/or Character Makeup (non-prosthetic): “The Queen’s Gambit”
Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special:  “The Mandalorian”
Outstanding Contemporary Costumes: “Pose”
Outstanding Period Costumes: “The Queen’s Gambit”
Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes: “WandaVision”
Outstanding Costumes for Variety, Non-Fiction or Reality Programming: “Black Is King,”  “The Masked Singer” and “Sherman’s Showcase Black History Month Spectactular” (tie)
Outstanding Stunt Coordination: “The Mandalorian”
Outstanding Stunt Performance: Lateef Crowder, “The Mandalorian”
Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (original dramatic score): Ludwig Göransson, “The Mandalorian”
Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (original dramatic score): Carlos Rafael Rivera, “The Queen’s Gambit”
Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (original dramatic score):  Steven Price, “David Attenborough: Life on Our Planet”
Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music: Blake Neely, “The Flight Attendant”
Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, “Agatha All Along” from “WandaVision”
Outstanding Music Direction: “Bo Burnham: Inside”
Outstanding Music Supervision: “I May Destroy You”
Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming: Derek Hough, “Dancing With the Stars”
Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming: Debbie Allen, “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square”
Outstanding Main Title Design: “The Good Lord Bird”
Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode: “Star Trek: Discovery”
Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie: “The Mandalorian”
Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series: “Ted Lasso”
Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series: “The Crown”
Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series: “The Queen’s Gambit”
Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program: “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Outstanding Commercial: “You Can’t Stop Us,” Nike
Outstanding Motion Design: “Calls”
Outstanding Interactive Program: “Space Explorers: The ISS Experience”
Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Program: “For All Mankind: Time Capsule”