Calgary Herald

Deserving nods, surprising snubs

Calgary-based Fargo receives 18 Emmy nods

- ERIC VOLMERS EVOLMERS@CALGARYHER­ALD.COM

The Calgary-shot FX series Fargo received 18 Emmy nomination­s Thursday morning, including a number of nods for locals who worked on the critically acclaimed dark comedy.

That number puts Fargo behind only Games of Thrones, which had 19, for most nods this year.

“Mike (Frislev) and I are so incredibly proud to be involved in this,” said producer Chad Oakes, who heads Calgary’s Nomadic Pictures with Mike Frislev. “We fought so hard to bring this to Alberta for us to produce here instead of Manitoba or Winnipeg. We’re very happy for this acknowledg­ment for all the Alberta and Calgary crew members.”

Fargo, which ran on FXX in Canada, began shooting last November in High River, Strathmore, Balzac, Drumheller, Bragg Creek, Canmore and areas in between. Various neighbourh­oods in Calgary were also used for the shoot, which wrapped in late April.

The series finished its 10-episode run on June 18 to strong ratings and almost universal critical acclaim and was recognized in virtually all the major categories for miniseries. Alongside a nomination for best miniseries, Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman both took nods for best actor, while Colin Hanks and Allison Tolman were nominated for best supporting actor and actress respective­ly.

We are hoping to hear if there is a Fargo season 2. Fingers crossed

CHAD OAKES

The series creator Noah Hawley was nominated for best writing, while Adam Bernstein and Colin Bucksey will compete against each other in the best director category for two separate episodes. Jeff Russo is up for best score. Director of photograph­y and former Calgarian Matt Lloyd is up for best cinematogr­aphy, which pits him against Dana Gonzales, who was nominated for another episode of the series.

Other Albertans who will be heading to Hollywood in August for their work on the series include Jackie Lind, who is on the team for outstandin­g casting; Gail Kennedy, Joanne Preece and Gunther Schetterer share a nomination for makeup; production mixer Mike Playfair is on the team for sound mixing; Frank Laratta, Jason Lawrence and Brent Planiden were on the team for sound editing.

Laratta and Lawrence are also nominated as part of the soundediti­ng team for the Discovery miniseries Klondike, another Nomadic Picture production that was shot in Alberta.

The total number of nods for homegrown production­s was 19, a stellar year but not the best for Alberta. In 2007, Alberta production­s received 36 Emmy nomination­s, thanks to the miniseries Broken Trail and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and the TV movie, The Ron Clark Story.

The success of Fargo should bode well for a second season, although no decisions have been made yet, said Oakes.

“We are hoping, in the next few weeks, to officially hear if there is a Fargo season 2,” he said.

The Emmys will be held Aug. 25 in Los Angeles.

 ?? Rogers Media/FX ?? Martin Freeman, who plays Lester Nygaard in Fargo, is nominated for an Emmy Award. The show earned 18 nods.
Rogers Media/FX Martin Freeman, who plays Lester Nygaard in Fargo, is nominated for an Emmy Award. The show earned 18 nods.

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