After a postponement due to last year’s writers’ and actors’ strikes, the Television Academy returned to recognize excellence in television from June 2022 to May 2023 in a two-part ceremony for the Creative Arts Emmy Awards this past weekend. Among the 2023 recipients is acclaimed cinematographer and CalArts alum M. David Mullen (Film/Video MFA 91), who won the Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (One Hour) for his work on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s series finale “Four Minutes.”
The series, which premiered in 2017 on Amazon Prime Video, follows Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), an upper West Side housewife whose picture-perfect life is turned topsy-turvy upon discovering her knack for comedy. Set in the 1950s, the series follows a newly single Midge as she and her manager Susie navigate the unpredictable and often hostile world of stand-up. With the collective efforts of the cast and crew, the episode served as an homage to Midge’s greatest moments throughout the series.
“Amy [Sherman-Palladino] likes to heighten the moment by not cutting essentially, that the tension builds because the shot is building,” Mullen was quoted in Vulture, noting how the camera lingered on the solo microphone before Midge delivered her final set.
The win marks Mullen’s third Emmy Award; he previously earned Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour) in both 2019 and 2020 for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
The awards were held on Saturday, Jan. 6 and Sunday, Jan. 7. An edited version of both ceremonies will air on FXX on Saturday, Jan. 13, followed by the 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Jan. 15.
