NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES—The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the inaugural “Excellence in Production Technology” Emmy Award to “The Santa Clauses Season 2” during the 75th Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards at the Prince George Ballroom in New York on Oct. 9.
During the ceremony, hosted by David Pogue, Emmy award-winning science correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, Vizio founder and CEO William Wang also received Lifetime Achievement honors for his contributions to the television manufacturing industry by bringing premium-quality, innovative TVs, and soundbars into millions of U.S. homes at affordable prices.
“We’re delighted to honor the individuals and companies dedicated to delivering high-quality content and innovative new technologies for consumers,” NATAS President and CEO Adam Sharp said. “Mr. Wang’s Lifetime Achievement Award comes after a long career of reshaping what’s possible and making advanced technology accessible, speaking to his powerful leadership and founding of Vizio.”
“I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award,” Wang said in a statement. “My life has been dedicated to bringing great technology to consumers in America. This recognition is also a testament to the incredible team at Vizio—it is our lifetime achievement. Together, we’ve challenged the status quo and have created new possibilities for the future of television. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and excited for the journey ahead as we continue to push the boundaries of technology and entertainment.”
Accepting the “Excellence in Production Technology” award, Rachel Rose, R&D supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic, said: “The team at Industrial Light & Magic are incredibly honored to be recognized by [NATAS] with an Emmy Award for our innovative StageCraft technology and the advancements made for ‘The Santa Clauses, Season Two.’ This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our exceptional team of technologists, artists, and production crew.”
ILM contributed successfully to the first season with StageCraft LED work. For Season 2, ILM StageCraft was used once again with ILM also contributing post visual effects. Visual effects work on the project was overseen by Trevor Hazel, with a seamless partnership between ILM’s San Francisco office and SDFX. Together, the team ultimately delivered 333 shots of Christmas cheer for the series.
In addition, the 2024 Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards were given out at the event. Honorees included the following:
Pioneering Development of Inexpensive Video Technology for Animation:
- Lyon Lamb (Bruce Lyon and John Lamb)
Large Scale Deployment of Smart TV Operating Systems
- Samsung
- LG
- Sony
- Vizio
- Panasonic
Creation and Implementation of HDR Static LUT, Single-Stream Live Production
- BBC
- NBC
Pioneering Technologies Enabling High Performance Communications Over Cable TV Systems
- Broadcom
- General Instrument (CommScope)
- LANcity (CommScope)
- 3COM (HP)
Pioneering Development of Manifest-Based Playout for FAST
- Amagi
- Pluto TV
- Turner
Targeted Ad Messages Delivered Across Paused Media
- DirecTV
Pioneering Development of IP Address Geolocation Technologies To Protect Content Rights
- MLB
- Quova
Development of Stream Switching Technology between Satellite Broadcast and Internet to Improve Signal Reliability
- DirecTV
Design and Deployment of Efficient Hardware Video Accelerators for Cloud
- Netint
- AMD
- Meta
Spectrum Auction Design
- FCC
- Auctionomics
TV Pioneers—Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT)
- Boris Lvovich Rosing
- Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton
TV Pioneers—Development of Lighting, Ventilation & Lens-Coating Technologies
- Hertha Ayrton
- Katharine Burr Blodgett
