The Art of the Emmy Submission

Recently, the nominations for the 74th primetime Emmy Awards were announced. Shows like Squid Game, Stranger Things, Succession, Ted Lasso, and Abbott Elementary led the nominees. But how does one get nominated for an Emmy? Who votes on it? Who submits me for it? In the era of streaming and prestige television, there are literally hundreds of performances each season vying for 5–8 slots for the best of the year.

Like any awards season campaign, chances for getting nominated for something are based on a myriad of factors. It starts by putting in a worthy performance. Then you, your agent, and your publicist can make a decision to “go for it.” Essentially you are making a reel (slightly longer than your average demo reel) of your best work in a single episode or over a season.

Certain networks and certain showrunners consistently get nominated year after year, particularly due to their well-received work and well-organized awards machine. If you’re on that certain network or that certain mega showrunner, you’ll already have the advantage of not having to hustle as hard for the attention.

Videos do have to fit a certain format and file sizes, which can be found at emmys.com

There’s a $300 processing and entry fee. This is waived for TV Academy members. Sometimes the rep or studio will cover the cost, sometimes not. So…