Judith Light is among winners with Wisconsin ties in first rounds of Primetime Emmy Awards

Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·2 min read
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Wisconsin made its mark at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards this weekend, as people with state ties collected awards for work behind and in front of the camera.

The Creative Arts Emmys — where the Television Academy gives out most of the technical awards and some of the acting honors for the Primetime Emmys — were held Saturday and Sunday night in Los Angeles. (The rest of the Emmys, including major-major awards like best drama and best comedy series, will be distributed Sept. 15; the ceremonies were pushed back four months because of the writers and actors strikes in Hollywood.)

Judith Light poses with her Emmy for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series in Los Angeles on Jan. 6, 2024. She won the Emmy - her first Primetime Emmy win in five nominations - for her performance in an episode of the Peacock series "Poker Face."
Judith Light poses with her Emmy for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series in Los Angeles on Jan. 6, 2024. She won the Emmy - her first Primetime Emmy win in five nominations - for her performance in an episode of the Peacock series "Poker Face."

Among the winners with Wisconsin ties:

  • Judith Light, who spent part of her early stage career with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, won an Emmy for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for an appearance on Peacock's "Poker Face." It was Light's first Primetime Emmy win in five nominations; in the 1980s, she twice won Daytime Emmys for best actress in a drama series for playing Karen Wolek on the soap opera "One Life to Live."

Light's win also was the first for Peacock, the streaming service launched by Comcast in 2020.

  • Lighting designer Noah Mitz, a Milwaukee native who went to Nicolet High School, collected his second Emmy on Sunday as part of the team that won the award for outstanding lighting design/lighting direction for a variety series, for "Dancing With the Stars." Mitz, who collected his first Emmy in 2022, was nominated for four Emmys in two categories this year; over his career, he's received 27 nominations.

Chris Smith (third from right) collects his first Emmy Jan. 7, 2024, as part of the team (from left, Antoine Chicoye, Mikey Corker, Vincent Kardasik, Alexandre Lesbats, Laurent Pujol, Michael Darrigade) winning for best cinematography for a nonfiction program for "100 Foot Wave."
Chris Smith (third from right) collects his first Emmy Jan. 7, 2024, as part of the team (from left, Antoine Chicoye, Mikey Corker, Vincent Kardasik, Alexandre Lesbats, Laurent Pujol, Michael Darrigade) winning for best cinematography for a nonfiction program for "100 Foot Wave."

  • Prolific nonfiction and reality producer Chris Smith — who studied film at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and broke through with his award-winning, made-in-Milwaukee documentary "American Movie" — collected his first Primetime Emmy Sunday, sharing the award for outstanding cinematography for a nonfiction program for the surfing docuseries "100 Foot Wave." (As executive producer, Smith also shared the series' nomination for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series; "The 1619 Project" won in that category.)

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Judith Light among winners in Creative Arts rounds of Primetime Emmys