‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’ Claims Big Emmy Wins; Will That Threaten Its Oscar Chances?
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Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is in hot pursuit of an Oscar nomination, but in the meantime the documentary about the beloved Hollywood star has picked up major awards at the Emmys.
The film directed by Davis Guggenheim won Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special on Sunday on the second night of the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony in Los Angeles. Guggenheim also won Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program; the film’s picture editor, Michael Harte, was honored for his work and composer John Powell won for his score for Still.
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The film came into the night with a leading seven nominations — the most of any nonfiction contender — and picked up wins in four of those seven categories.
In late December, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, from Apple Original Films, earned a place on the Oscar documentary feature shortlist. Whether Oscar Documentary Branch voters, who determine the nominees, will hold the Emmy wins against Still remains to be seen.
In recent years, not many films have submitted for both Emmy and Oscar consideration (Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, the 2021 R.J. Cutler film, is among those that have competed for both awards). We checked with the TV Academy on Friday, which confirmed that because Still was submitted for the Emmys before entering the Oscar race, it was eligible to compete for Primetime Emmys.
We also checked with AMPAS, which indicated there are no prohibitions against going for Emmys as well as Oscars, at least for the documentary categories. The film did meet all the other Oscar criteria to qualify for Oscar consideration, including having a theatrical run before it premiered on Apple TV+.
Guggenheim’s documentary examines Michael J. Fox’s extraordinary career in film and television (Fox has won five Emmys himself), as well as his public battle with Parkinson’s disease. Still premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival and we interviewed the actor there, along with Guggenheim and the editor, Michael Harte.
Fox told us, “[When] Davis Guggenheim would like to do a documentary about you – whether you’re in the business or not – you’re going to want to do that, work with someone of that quality, and I certainly did. He understood the writing I’d done and the feeling behind it. It was not a ‘Oh, what terrible things happened to you with Parkinson’s’ story’, it was a story about what great things happen to you when you’re alive.”
At Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary event last month, Guggenheim shared details about the discussions he had with Fox about his wishes for the film. Fox, above all, didn’t want the director to play up pity. Guggenheim said, “The only thing he said to me was, ‘No violins.’’’
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