We are going to replace this text all through the season, together with all our predictions, so be certain that to maintain checking IndieWire for the newest information from the 2025 Emmys race. The nomination spherical of voting takes place from June 12 to June 23, with the official Emmy nominations introduced Tuesday, July 15. Afterwards, remaining voting commences on August 18 and ends the night time of August 27. The 77th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are set to happen on Sunday, September 14, and air reside on CBS at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT.
The competitors for the Emmy for Excellent Documentary or Nonfiction Particular is so tight this yr that Hulu alone might fill the class with its contenders. Among the ones which have made a splash to this point embody “Street Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Avenue Band,” the newest collaboration between the New Jersey icon and director Thom Zimny, and Andrew McCarthy’s “Brats,” which permits the previous teen star to unpack the expertise of him and his friends receiving a lot consideration.
However the frontrunner for Hulu might be “Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius),” Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson’s long-awaited observe as much as his Oscar-winning documentary “Summer season of Soul.” Like its predecessor, “Sly Lives!” was a Sundance breakout, however then, considerably out of the blue, “Women and Gents… 50 Years of SNL Music,” which was additionally co-directed by Questlove and Oz Rodriguez premiered on Peacock in late January, inside per week of the musician-turned-filmmaker’s competition movie.
Clearly, when one is submitting a movie for a competition, or making a mission that’s pegged to an occasion like “SNL50,” they don’t have a lot management over what premieres when. However fortunately for Questlove, the movies seem to be they complement one another, subsequently giving him a fairly good likelihood of being nominated twice on this Emmy class. That’s already the case for him on the upcoming Gotham TV Awards.
Transferring from a person filmmaker to community’s documentary slates as an entire, everybody equally has about two specials that might realistically make the reduce, making it all of the extra more durable on voters to determine. As an example, Netflix campaigned each “Will & Harper” and “Martha” for Oscars, regardless of the Academy’s distaste for any celebrity-focused documentaries. The Tv Academy is extra keen to return by way of for these varieties of movies, placing Netflix in robust standing.
Similar with Disney+, the place its documentary “Music by John Williams” is acquainted to the awards voting crowd through its Oscar marketing campaign, which included opening the 2024 AFI Competition, however one among its different submissions “Beatles ’64” builds upon the momentum arrange by “The Beatles: Get Again,” which received the docuseries Emmy for Disney+ three years in the past.
After which Apple TV+ has “Deaf President Now!,” co-directed by Davis Guggenheim, who received this class two years in the past for “Nonetheless,” and “Quantity One on the Name Sheet,” which options nearly each Black actor that has led a serious movie or TV mission in the previous few many years, together with the particular’s govt producer Jamie Foxx.
HBO has positioned itself as a vacation spot for documentaries greater than some other community, however appears essentially the most agency in “Pee Wee as Himself” being its high contender, even when there are different robust choices like “Music Field: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” or “Smart Guys: David Chase and The Sopranos.” Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+ additionally boast longer slates, however have an emphasis on “I Am: Celine Dion” and “¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” respectively.
It is going to be fascinating to see, as campaigning kicks into excessive gear, which tasks voters will in the end gravitate towards as a result of the networks might use some assist deciding which of their movies is an actual winner on this extremely robust yr for documentary specials.
Present Contenders (In Alphabetical Order):
“Beatles ’64” (Disney+)
“Brats” (Hulu)
“¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” (Paramount+)
“Deaf President Now!” (Apple TV+)
“I Am: Celine Dion” (Prime Video)
“Women and Gents… 50 Years of SNL Music” (Peacock)
“Final Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna” (Hulu)
“Martha” (Netflix)
“Music Field: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” (HBO)
“Music by John Williams” (Disney+)
“Quantity One on the Name Sheet” (Apple TV+)
“Pee Wee as Himself” (HBO)
“Street Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Avenue Band” (Hulu)
“Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)” (Hulu)
“Will & Harper” (Netflix)
Extra Class Predictions:
Excellent Animated Program
Excellent Speak Collection
Excellent Scripted Selection Collection
Excellent Documentary or Nonfiction Collection
View IndieWire’s full set of predictions for the 77th Emmy Awards.
Final 12 months’s Winner: “Jim Henson Concept Man”
Nonetheless Eligible: No.
Sizzling Streak: Having “Beatles” in your mission’s title actually strikes concern into the networks one is campaigning in opposition to, so there’s completely an opportunity Disney+ wins the Documentary Particular a second yr in a row for “Beatles ’64.” Much less of an opportunity for “Music by John Williams,” however something is feasible.
Notable Ineligible Collection: “Black Field Diaries” (ineligible as a 2025 Oscar nominee); “Sugarcane” (ineligible as a 2025 Oscar nominee); “Daughters” (the movie was not submitted for Primetime Emmys consideration); “The Fact vs. Alex Jones” (the movie was not submitted for Primetime Emmys consideration)
