“Severance‘s” Jessica Lee Gagné made Emmy history on Saturday night at the Creative Arts Awards Ceremony when she became the first woman to win in the outstanding cinematography for a series (one hour) category.
Gagné had already secured a place in the history books with her nomination by becoming the first woman to be nominated in both the categories of cinematography/directing for the same drama series in the same year.
After her win, Gagné spoke about the representation of women within cinematography in general – no woman has ever won an Oscar in that field. Gagné shared that she was driven to succeed as a cinematographer after experiencing a level of discrimination early on in her career. “I did work for a man once who said there are two things women can’t do: Be Formula 1 drivers or cinematographers. And that motivated me a lot.”
She said it “was a dream that I’ve wanted for a long time,” and now she hopes to continue her work in directing.
The second season of “Severance” opens with Adam Scott’s Mark running through a series of long, empty halls at Lumen Industries. It appears to be a oner. But working with Industrial Light & Magic VFX supervisor Eric Leven, it became clear that the sequence, as envisioned, could not be shot as a oner. Gagné used gear, including a gimbal, Steadicam and even a motion control system to shoot the sequence which in the end were stitched together 10 long takes that were stitched together.
“Severance,” which is the year’s most-nominated show overall, nabbed six wins on the first night of the Creative Arts Emmys, including guest actress in a drama series for Merritt Wever. Speaking about that recognition, Gagné said. “It’s such a special show. I think when the first season came out, it was a little bit of an underdog. People didn’t really notice it. And now to see the fan base and how much it’s grown is amazing,” she said.
Highlights of the two Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies will air on Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. PT on FXX.