2024 Limited Series Directing Emmy predictions: ‘Ripley’ and ‘True Detective: Night Country’ among hopefuls

The Best Limited Series/TV Movie Directing category has 104 submissions on display for the 2024 Emmys ballot, resulting in six nominees this year. As with the case in this category for seven of the last eight years, multiple episodes from at least one limited series have occupied the lineup, with last year having two shows with double noms for “Beef” (“Figures of Light” by Lee Sung Jin and “The Great Fabricator” by Jake Schreier) and “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” (“Bad Meat” by Carl Franklin and “Silenced” by Paris Barclay), along with “Fleishman is in Trouble (“Me-Time” by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris) and the television movie “Prey” (Dan Trachtenberg), with Lee Sung Jin winning.

This year’s submissions are no different with a multitude of episode choices made by many of the potential contenders that had the option, most going for the double slots. Take “Lessons In Chemistry,” which dominated at the Directors Guild of America Awards, earning three of the five slots, yet went for only two of their nominees for the Emmys, including winner Sarah Adina Smith for the second episode “Her and Him” (ending with a shocking main character death) as well as Millicent Shelton for the sixth episode “Poirot.” Other shows taking the dual strategy are “Fargo” with its premiere and standout seventh hour, “Fellow Travelers” with its pilot and finale, and “Masters of the Air” with its sixth and seventh installments (directed by Dee Rees and the filmmaking duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck).

But series like “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” and “Under the Bridge” have put up a trio of episodes, both entering their premiere (the former directed by Gus Van Sant) and fifth episode, while the former also has its penultimate showcase, also featuring the demise of a significant character, and the latter with its fourth intercut with two timelines.

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However, a single episode submission could have a higher likelihood of getting nominated as it is just the one choice for the directing branch, which is what “The Sympathizer” did for its premiere with revered Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook. “Baby Reindeer” submitted its prominent fourth episode, which is a strong directing showcase by Weronika Tofilska with colorful, distorted shots and the lead character under the influence of drugs. And other directors were behind the camera for all episodes, leaving them to be recognized for the entirety of the series per Emmy rule, such as Steven Zaillian for “Ripley,” Issa López for “True Detective: Night Country” and Lulu Wang for “Expats.”

Finally with television movies, we have some previous Emmy nominees like Randy Zisk, who returns to direct “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” after being previously cited in 2005 for Comedy Directing for the original series, and Jessica Yu for “Quiz Lady,” who was nominated in this category in 2019 for an episode of “Fosse/Verdon.” They join the late film director William Friedkin for “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” in his last movie, and playwright Matthew López for “Red, White & Royal Blue” in his directorial debut. It will be exciting to see how these different strategies will play out for various contenders as Emmy nominations will be announced on July 17.

Here are some of the top contenders to consider when making your 2024 Emmy predictions for the Best Limited Series/TV Movie Directing category:

“Baby Reindeer”
“Episode 4” (Weronika Tofilska)

“Fargo”
“The Tragedy of the Commons” (Noah Hawley)
“Linda” (Sylvain White)

“Ripley”
Steven Zaillian

“True Detective: Night Country”
Issa López

“The Sympathizer”
“Death Wish” (Park Chan-wook)

“Lessons in Chemistry”
“Her and Him” (Sarah Adina Smith)
“Poirot” (Millicent Shelton)

“Fellow Travelers”
“You’re Wonderful” (Daniel Minahan)
“Make It Easy” (Uta Briesewitz)

“Masters of the Air”
“Part Six” (Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck)
“Part Seven” (Dee Rees)

“Feud: Capote vs. The Swans”
“Pilot” (Gus Van Sant)
“Beautiful Babe” (Jennifer Lynch)
“The Secret Inner Lives of Swans” (Max Winkler)

“Expats”
Lulu Wang

“Under the Bridge”
“Looking Glass” (Geeta Vasant Patel)
“Beautiful British Columbia” (Nimisha Mukerji)
“When The Heat Comes Down” (Quinn Shephard)

“Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie”
Randy Zisk

“The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial”
William Friedkin

“Quiz Lady”
Jessica Yu

“Red, White & Royal Blue”
Matthew López

PREDICT the 2024 Emmy nominees through July 17

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