New York and Los Angeles – October 9, 2024 – Tonight the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the inaugural “Excellence in Production Technology” Emmy® Award to The Santa Clauses Season Two. The award was presented as part of the 75th Technology & Engineering Emmy® Awards at the Prince George Ballroom in New York, hosted by David Pogue, Emmy award-winning correspondent, CBS Sunday Morning. William Wang, VIZIO Founder & CEO, received Lifetime Achievement Honors for his contributions to the television manufacturing industry by bringing premium-quality, innovative TVs, and soundbars into millions of American homes at affordable prices.

Adam Sharp, President & CEO, said: “We’re delighted to honor the individuals and companies dedicated to delivering high quality content and innovative new technologies for consumers. Mr. Wang’s Lifetime Achievement Award comes after a long career of reshaping what’s possible and making advanced technology accessible, speaking to his powerful leadership and founding of VIZIO.”

“I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award,” said William Wang, CEO and Co-Founder of VIZIO. “My life has been dedicated to bringing great technology to consumers in America. This recognition is also a testament to the incredible team at VIZIO – it is our lifetime achievement. Together, we’ve challenged the status quo and have created new possibilities for the future of television. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and excited for the journey ahead as we continue to push the boundaries of technology and entertainment.”

Rachel Rose, ILM: ​​”The team at Industrial Light & Magic are incredibly honored to be recognized by the Television Academy with an Emmy Award for our innovative StageCraft technology and the advancements made for ‘The Santa Clauses, Season Two.’ This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our exceptional team of technologists, artists, and production crew.”

About The Santa Clauses Season Two

In the second season, the Calvin family is back in the North Pole as Scott Calvin continues his role as Santa Claus after retirement plans were thwarted when he failed to find a worthy successor in season one. Now that Scott and his family have successfully saved Christmas, Scott turns his focus towards training his son Cal to eventually take over the “family business” as Santa Claus. However, a bit of North Pole magic brings an unexpected challenge to Scott’s plan. ILM contributed successfully to the first season with StageCraft LED work. For Season 2, ILM StageCraft was used once again and ILM contributed post visual effects as well. The visual effects work on the project was overseen by Trevor Hazel, with a seamless partnership between ILM’s San Francisco office and SDFX. Together, the team ultimately delivered 333 shots of Christmas cheer for the series.

The 2024 Technology & Engineering Emmy® Awards Honorees Included:

Pioneering Development of Inexpensive Video Technology for Animation

• Lyon Lamb (Bruce Lyon and John Lamb)

Large Scale Deployment of Smart TV Operating Systems

• Samsung

• LG

• Sony

• Vizio

• Panasonic

Creation and Implementation of HDR Static LUT, Single-Stream Live Production

• BBC

• NBC

Pioneering Technologies Enabling High Performance Communications Over Cable TV Systems

• Broadcom

• General Instrument (CommScope)

• LANcity (CommScope)

• 3COM (HP)

Pioneering Development of Manifest-based Playout for FAST (Free Ad-supported Streaming Television)

• Amagi

• Pluto TV

• Turner

Targeted Ad Messages Delivered Across Paused Media

• DirecTV

Pioneering Development of IP Address Geolocation Technologies to Protect Content Rights

• MLB

• Quova

Development of Stream Switching Technology between Satellite Broadcast and Internet to Improve Signal Reliability

• DirecTV

Design and Deployment of Efficient Hardware Video Accelerators for Cloud

• Netint

• AMD

• Google

• Meta

Spectrum Auction Design

• FCC

• Auctionomics

TV Pioneers – Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT)

• Karl Ferdinand Braun

• Boris Lvovich Rosing

• Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton

TV Pioneers – Development of lighting, ventilation, and lens-coating technologies

• Hertha Ayrton

• Katharine Burr Blodgett

ABOUT NATAS:

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) is a service organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, educational, and technical achievements within the television industry. It recognizes excellence in television with the coveted Emmy® Awards for News & Documentary, Sports, Daytime and Daytime Creative Arts programming, as well as achievements in television Technology & Engineering.

NATAS membership currently consists of more than 18,000+ broadcast and media professionals represented in 19 regional chapters across the country. In 2025 the organization will begin welcoming National members as well. Beyond awards, NATAS has extensive educational programs including regional student television and its Student Award for Excellence and the National Student Production Awards for outstanding journalistic work by high school students, as well as scholarships, publications, and major activities for both industry professionals and the viewing public.

For more information, please visit the website at http://www.theemmys.tv/