Reggie Hudlin and Done+Dusted to Produce the Emmys For Third Consecutive Year, This Time for NBC

The Primetime Emmys are sticking with continuity for its production team: Done+Dusted and Hudlin Entertainment will return to produce this year’s Primetime Emmys together, Variety has learned exclusively.

The news is set to be announced Friday by NBC and the Television Academy, which jointly confirmed that D+D and Hudlin would reconnect for another go-round. The 74th Emmy Awards take place Sept. 12 on NBC.

This marks the third consecutive year for the Done+Dusted and Reggie Hudlin collab. And it marks the fifth consecutive year for D+D, which had already been producing the Emmys telecast for two years when it was paired with Hudlin in 2020 to handle the unconventional, no-audience COVID-impacted Emmys. At the time, Hudlin made history as the first Black executive producer of the Primetime Emmys.

In their first two years at the helm, D+D and Hudlin have managed hold ratings steady in a time when most awards shows numbers are collapsing — and have also earned high marks for two unique shows that have reinvented the show’s look and feel (partly out of necessity due to the pandemic).

What’s more unique is the stability of the production team despite the fact that the Primetime Emmys are telecast on a broadcast wheel. The 2020 show, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and produced in a mostly empty Staples Center, aired on ABC, while the 2021 show, hosted by Cedric the Entertainer from a tent on the L.A. Live Events Deck, ran on CBS.

“For the last few years we’ve been hoping to welcome everyone who makes TV magic back live in the room at the Emmys,” said Done+Dusted president Ian Stewart in a statement. “Thankfully, this year it looks like we can. Let’s celebrate the best of television together. It’s party time again!”

Added Hudlin, “I’m very excited to be returning to the Emmys with Done+Dusted. Television is now in its new Golden Age and celebrating its brilliance in all genres is so much fun to do.”

Ian Stewart, Reginald Hudlin, Byron Phillips and Jane Mun will executive produce the live three-hour telecast that will air globqlly, beginning at 8 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. PT. There’s no word of a host yet, which will be announced at a later time. D+D’s Hamish Hamilton is also back to direct the Emmys for the fifth year in a row.

And although some previous press announcements from the TV Academy suggested that the Emmys would return to the Microsoft Theatre in downtown Los Angeles’ L.A. Live, nothing has been determined yet, and a venue will also be announced later.

Jen Neal, exec VP of live events for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said, “With quality TV in abundance more than ever before, the Emmys have become the de facto awards where everyone feels they own a stake and love rooting for their favorite shows. NBC is extremely proud to host the return of the 74th Emmy Awards and present a three-hour telecast that will bring audiences a taste of why this truly is an unprecedented time – from what we watch, where we watch and how we watch – in television history.”

Last year’s Emmy ratings averaged 7.4 million viewers — up 16% from 2020.

“I’m grateful for awards shows, period, that we got that ratings bump,” Hudlin said at the time. “For the benefit of all awards shows. We love them, and we want to see them evolve and prosper. A lot of our work has been, how do we continue to reinvent this genre and make it relevant to today’s audience? We’re just happy to see that as we try things, it seems to be working.”

A week prior to the telecast, the 2022 Creative Arts Emmy Awards will take place over two consecutive nights on Saturday, Sept. 3 and Sunday, Sept. 4. An edited presentation will be aired Saturday, Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. ET on FXX.

Meanwhile, here’s a first look at this year’s Emmy key art: