The Grio

Creative director Jemel McWilliams on his Emmy nod: ‘It’s an absolute honor’

Jemel McWilliams (Photo: james Anthony)

By Cortney Wills

The 2020 Emmy Awards are going down this weekend and even though the annual event will be virtual this year, there’s still a lot to look forward to. One of the most exciting aspects of this year’s big night is the number of Black creatives nominated across so many categories.

One of those nominees is choreographer, artistic director, and creative director, Jemel McWilliams. The Washington, D.C. native earned himself a nomination for Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming for The Oscars Opening Sequence Routine: Come Alive.

He’s the man behind the show-stopping opener featuring Janelle Monae calling out the awards show’s own cultural blindspots.

“We definitely understood what we were doing and were very intentional on everything that we did,” he says of the groundbreaking performance. “We understood the implications of everything we were doing and everything we did was completely from our hearts and from our souls and what we felt was most inspiring and moving to us.”