Calgarian wins Emmy for ‘The Last of Us’
Posted Jan 9, 2024 2:38 pm.
‘The Last of Us’ is the largest television series every filmed in Canada and many Calgarians will remember when production took over parts of the city, including downtown — where at one point — you could see an army tank.
When audiences took in the series on TV, they could see and hear some creepy footage.
Those sounds were brought to audiences, in part, by local sound mixer Michael Playfair, who brough home an Emmy Saturday night as part of a sound mixing team.
Congratulations are in order for Marc Fishman, Kevin Roache, and Michael Playfair who just won the #Emmy for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) for their work on @TheLastofUsHBO (@HBO/@streamonmax)! #Emmys #75thEmmys pic.twitter.com/4LARPjPY1D
— Television Academy (@TelevisionAcad) January 7, 2024
“The impact that The Last of Us has had on our economy has been great and then the spin-offs — the fact that there is so much recognition during award season helps the production community really establish itself as a going concern in the global production community,” said Damian Petti, president of I.A.T.S.E. Local 212.
“Globally, people see that Calgary is a good production community that’s capable of great things that will just build upon itself,” he added.
Petti, president of the union that represents entertainment technicians in southern Alberta, believes awards like Playfair’s contribute to getting more production.
“It becomes part of the popular culture — people know what The Last of Us is, the game, it’s had global success, and then all the recognition for the 24 Emmy nominations so far, eight wins — will really, really build the brand not just of The Last of Us, but the city that produced it,” he said.
Petti says he and a group of stakeholders are heading to Los Angeles Tuesday to meet with various studios, and for him, the timing is excellent — going with all the award nominations (and wins) looks good for production in Alberta.
