Television Academy to Reshape Creative Arts Emmys Into a Virtual Event

The Television Academy will turn the 2020 Creative Arts Emmys into a multi-night virtual event rather than a pair of physical ceremonies, and will eliminate the Governors Balls that normally take place after the Creative Arts and Primetime Emmys ceremonies.

The new plans were announced on Monday by the Academy, which said that it still plans to hold the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards telecast on Sunday, Sept. 20. The format for that ceremony is still under discussion, as is the format for the Creative Arts presentation, which an Academy release said would be “an innovative virtual event taking place over several nights in September.”

The Creative Arts ceremonies hand out the vast majority of the 123 Primetime Emmys categories. They cover all of the Emmys craft categories, as well as guest acting, documentary and nonfiction, animation and reality categories.

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The shows were originally scheduled to take place on Sept. 12 and 13 in downtown Los Angeles, the weekend before the main Emmys show.

For the first time ever, the Television Academy will also eliminate the Governors Balls, which have always taken place after both the Creative Arts and Primetime Emmy ceremonies. The release said the decision to do that “was made as a precautionary measure to protect the health and safety of Emmy winners, nominees and guests during the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Academy has also pledged to make a $1 million donation to the Actors Fund COVID-19 Relief Fund.