Writer and director Mike White has made history as the first former Survivor contestant to win an Emmy at the 74th Television Academy Awards on Monday night for his work on comedy-drama series The White Lotus.
White has taken home all three of the awards he was nominated for at the awards hosted at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater on September 12. White secured both the Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie awards. As executive producer, his work was also acknowledged in the nomination of the comedy-drama anthology television series as Outstand Limited or Anthology Series, which The White Lotus also took home. This makes White the first contestant to win an Emmy for his work that is not based on a live show or talk show, as both Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Rebecca Boreman are also winners.
Also competing for the Writing category were Danny Strong (Dopesick), Elizabeth Meriweter (The Dropout), Sarah Burgess (Impeachment: American Crime Story), Smith Metzler (MAID), and Patrick Somerville (Station Eleven), with Strong, Michael Showalter (The Dropout), Francesca Gregorinin (The Dropout), John Wells (MAID), and Hiro Murai (Station Eleven) nominated for the Directing award.
The White Lotus has proven very successful at this year’s awards show, with twenty nominations and ten Emmys won. In addition to White’s success, the television series has won the Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score) Emmy with ‘Mysterious Monkeys’ and Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music, both of which were composed by HBO in association with Rip Cord and The District and Hallogram Cristobal Tapia de Veer. The series also won the Emmy for the Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. The cast has further added to the accolations, with Murray Bartlett (who plays Armond in the series) and Jennifer Coolidge (who plays Tanya) winning the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movies and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Emmys respectively.
The White Lotus is an American series created for HBO set at the fictional White Lotus resort chain in Hawaii. The series focused on the exploits of the guests and employees during their week-long stay at the tropical resort. Apart from Coolidge and Bartlett, the series stars Alexandria Daddario (as Rachel Patton), Sydney Sweeney (Olivia Mossbacher), Jake Lacy (Shane Patton), Lukas Gage (Dillon), Steve Zahn (Mark), and Connie Britton (Nicole). The series aired July 11 2021, with a second series set to premiere in October this year.
The White Lotus is currently streaming on Binge, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.