HBO Max is launching a major campaign for Neighbors, the Josh Safdie-produced documentary that turned the most petty feuds into one of the most talked-about non-fiction pilots of the season.
After the series was greenlit for a second season, the network is nominating it for 10 Emmy Awards this year, including a nomination for Outstanding Non-Structured Reality Programming, the network exclusively reported. Variety publication . Created and directed by Harrison Fishman and Dylan Redford, this six-part A24 series followed feuding neighbors across the United States for more than two years, presenting their disputes over fences, security cameras, backyard menageries, and one now-infamous bathing suit as a window into the world of a polarized nation.
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The series marks a significant career shift for Josh Safdie, who produces Neighbors alongside his frequent collaborators Bronstein and Bush following a well-documented professional split with his brother, Benny Safdie. It also continues the Safdie-co-created HBO Max documentary series, including Telemarketers and Renaissance Faire, trading their single-issue explorations for an anthology-style experience that weaves a multitude of explosive stories into each half-hour.
The Safdies just received four Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, and Editing for the Timothée Chalamet-starring table tennis comedy-drama Marty Supreme. Along with the multi-talented producer, the leading contenders for Best Picture include Ronald Bronstein (who also earned two Oscar nominations for Marty), Eli Bush, John Paul Lopez-Ali, Jonathan Housefather, Chris Bowyer, Harrison Fishman, Dylan Redford, Samuel Fishman, and Brendan McHugh as executive producers, Andy Roose and Max Allman as co-executive producers, Natalie Tether as producer, and Rachel Walden, who is listed as a producer. The campaign is built around the stunning finale, "Yellow Bikini Thong" (Episode 106), which is a contender for almost every award in the categories.
The series' credits reveal a fascinating Hollywood pedigree. Dylan Redford, who serves as the co-writer, director, editor, cinematographer, sound designer, title editor, and motion design director for the series, is the grandson of the late Robert Redford, the Academy Award-winning actor and founder of the Sundance Film Festival, who died last year at the age of 89.
A potential Emmy nomination would also break a long period of silence for the network in the genre. HBO has rarely entered the reality awards race, and Neighbors is a populist play that deals with a relatable topic: neighbor feuds. A nomination in the unstructured reality category would be HBO's first reality series nomination in six years, following We Are Here in 2020, and would make Neighbors only the fourth reality series ever to receive a nomination in this category, following Project Greenlight (2016, 2004, and 2002) and Confessions of a Taxi Driver (2002 and 2001).
Voting for the Emmy Award nominations will run from June 11 to 22, with the official nominees for the 78th Emmy Awards announced on July 8.
The full list of Emmy nominations is below.
The first season of Neighbors is available to watch on HBO Max.
See all the Primetime Emmy Awards predictions.
Variety Awards: Emmy
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Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program: Episode 106, "Yellow Thong Bikini"«
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Directing a Reality Show: Harrison Fishman and Dylan Redford, Episode 106, "Yellow Thong Bikini"«
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Video Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program: Dustin Waldman, Harrison Fishman, Dylan Redford, Nicholas Nazmi, and Kima Hibbert; Evvon O'Neal, Additional Editor, Episode 106, "Yellow Thong Bikini.".
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Reality TV Casting: Harley Shaw, Casting by…
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Cinematography for a Reality Television Series: Harrison Fishman, Sam Fishman, and Andy Roose, Cinematographers, Episode 106, "Yellow Thong Bikini.".
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Sound Engineering for a Reality Series: Paul Hsu, Re-Recording Engineer; Dylan Redford, Production Engineer, Episode 106, "The Yellow Thong Bikini.".
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Music Score for a Documentary/Non-Fiction or Reality Special (Original Dramatic Score): Max Whipple, music composed for episode 106, "The Yellow Thong Bikini.".
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Original theme song: Max Whipple, composer
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Title design: Steve Smith, designer and animator; Emily Chin-Longobardi, typographer; Dylan Redford, Harrison Fishman, Dustin Waldman, Kima Hibbert, and Nicholas Nazmi, editors.
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Animation Design: Steve Smith, animator; Dylan Redford, director and editor; Nicholas Nazmi and Dustin Waldman, editors; Harrison Fishman, director, editor and cinematographer.
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