Filmed In Virginia, John Adams
Miniseries wins 13  Emmy® Awards

                                                                                          
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 22, 2008

Mary Nelson, Communications Manager. mnelson@virginia.org
Rita McClenny, Director.  rmcclenny@virginia.org
Virginia Film Office – 800.854.6233

RICHMOND, Va.  – John Adams, a seven-part miniseries that aired this spring on HBO, received top honors as Outstanding Miniseriesat the 60th Primetime Emmy® Award show on September 21. It’s 13 Emmy® wins give it the record for the most Emmys® ever awarded to a miniseries. The previous record was shared by Angels in America (HBO-2004) and Eleanor and Franklin (ABC-1976).  John Adams also took most of the major awards including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Paul Giamatti), Outstanding Lead Actress (Laura Linney), Outstanding Supporting Actor (Tom Wilkinson), Outstanding Writing (Kirk Ellis) and Outstanding Cinematography (Tak Fujimoto). Three Virginians are Emmy award winners. They are David Crank (Richmond) for art direction, Amy Andrews Harrell (Richmond) for costumes and Jay Meagher (Virginia Beach) for sound mixing.   The series also won awards for casting, prosthetic makeup, special visual effects and sound editing. 

John Adams was filmed in the Richmond area, Powhatan and Hanover counties and at Colonial Williamsburg during the spring of 2007. The series was the recipient of a grant from the Motion Picture Opportunity Fund and spent more than $80 million in Virginia.  Hundreds of Virginia-based crew members and actors and thousands of extras were hired to work on the project.  An authentic colonial backlot that played Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC was built for the series and remains in Virginia for use by other film productions.
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          “The fact that HBO and Playtone chose Virginia for John Adams over so many other possible film locations is a testament to Virginia’s excellence as a film destination, particularly for historical projects,” stated Alisa Bailey, president and CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation.  “The wonderful support the miniseries received from Colonial Williamsburg, a well as our long and storied colonial history were all factors in the choice.  I hope that those who see the miniseries will be inspired to come to Virginia and experience for themselves the wonderful colonial history that is found in our state.”    

Virginia native Vince Gilligan’s new hit AMC television series Breaking Bad was also honored this year with four Emmy® nominations and two wins.  Bryan Cranston won as the best actor in a drama series and the show won a second  Emmy® Award  for single-camera picture editing.   In 1988, Vince was the first winner of the Virginia Governors Screenwriting Competition and his winning screenplay Home Fries was later produced starring Drew Barrymore. He went on to write and executive produce The X-Files. Vince is the creator and executive  producer for the series and was also nominated as best director for the pilot episode. 

Virginia has a prolific film and television production industry which a recent report from the VCU Center for Public Policy cited as employing more than 6000 Virginians at an average salary of $59,000. The 2007 economic impact to the Commonwealth was more than $500 million.

For further information:
Emmy® Awards       John Adams     Breaking Bad      Virginia Film Office