SA directors win big at Emmy Awards for Kids for second consecutive year [VIDEO]

For a second year in a row, South Africans took home the price at the International Emmy for Kids in the Animation category.

Directors Jac Hamman and Sarah Scrimgeour won for their work on animated cat film, Tabby McTat at the awards held on Monday night.

In 2023, the award was won by The Smeds and The Smoos, directed by Daniel Snaddon and Samantha Cutler. The short film is an adaptation of the bestselling Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s picture book.

“Growing up you always dream of winning one of these awards but it seems so impossible,” said Hamman.

“You don’t imagine as a South African you can reach that level so it feels great to win after all the hard work. We’re very proud of the team.”

Because of their other commitments in Cape Town, the winning pair couldn’t attend the awards ceremony in New York.

“Being on the other side of the world and being busy with other things, it just makes it a little bit more difficult to get to these big events,” Scrimgeour said.

“It would have been wonderful but hopefully Tabby will be on the awards circuit for a little bit longer and maybe there’s still a chance for us to go to one or two more.”

Produced by Magic Light Pictures, Tabby McTat was one of the 10 most-watched shows on TV in England on Christmas Day 2023 and was the most-watched animated feature from UK broadcasters across the festive period, attracting over 8.6 million viewers. 

Earlier this year, Tabby McTat won the Animation: Preschool category at the BANFF World Media Festival and the Audience Award at the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

It’s also been nominated for a Rose d’Or Award in December, as well as Royal Television Society and Venice TV awards. 

ALSO READ: Cape Town creatives eye Emmy gold with ‘Tabby McTat’

Cat-lovers

Tabby McTat is about the friendship between a musical cat and a talented busker called Fred.

One day when chasing a thief, Fred falls and breaks his leg and is whisked away in an ambulance. What will become of the busker’s cat, left alone on the streets of London?

Author Donaldson has strong relations to the story; she used to love busking with her husband while living in Bristol and also in Paris.

 “We also both love cats – in fact – we’ve just acquired two new kittens named Tabitha and McTat. So this story is really close to my heart and combines two of my passions: singing, and cats,” averred Donaldson.

Award winning director Scrimgeour is also a lover of the feline pet. “I adore cats, and this is a story about a musical cat. Honestly, how could I resist?”

Co-director Hamman said he was drawn to the universal themes in the story.

“It felt like it was quite a mature message, about how you can grow apart from a friend, and how relationships change, and about a child having to leave their parents’ home to start their own family. It’s very moving and I was excited to see how we could turn that into a film and push those emotions.

I liked the idea of a parent watching the film with their child and that they might just pull them in and squeeze them all the tighter because of those themes about the temporariness of relationships and how they change.”

Tabby McTat is available for streaming on Showmax.

NOW READ: ‘Scandal!’ mourns tragic loss: Crew member Gary Megit dies after on-set accident