Jeremy Podeswa, Mike Judge, David Nutter REX USA; AP Images; Courtesy of David Nutter
From a sheer numbers perspective, the cable titan stands the best chance of taking home a win with five nominations (five times more than anywhere else).
This story first appeared in the Aug. 28 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
COMEDY SERIES
Louis C.K., Louie (FX)
The 35-time Emmy nominee (35!) and five-time winner earned his sixth directing nomination for season five’s "Sleepover," in which C.K.’s alter ego shleps his daughter and her friends to jail so he can post bail for his brother (Robert Kelly), after which the group shares a celebratory frozen yogurt.
Armando Iannucci, Veep (HBO)
The six-time nominee (and now departed showrunner) helmed the C-SPAN-esque episode "Testimony," which infused congressional testimony with the show’s signature hysterics.
Mike Judge, Silicon Valley (HBO)
The EP-writer-director was behind the camera again for "Sand Hill Shuffle," the first episode of season two, in which late actor Christopher Evan Welch’s character Peter is eulogized via PowerPoint.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, The Last Man on Earth (Fox)
The duo behind Sony’s hit 21 Jump Street franchise and Warner Bros.’ BAFTA-winning The Lego Movie scored their first-ever Emmy directing nom — the only one for a broadcast series — for the pilot of Fox’s apocalyptic comedy starring creator and acting nominee Will Forte.
Jill Soloway, Transparent (Amazon)
The previously nominated writer-producer (Six Feet Under) and Sundance-winning director (Afternoon Delight) earned her first directing Emmy nom for "Best New Girl," a 1994-set episode about a missed bat mitzvah and Mort/Maura’s (Jeffrey Tambor) dreamy visit to a woodsy "drag camp."
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DRAMA SERIES
Lesli Linka Glatter, Homeland (Showtime)
One of few women ever to break into the drama directing race, the three-time nominee and series EP is nominated for "From A to B and Back Again," in which Carrie’s (Claire Danes) young informant, Aayan (Suraj Sharma), is murdered in cold blood by his terrorist uncle.
David Nutter, Game of Thrones (HBO)
In the series’ fifth-season finale, "Mother’s Mercy," five-time nominee Nutter (The Sopranos, The Pacific) pulled off one of the series’ most game-changing sequences in the effects-heavy (and very nude) walk of atonement by Cersei (supporting actress nominee Lena Headey).
Tim Van Patten, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
The 15-time nominee and two-time winner (The Sopranos) directed the Prohibition-era drama’s series finale, "Eldorado," which saw the long-expected demise of Atlantic City bootlegger Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi).
Jeremy Podeswa, Game of Thrones (HBO)
Three-time nominee Podeswa (Boardwalk Empire, The Pacific) helmed a similarly controversial Thrones episode, "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken," featuring a grueling scene in which Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) rapes virgin Sansa (Sophie Turner).
Steven Soderbergh, The Knick (Cinemax)
The Oscar- (Traffic) and Emmy-winning director (Behind the Candelabra) earned a nom for helming "Method and Madness," the pilot of this 1900s-set drama about modern medicine’s bloody beginnings that stars Clive Owen.
