When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When Beyoncé gives you Lemonade, you submit it for Emmy consideration. HBO will use the special’s TV debut to put it up for a variety special Emmy, according to Variety.
HBO will definitely submit Kahlil Joseph and Beyoncé, the credited directors. Whether or not Melina Matsoukas, Todd Tourso, Dikayl Rimmasch, Jonas Akerlund and Mark Romanek, who are credited as “additional directors,” can join them is unknown. Variety writes that the special should be a shoo-in for the lighting design and direction categories.
We have to think it stands a solid chance, given that the previous years have gone to SNL’s 40th Anniversary show and Kennedy Center Honors. Lemonade, as we all know, was a cultural landmark that changed how we thought of the potential for a visual album. While it’s inspiring a lot of silliness that it’s better than literature, it’s still a hugely impactful and amazing audiovisual spectacle.
(It’s better than literature in the same ways that movies are better than literature, because it’s a movie.)
Beyoncé has been nominated for Emmys for her On the Run Tour concert special with Jay Z, also with HBO, and the Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show in 2013.