Winner 2002

Boomtown

NBC Studios, in association with DreamWorks Television Inc. and Nemo Films

Boomtown holds a mirror up to the complexities of 21st century society, where common concerns are rarely experienced in black and white. As is most often the case, life is experienced in far more subtle shades of gray. This series goes to street-level Los Angeles and offers stories seen from the diverse perspectives of the city’s unsung and imperfect heroes—the cops and paramedics, the lawyers and beat reporters, members of the D.A.‘s office and city officials. Their stories are never simple narratives of crime, capture, and prosecution. Rather, they overlap, intertwine, and sometimes unravel. Each central event in Boomtown is presented from multiple perspectives, letting the story develop as it is experienced from the individual perspectives of the characters—all of whom have different sensibilities and agendas. Over time, as these characters interact in new and different episodes, their personal stories come to rival the plots of any single installment. A richly populated fictional world emerges, only to be invaded by yet another urban trauma. Series creator Graham Yost joins Jon Avnet as Executive Producer. Co-Executive Producers Chris Brancato, Bert Salke, and Larry Andries are joined in the production by Consulting Producer Michelle Ashford and Producer/Writers Fred Golan and Javier Grillo-Marxuach. The series pilot was produced by Phil Parslow with Associate Producer Marsha Oglesby. The series is produced by Steve Sassen and Associate Producer Sarah Barkley. Denis Lenoir and John Newby have served as Directors of Photography. Music is composed by Philip Giffen. John Avnet directed the pilot episode, which was written by Graham Yost. The series stars Donnie Walhberg, Neal McDonough, Mykelti Williamson, Gary Basaraba, Nina Garbiras, Lana Parilla, and Jason Gedrick. A Peabody Award goes to Boomtown for its stylish and complex narrative that refreshes and renews the police procedural genre.