‘Bridget Jones' Director Michael Morris on the Emmy Longform Conundrum: What's The Difference Between a Film and a TV Movie?

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Michael Morris agrees with you: Yes, it's kind of unusual that 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,' which he directed, is an Emmy contender in the outstanding television movie category. But, then again, this is a race that has become very unusual in recent years.
'I think once upon a time, there may have been such a thing as a 'made-for-TV movie' that had a certain characteristic, a certain look and feel, or a certain subject matter or tone,' Morris says. 'And I think now, TV streamers go shopping for movies at Cannes. So there are some really interesting feature films that are now on TV.'
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But are they, then, 'TV movies'? It's become a bone of contention for awards execs and consultants, who have been pushing the TV Academy to rename the category. One idea being floated, which my colleague Clayton Davis recently mentioned in a column, is 'outstanding film made for TV or streaming.' The idea is auteurs whose films wind up on the Emmy track instead of the Oscars track will be less offended by being called a TV movie.
In the case of Renée Zellweger-starrer 'Bridget Jones,' what's extra unusual is that film appeared in actual theaters in the rest of the world. It was only here in the U.S. that it was a Peacock original movie. Morris says he knew that this would be the case, so he's not thrown off by the odd situation he finds himself in — mounting an Emmy campaign for a movie.
'Before we started shooting the film, it was communicated to me through Working Title that Universal's approach was to release it on Peacock in America but stick to the wide-release cinema strategy everywhere else,' he says. 'There's a million ways to watch things, and if being on a streaming platform is a good way for people in America to find the movie and experience the movie, then that's great. But what was weird about this one is that it wasn't made to be a streaming movie; it was very much made to be seen on the biggest possible screen and, ideally, made to be seen with people.'
Morris is sanguine about it: 'Streaming and, in this case, Peacock, allowed this film to be made,' adding, 'First and foremost, that's a massive plus.'
'Black Mirror' may have broken the category. Episodic installments won in 2017, 2018 and 2019 (that one was at least a stand-alone longform), forcing the TV Academy to rewrite the rules and slide anthology shows into the limited series field. But around the same time, cablers pulled back on TV movies (broadcast had already abandoned the field), allowing all sorts of things to grab noms — including films that could have gone to theaters, but wound up on streaming.
Now, it's really hard to distinguish between a film and a longform TV show. 'I just watched 'Disclaimer,' which was seven hours, all written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, all shot in what seems to be in one big, sort of massive production,' says Morris. 'So what's the difference between that and a three-part movie? It's just split differently.'
Morris says he's fascinated to be in the TV movie category this year because it's become a bit of an Emmy wild card. Last year, the film 'Quiz Lady' won the prize, finally securing an Emmy for Sandra Oh. In 2023, it was the satiric comedy 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,' and in 2022, an animated film won for the first time, 'Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.' This year, the category's frontrunners includes quite a mix: Netflix's 'Rebel Ridge,' Apple TV+'s 'The Gorge,' Disney+'s 'Out of My Mind' and Hulu's 'The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat' in addition to 'Bridget Jones.'
'This is a story of a woman learning how to live again,' Morris says. 'And in that sense, it departs from the tone of the first three films, quite deliberately, but hopefully gives enough of the comedy and the joy that is just inherent in Renée and 'Bridget' to be fun.'
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