Julie and the Phantoms, a Nexflix comedy-drama musical executive produced by Jaime Aymerich and Kenny Ortega, has won three Daytime Emmys.
The show about a heartbroken teenage girl who starts a band with three teen boy ghosts won the coveted award for Original Song with “Unsaid Emily”, Outstanding Costume Design and Outstanding Multiple Camera Editing for a Drama or Daytime Fiction Program.
“Unsaid Emily” was written by Michelle Lewis and Dan Petty. Film editing was done by Don Brochu and costume design by Soyon An and Eilidh McAllister.
Julie and the Phantoms stars up-and-coming actress Madison Reyes, whose role as Julie Molina earned her a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Young Performer.
Based on the 2011 Brazilian television series Julie e os Fantasmas, the Netflix musical premiered last fall and developed a loyal fandom. Its soundtrack album Julie and the Phantoms: Music from the Netflix Original Series reached number 1 on iTunes in the U.S and also charted internationally in places like Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Spain and the UK. The album also peaked at fourth place on the Billboard Soundtrack chart.
The winning Netflix series is also directed and choreographed by Ortega, one of many musicals under the belt of this artist of Spanish descent. His other director, choreographer and producer credits include Michael Jackson’s This Is It, High School Musical franchise, Dirty Dancing, Salsa, Xanadu and videos for Madonna, Miley Cirus and Fleetwood Mac, among others.
Producer Aymerich credits Julie and the Phantoms’ three Daytime Emmys and overall success to fellow executives and creative minds who have worked on the series. “Kenny Ortega is such an amazing artist, an auteur,” says Aymerich. “Dan Cross and David Hoge created an excellent show which culminated in this incredible acknowledgment from the Academy,” adds Aymerich, referring to the show’s creators. He also recognizes the Latin American roots of the musical series. “The original format came from Brazilian Director Joao Daniel Tikhomiroff of Mixer Films,” he states.
Aymerich recalls recently celebrating with Tikhomiroff in Miami what he describes as the “Enthusiasm we all shared to bring this great story to the U.S. market.” He adds, “It’s the success of diverse shows like these that prove the more we are inclusive behind and in front of the camera, we will always then bring the best entertainment. We look forward to continue [sic] this work to bring more Latinx and diverse content to the U.S. market.”
Julie and the Phantoms represents a milestone for Aymerich, an actor by trade. It marks his series producing debut. Born and raised in Mexico City, he studied acting at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. In his native hometown, he worked in theatre and also appeared in various TV series. He moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1990s to pursue a career in Hollywood and has appeared in Showtime’s Weeds, Amazon’s Bosch and Telemundo’s Betty en NY.
Last year, he co-founded the media company CRE84U Entertainment with Emmy Award winner Nancy Cartwright (The Simpsons, Rugrats Reboot), Monica Gil (In Search of Fellini, Borrego) and his wife Carolina Aymerich. The company identifies popular and established intellectual properties from Latin American and European television for potential Hollywood remakes for American and international markets.
Featured Photos: Jaime Aymerich, ‘Julie and the Phantoms’ and Kenny Ortega
