“And the Emmy goes to”: Evan Nowack goes primetime

Collage by Sienna Lewis, Staff Photographer

Evan Nowack, a senior film and television production major, almost missed his chance to present trophies at the Primetime Emmy Awards.

“I actually totally missed the call (from the Television Academy),” Nowack said. “I called (the internship manager) back five minutes later.”

Nowack was one of 40 interns accepted to the Television Academy’s internship program in the summer of 2024, where he worked at the post-production facility Geiger Post. He was also one of the 10 interns selected to be a Bob Bennett Future Leader, providing both support and training. Two future leaders are then chosen to present at the Primetime Emmy Awards.

When he finally got on a call with Nikki Kaffee, the program manager, Nowack was told he had been selected.

“I freaked out and didn't believe that it was happening,” said Nowack.

The opportunity to present at the Emmys started many months before, when he was first accepted into the Television Academy Internship Program. Nowack said he received the good news after being denied another internship.

“I had just gotten denied an editorial internship at Pixar that I made it to the final round of, and three days later, I was offered this internship with the Television Academy Foundation. I'm a big ‘everything happens for a reason’ person,” said Nowack. 

When he received the call offering him the opportunity to be involved in the ceremony, he was more surprised than anything. 

“I don't know if I thought that was a profession, but I didn't think they just pull some random intern to do it. So it was a mixture of surprise, excitement and disbelief,” said Nowack.

Nowack’s job consisted of wrangling celebrities backstage and giving the presenters awards as they went on stage, but he didn’t know much about what he would be doing until much closer to the event. 

“I was pretty kept in the dark up until pretty close to the ceremony as to the logistics of everything,” said Nowack.

The Friday prior to the ceremony was the day he first began tech rehearsal, and that continued through Saturday and the morning of Sunday. Along with the tech rehearsal, Nowack was fitted for the outfit he would be wearing the night of the event.

“I tried on a whole bunch of different tuxes and then the producers chose which one they wanted,” said Nowack.

Saturday was the day the celebrity presenters arrived on set for rehearsals, and Nowack got to work with and meet Jennifer Coolidge, Bowen Yang and Evan Peters among others.

“They would come in, the stage manager would kind of explain what the deal is,” Nowack said. “They would be walking, then they would rehearse (and) I would rehearse with them.”

Nowack’s final preparations on the day included more than he expected.

“They said we have a barber if you want us to cut your hair. I was like, yeah, sure. I mean, I needed a little trim, so they trimmed my hair,” said Nowack.

Nowack said he wasn’t nervous until the day of the event, but Sunday was when it all started to feel real. 

“The nerves really kicked in on Sunday just before the show because I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is unreal.’ And then the first award that I did, I was nervous for. And then after that, I was pretty comfortable. So definitely some nerves, a lot of excitement.” 

There were a few times when he had the opportunity to be on stage as people won, and Nowack actually even gave an award to a winner himself.

“There was one time I did get to hand the trophy to the winner, and that was for live varieties. I think it was (for Best) Live Variety Series,” said Nowack. “I was the one (who) handed the Emmy to John Oliver when he won.”

After an unforgettable experience, Nowack said what he took away was that hard work pays off and everything happens for a reason.

“If I had gotten that Pixar opportunity, this wouldn't have happened, and I didn't even know that this was a possibility,” said Nowack. “Trusting the process was my big takeaway from the whole experience.”