Israeli Designer Arik Weiss Is Still Taking In His Emmy Win

Israeli designer Arik Weiss is still absorbing his Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Title Design, The Jerusalem Post reports. He won it for the opening sequence of "Spider-Noir," the Nicolas Cage series from Marvel. The paper describes him on a glittering Hollywood stage in a mandatory tuxedo, looking out at a sea of A-list celebrities who looked right back at him. For years, the paper notes, he had only seen those faces through a television screen.

"I landed back in Israel a little over a month ago, but the truth is, I haven't really landed yet," Weiss said in an interview with the paper. "Only my body is here. It's surreal. It feels like a dream."

The paper reports that Weiss set aside the glossy Hollywood formula when he took the job. The brief from the studio, Digital Kitchen, was to create a film noir look that resembled nothing like the stylized comic-book world of Sin City. Weiss found his answer far from American comics, drawing instead on Jean-Luc Godard and the 1960s French New Wave. "And I think that's exactly why it won," he told the paper.

Weiss also told the paper that his nationality was a complete non-issue in his field. The paper notes that Israeli artists often face a complex and heavily scrutinized reception at international film festivals and fine art exhibitions, but Weiss said the commercial design and animation industries run on different rules. "At my level, in the creative field, nobody cares where you're from," he said.

He described gala parties where he rubbed shoulders with television stars like Jason Bateman and Linda Cardellini, and watched seasoned veterans break down in tears on stage, the paper reports. Through it all, he said, he felt a real sense of creative belonging for the first time in his life. Back home, his family and friends are still celebrating. "My mom still doesn't quite grasp what it is I actually do, but she certainly understands the significance of major awards, so she was absolutely thrilled," Weiss said.

Weiss credits his inner circle for his rise, the paper reports, naming his partner, photographer and video artist Lee Orpaz, and his longtime design collaborator, Tommy Clements. He plans to keep designing visual packaging for Israeli documentary films, but his sights are now set across the Atlantic. An Israeli name on Hollywood's biggest night is a win worth sharing.