Jessica Hobbs was visibly shocked when she won the Emmy for best director in a drama series. Video / Vibe / Sky
New Zealand director Jessica Hobbs paid tribute to her mother and fellow women directors when she won an Emmy award for her work on television series The Crown.
The Emmy for best directing in a drama series was presented by actress America Ferrera, who handed the award to Hobbs for her directing in the Netflix show, which dramatises the lives of the British royal family.
Hobbs won for her directing work on the episode "War", the finale of the show's fourth season, which tells the story of the unravelling of the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
The 2021 award is Hobbs' first Emmy win - she was also nominated in 2020 for an episode in The Crown's third season.
She thanked Peter Morgan and paid tribute to Cindy Holland and Nina Walaski for their "beautiful work", as well as the television academy.
She also thanked her children and her partner.
"What I'd really like to say is not a lot of women have won this award so I feel like I'm standing on the shoulders of some really extraordinary people, I'm very grateful for the path that they led.
"And I'd particularly like to pay tribute to my mum, who at 77 is still directing," she said, speaking of her mother Aileen O'Sullivan.
Hobbs was born and raised in Christchurch and had a passion for poems, plays and scripts which eventually saw her pursue directing. She worked alongside fellow New Zealand director Jane Campion on An Angel At My Table.
After eight years as an assistant director, Hobbs got her first big break directing Australian show Heartbreak High. Success in England followed, with such shows as Apple Tree Yard and Broadchurch.
