The 2026 Emmy nominations for outstanding title design and outstanding main title theme music are a murderer’s row of top agencies and creative directors, many of whose names will be familiar to those who watch this space.
Filmograph’s Aaron Becker is nominated for a third time for HBO’s IT: Welcome to Derry, after scoring nods in 2023 and 2025 for Netflix’s Wednesday and HBO Max’s The Penguin, respectively. Elastic’s Hazel Baird landed her fourth nomination for Apple TV’s Murderbot. Baird previously garnered recognition for Apple TV’s The Morning Show in 2020, HBO’s Between the World and Me in 2021 and Apple TV’s Lessons in Chemistry in 2024.
Imaginary Forces’ Creative Director Ronnie Koff, now a seven-time nominee, and Digital Kitchen’s Mason Nicoll, now a four-time nominee and the only winner on this list, both scored two nominations each in 2026; Koff and his team for Peacock’s retro Ponies and Prime Video’s Young Sherlock, and Nicoll and his team for Apple TV’s Smoke and Prime Video’s Spider-Noir. Nicoll previously won in 2020 for EPIX’s Godfather of Harlem main titles.
Of the six main title nominees, only Murderbot main title music composer Amanda Jones also was nominated for outstanding main title theme music. Other nominees in that category are Jeff Beal for Peacock’s All Her Fault; Sean Callery for Netflix’s The Beast in Me; Michael Abel and Robert Wallace for Peacock’s The ‘Burbs; and Dave Porter, Vince Gilligan’s longtime musical muse, for Apple TV’s Pluribus.
Below are the 2026 Emmy nominees for Outstanding Title Design and Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. The 78th annual primetime Emmys will be broadcast live Monday, September 14 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on NBC and will stream on Peacock.
Outstanding Title Design
HBO's IT: Welcome to Derry
CREDITS
Client: HBO
Agency: Filmograph
Creative Director: Aaron Becker
Executive Producer, Art Director: Seth Kleinberg
Producer, Editor: Troy Miller
CG Lead: Lee Nelson
Design and Animation: Joseph Ahn, Michael Lo, Hsien Lun Su
Additional Design: Li-Yu Chen, Orlando Zihao Li, Jenna Choi, Michael Daniels
Film Processing: Fotokem
Senior Colorist: Dave Cole
Colorist: Jeremy Stuart
VP, Operations: Alison Kravitz
SVP, sales and marketing: Pamela Scott-Farr
Apple TV’s Murderbot
CREDITS
Creative Director: Hazel Baird
Executive Producer: Kate Berry
Producer: Mitchell Fraser
Head of Production: Paul Makowski
Managing Director: Eve Kornblum
Modeler: Joe Paniagua, Jose Limon
Storyboard Artist: Lance Slaton
Color Management: Andrew Young
Design/Animation: Rough Collie
Design: Mike Zeng, Ethem Cem
Music: Amanda Jones (also nominated for outstanding original main title theme music)
Peacock’s Ponies
CREDITS
Agency: Imaginary Forces
Creative Director: Ronnie Koff
Art Director: Kathy Liang
Designer/Animator: Fernando Lazzari, Charles Khoury, Christoph Gabathuler, Jeffrey Su
Modeler: Min Shi
Editor: Lexi Gunvaldson
Senior Producer: Nicky Maser
Associate Producer: Megan Catoe
Executive Producer: Renée Robson
Music: Jung Jaeil
Apple TV’s Smoke
CREDITS
Agency: Digital Kitchen
Executive Creative Director: Mason Nicoll
Art Director & Cinematographer: Rachel Brickel
Art Director & Designer: Peter Pak
Motion Artist: Simon Chan
Designer: Ana Criado
Editor: Justin West
Senior Producer: Matthew Lynch
Managing Director: Ally Malloy
Music: Thom Yorke
Prime Video’s Spider-Noir
CREDITS
Agency: Digital Kitchen
Executive Creative Director: Mason Nicoll
Editor: Andrew Julien
Designer: Arik Weiss
Art Director: Peter Pak
Song: “Saving Grace,” Kirby
Prime Video’s Young Sherlock
CREDITS
Agency: Imaginary Forces
Creative Director: Ronnie Koff
Designer: Elizabeth Steinberg
3D Modeler: Min Shi
3D Animators: Scott Bell, Henry Chang, Christoph Gabathuler, Charlie Proctor, Alex Rupert, Ty Coyle, John Magbanua, Izik Roitman
Compositor: Eva Flodstrom
Editor: Lexi Gunvaldson
Producer: Jake Fritz
Associate Producer: Nic Luong
Executive Producer: Renée Robson
Song: “Days Are Forgotten,” Kasabian
Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
Peacock’s All Her Fault
Composer: Jeff Beal
Netflix’s The Beast in Me
Composer: Sean Callery
Peacock’s The ‘Burbs
Composer: Michael Abel, Robert Wallace
Apple TV’s Murderbot (see above)
Apple TV’s Pluribus
Composer: Dave Porter
