Vancouver post shop Rainmaker and Halifax filmmaker Howard Green scored two nods each when the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced its nominations for the 2005 Emmy Awards on July 14. This year’s Emmys will be presented on Sept. 18 in L.A., with the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony taking place Sept. 11.

Sci Fi Channel’s Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis were both nominated in the special visual effects for a series category. Rainmaker had a hand in both lauded episodes. Atlantis is nominated for its pilot, Rising, handled entirely at Rainmaker. The shop also performed part of the FX and post work for the nominated SG-1 episode, ‘Reckoning Pt. 2.’

‘[Atlantis] was a project close to our hearts,’ says Brian Moylan, head of visual effects at Rainmaker. ‘It was extremely demanding and ambitious. We built an entirely CG city for the show and had to do a lot of R&D. There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears from the artists, so it’s nice to get the recognition.’

The two Stargate series are up against the pilot of ABC’s smash Lost, and two episodes of Battlestar Galactica, which, like the Stargates, is shot in Vancouver for Sci Fi. Other Rainmaker projects that have previously received Emmy nominations for FX include Dark Angel and Smallville.

Sci Fi’s The Legend of Earthsea, the Vancouver-shot winner of this year’s visual effects Leo, is nominated for outstanding special visual effects in a miniseries. The effects were handled in part by the Vancouver chapter of Stargate Digital, which also has offices in L.A. and the U.K.

Director Howard Green received two nominations for his documentary Crash of Flight 111, broadcast in the U.S. on PBS’ Nova. Green is up for outstanding investigative journalism: long form, and outstanding research. The doc is an abridged version of his 90-minute The Investigation of Swissair 111 for CBC’s The Nature of Things, which first aired in 2003.

The 4400, shot in Vancouver for the USA Network, is nominated for three Emmys, including cinematography in a miniseries for Montreal DOP Thomas Burstyn. It is also up for outstanding mini – with its director, Quebec native Yves Simoneau, receiving a producer credit – and a writing Emmy for Rene Echevarria.

Also, the NBC limited series Revelations, shot in Toronto, is nominated for makeup (non-prosthetic) and music composition for a miniseries, movie or special, while BBC/TNT’s The Grid, also shot partially in Toronto, is nominated for its main title design and sound editing.

Canadian-born actors receiving performance nods this year include William Shatner for Boston Legal, Sandra Oh for Grey’s Anatomy, Eric McCormack for Will & Grace, Kiefer Sutherland for 24, and Christopher Plummer for Our Fathers.

-www.emmys.org