‘Super cool’: 27-year-old Sault producer wins two Emmys

A young Saultite has been seeing double ever since her animation team was recognized with one of television’s highest honours earlier this month.

Algoma University graduate Hannah Rowswell and her colleagues took home not one, but two Emmys during the Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles from Jan. 6 to 7.

The 27-year-old production coordinator and associate producer celebrated the big win with her team at Elastic TV, a design and animation company based out of Santa Monica, California.

For Rowswell, the feeling still hasn’t quite sunk in.

“It’s crazy,” she told SooToday. “You never expect to win because you’re up against so many other competitors.”

Her team earned the hardware with Outstanding Main Title Design for HBO’s The Last of Us and Outstanding Emerging Media Program for Apple TV’s For All Mankind.

“Those two projects were so much fun to work on,” Rowswell said. “They were the only two things we were nominated for, so to go two-for-two was really cool.”

Working remotely for Elastic TV in her hometown of Sault Ste. Marie since 2021, Rowswell ensures the animators’ and designers’ needs are looked after while keeping the budget and schedule on track.

The young producer had the opportunity to fly down to Los Angeles to witness her team accept the awards in-person, which was something she never imagined doing this early in her career.

“When I started working, I had a 10-year goal of maybe getting an award — not even an Emmy, just some recognition for all the work that’s been done,” she said. “So, when they were announced, it was wild. It was super cool to see the designers and animators go up there. Elastic has amazing artists.”

With a degree in marketing and business from Algoma University, Rowswell says it was an elective course in film that sparked her interest in the television industry.

“I had a chance to work on a couple productions while I was in school; just behind the scenes to get a feel for it and to make some extra money,” she said. “It was really interesting to see everything going on behind the camera. You see the producers running around and see how much business goes into creating something.”

After graduating in 2019, Rowswell worked remotely for a Toronto-based post-production company for a year and a half. Earning some valuable experience there, she discovered Elastic TV, and the rest is history.

“Elastic didn’t have a job posting, but I applied anyway,” she said. “It never hurts to reach out to a company; the worst they can say is no. They’ve been amazing to work for.”

Rowswell and her team’s achievement comes just one month after a Desbarats couple won an Emmy for Outstanding Visual Effects for their work on Apple TV’s Jane at the Children’s and Family Emmy Awards.

Could there be something in the water up here? Rowswell seems to think so.

“It’s so nice to hear people from northern Ontario winning because I feel like a lot of people don’t think you can do it,” she said. “But with animation, you can work remotely which is amazing.”

With a familiar last name to many in the Sault, Rowswell’s dad is first cousins with former Mayor John Rowswell, who served the community for 10 years before passing away from cancer in 2010.

“A Rowswell never quits,” Mayor Rowswell used to say.

Backed by a strong family support system, it’s safe to say that message applies to the two-time Emmy winning producer.

“My parents both have amazing work ethics, so that got transferred to my sister and I for sure,” she said. “I love to work, maybe too much sometimes, and that came from them. If you’re working, always put 100 per cent into it.”