{"id":876036,"date":"2026-09-01T09:14:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T09:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/876036\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T09:14:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T09:14:28","slug":"julio-himede-how-the-australian-production-designer-behind-the-super-bowl-halftime-show-landed-two-emmy-nominations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/876036\/","title":{"rendered":"Julio Himede: How the Australian production designer behind the Super Bowl Halftime Show landed two Emmy nominations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michael<\/p>\n

September 1, 2026 \u2014 3:00pm<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

When Grammy-winning global superstar Bad Bunny stepped onto the stage at this year\u2019s Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, an extraordinary 128.2 million people in the United States were watching. Within a day, clips from the show had reached a global audience of 4.16 billion, across a raft of platforms.<\/p>\n

Standing behind Bad Bunny, the stage name of Puerto Rican rapper, singer and songwriter Benito Ocasio, was Salvadoran-Australian production designer Julio Himede. And what may come as no surprise is that at that moment, when the curtain went up, he was scared.<\/p>\n

\"Latin-AustralianLatin-Australian designer Julio Himede.Tristan Fewings \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI was scared that the ideas were [not going] to translate to our audience on television, and on their devices,\u201d Himede says. \u201cWhen you look at my work over the last 20, 25 years, it\u2019s usually quite minimalist with one big statement. This was the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really believed in it, but part of my brain kept thinking, \u2018are they going to get it? Is it going to look like one big mess or are we really going to nail it?\u2019 When you really do take a huge risk, there\u2019s a certain part of you that has confidence, but there\u2019s a certain part of you that\u2019s also very, very scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

That risk seems to have paid off. Himede is one of many Australians nominated at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards taking place this weekend<\/a>. What makes Himede\u2019s nomination special is that he\u2019s been nominated twice, in the same category \u2013 outstanding production design for a variety special \u2013 for both the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and for his work on this year\u2019s Grammy Awards.<\/p>\n

But a double nomination can be a double-edged sword. Himede is not sure if he\u2019s halved his chances or doubled his luck. \u201cI still can\u2019t believe it, it\u2019s sort of surreal when you put it in that perspective,\u201d he told this masthead. \u201cI\u2019m very honoured, but it is surreal. It\u2019s very special to be nominated twice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BadBad Bunny and Lady Gaga perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, designed by Australian Julio Himede.AP<\/p>\n

Himede was born in El Salvador and came to Australia with his family at the age of 12. He grew up on the Gold Coast, and later moved to Sydney to study at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), the school which has produced some of Australia\u2019s most extraordinary talents, including production designer Catherine Martin, actress Cate Blanchett and director Baz Luhrmann.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing to Sydney as an 18-year-old boy, who\u2019d only ever seen maybe one musical, which was The Phantom of the Opera, getting into NIDA was like an injection of culture,\u201d Himede says. \u201cI had to learn and I had no option. It was like I was at the train station and the train came, and it just took me with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a good life in Sydney, the beach was part of my everyday life in a way, especially on the weekend. I miss that now that I live in New York,\u201d he adds. \u201cI can\u2019t just say, let\u2019s drive to Bondi. I look at that Australian life and I can honestly say I still call Australia home, as clich\u00e9 as it sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graduating in 1999, Himede faced a difficult choice. A new Star Wars film \u2013 Attack of the Clones \u2013 was to be shot in Sydney, and he had interviewed for a position as an assistant designer. The other was a call from designer Brian Thompson, the supervising designer for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony. Himede was offered both jobs.<\/p>\n

\"BadBad Bunny entertained 4.157 billion viewers at the Super Bowl Halftime Show.AP<\/p>\n

The Olympics were \u201cglobal, [and would be] seen around the world, and I decided to go for the Olympic Games,\u201d Himede says. \u201cIt was a great taste of live events for me. When going live on television, you only have one go at it, and you can\u2019t get it wrong. So the education behind rehearsal and communication and preparation was extremely valuable to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Relocating to New York, he founded Yellow Studio, a New-York based design company which has designed a raft of major events, from the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), to the BRIT Awards, the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, the 2024 BAFTAs and many, many Grammys. This year\u2019s Emmy nomination for his work on the Grammys is Himede\u2019s sixth.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Heated<\/a><\/p>\n

But few events match this year\u2019s Super Bowl halftime show<\/a> \u2013 a vibrant showcase of Caribbean music and Latin pride with guest appearances by Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin \u2013 either for scale of staging, execution of concept or audience exposure.<\/p>\n

For Himede, it \u201chas been the biggest opportunity in my career, to reach a global audience with a strong message. And the message came from our protagonist, which was Benito Bad Bunny himself. He had a lot of ideas on portraying this very strong positive message about celebrating life and about authenticity. That was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Himede\u2019s work also includes designing concert tours for Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys and The Black-Eyed Peas. Himede also designed the staging for Kylie Minogue\u2019s eight-song set at the Sydney World Pride opening concert in 2023, but has not designed a concert tour for her \u2013 yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly want to work with other interesting artists out there,\u201d he says. \u201c[Spanish singer-songwriter] Rosal\u00eda for example, [Colombian singer] J Balvin, are just a couple, but there\u2019s so many more. There\u2019s a lot out there that I have my eye on, but certainly, I\u2019m open to working with Kylie. So, if you have any contacts, please.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KylieKylie Minogue performed at the opening of Sydney WorldPride.Don Arnold \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

The more pressing question, after this weekend\u2019s Creative Arts Emmys, where Himede is nominated alongside a raft of other Aussies, including animator Michael Cusack, commercial director Kim Gehrig, special effects supervisor Marc Varisco and casting director Jane Norris, is \u2026 just how do you top the Super Bowl?<\/p>\n

Another perspective\"Australian<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI ask myself that same question,\u201d Himede says, laughing. \u201cThere are a lot of opportunities that have come up since the Super Bowl, I think it\u2019s giving me a lot of interesting visibility. I want to keep doing big spectacles, but what\u2019s really interesting is that other platforms have opened up, in the arts, and in other educational and creative institutions, such as museums and art galleries. That\u2019s very unexpected, and I\u2019m very excited about that. So, we\u2019ll see. Ask me in a year from now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which means \u2013 win or lose \u2013 it\u2019s back to work in New York next Monday morning. Australian-made Tim Tams are now in US supermarkets, Himede notes, so at least he has those to console him. \u201cYou can buy them in America, down the road, at the deli from my house,\u201d he says. \u201cSo, my partner and I often have one or two packets in the fridge because we like them cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

In shorter supply is the chicken salt, he adds. \u201cEvery time I go to Australia, or every time people come over, say, you want me to bring anything? I say, can you please get some chicken salt for me? And I put it on my chips, and I make chicken schnitzel and I put chicken salt in them. That, I can\u2019t live without.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 78th annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be held September 5 and 6 in Los Angeles. The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will be held the following week, on September 14, and will air in Australia on Foxtel.<\/p>\n

Get the day\u2019s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Idato<\/a> is the culture editor-at-large of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 1, 2026 \u2014 3:00pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134],"class_list":["post-876036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}