Shadle Park, Gonzaga graduate Mandi Price shares red carpet tales, pride of second Emmy nomination as producer

Shadle Park High and Gonzaga University graduate Mandi Price was at it again last week after being nominated for her second Emmy as a television producer.

Price’s latest venture, “Daisy Jones & The Six,” a limited series on Prime Video about the rise and fall of a fictional 1970s rock band, brought her to the prime-time awards show Monday night, where she walked the red carpet.

The series had nine Emmy nominations and left with awards for Outstanding Sound Mixing and Outstanding Period Costumes for a limited anthology series or movie.

“To me, it meant the world,” Price said. “It is so incredibly rare to be nominated for an Emmy.”

Technically, it was her second: Price was a producer on the Emmy-nominated show “Little Fires Everywhere,” starring Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon.

Other Monday red carpet sightings from the “Daisy Jones” crew included cast members Sam Claflin, Riley Keough, Suki Waterhouse and Camila Morrone, as well as musicians, writers and producers. Price posed on the carpet with producer Brad Mendehlson (“Daisy Jones,” “Rim of the World”) and his “better half,” former Viacom Digital Studios Chief Stefanie Schwartz (now global head of platform partnerships for Jellysmack).

Getty Images published the photo of Price, Mendehlson and Schwartz with the erroneous titles of “guest,” and Alex and Taylor Jenkins Reid, the latter of whom is actually the New York Times bestselling author of the eponymous novel, “Daisy Jones & The Six.” This was despite a nearby man holding a sign with their names on it. Little known fact: There are actually two red carpets separated by a giant wall. At the time of the photo, the Jenkins Reids were on the other side.

Price said she was starstruck when she saw the cast and crew of “The Daily Show,” in line behind her on the red carpet. She took selfies with their big players, as well as Quinta Brunson, the star, creator, executive producer and co-writer of ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.”

“It was truly just such a surreal and fun experience to be there and to see people that I admire and love their work and get to talk to them and nerd out and kind of do all those things that we all do,” Price said.

Beyond a selfie, she also had something to share with Brunson: Price taught a freshman class at Gonzaga University last fall alongside Suzann Girtz that centered on “Abbott Elementary.” The class, Possibilities & Predicament, touched on how media influences perception. The seminar drew on theories and research to explore critical education issues represented in Brunson’s award-winning TV show, which is a light-hearted “mockumentary,” chronicling the day-to-day experiences of teachers in an urban elementary school.

Price thanked Brunson for her work, which inspired the class, to which Brunson replied, “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“She was so excited,” Price said.

Brunson went on to win Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series that night.

While Price was raised in Spokane, she now lives in California. She recently visited her family for the holidays before returning to the Golden State for awards season.

“I just always think back to Spokane, that I can’t believe I get to do this and I feel so lucky,” Price said. “I’m just a girl from Spokane, Washington, who wanted to be a producer.”

Price got a special shout-out in the acceptance speech for the Outstanding Sound Mixing award, which was presented at a ceremony for behind-the-scenes players, in the week leading up to the Emmys.

Awards went to sound mixers Lindsey Alzarez (2022 Emmy-winner for “Only Murders in the Building”) and Mathew Waters (2018 and ‘19 Emmy-winner for “Game of Thrones” and 2022 winner for “Only Murders in the Building”), who worked closely with Price and her post-production team on “Daisy Jones.” Price later got to hold the nearly 7-pound statuette in her hands.

Among the nearly 600 scripted series in the U.S. each year, only a select number are nominated for awards.

“I don’t expect another Emmy nomination in my life,” Price said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

Or, for Price, a twice-in-a-lifetime thing.

“I feel so privileged and honored that ‘Daisy’ was the one that got nominated,” Price said, “because it was such a special show to work on with special people and truly a family.”