“Mad Men” creator honored at Los Angeles City Hall

“Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner accepted an award from the City of Los Angeles on June 17 at Los Angeles City Hall. 

Appearing to hold back tears, Weiner called Los Angeles “his muse” and said he was thankful to city officials for “not throwing the entire past away to [land] developers.”

He was appearing at Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday as part of “’Mad Men’ Day,” an initiative of the Office of L.A. City Councilmember Paul Krekorian. The show, despite being set in the advertising world of New York, was filmed in Los Angeles and created jobs in a city that has seen producers taking their projects elsewhere as a way to keep production costs down—a phenomenon known as “runaway productions.”

Inside the City Hall chambers on Wednesday, Krekorian welcomed more than 20 members of the television show’s cast and crew, including Weiner's son, Marten, who starred on the show, before presenting a dapper-looking Weiner, who was dressed in a gray suit, with an award on behalf of the city.

Organizers screened a brief montage of the show during the ceremony, which began at approximately 10 a.m. and lasted an estimated 20 minutes.