BOSTON – Five Rhode Island organizations were among the winners at the Boston/New England Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ 32nd annual New England Emmy Awards, which were held Saturday at the Boston Marriott Hotel, Copley Place.
WLNE-TV ABC 6 won the regional Emmy in the category of Historical/Cultural Program Feature/Segment for “Reflections on the Fourth – Celebrating Bristol.” The award was shared by John Methia, director; Brian Egan, producer and principal photographer; Chip Maynard, art director; Allison Alexander, host; and Steve Doerr, executive producer.
Public television station WSBE-TV 36 won an Emmy in the category of Social Concerns Program for “The Impact of Your Choice: Underage Drinking and Reckless Driving.” The award was presented to the program’s producer, Deborah A. Hoch, and her nonprofit MegaStar Productions Inc.
Cable channel Cox Sports Television received two regional Emmys. The first was in the category of Sporting Event/Game – Live/Unedited for coverage of Pawtucket Red Sox baseball games, and was presented to producer Christian Ackerknecht. The second was in the audio category and was presented to Charles W. Reckard, Cox Sports’ audio mixer.
Rhode Island videographer Jessica Jennings and her company, VisionWink Productions, received a regional Emmy in the category of Education/Schools Program for “Boy in the World,” a show about the experiences of young boy with Down syndrome in Providence. The program premiered on WSBE in January 2008.
For the third time, the Rhode Island International Film Festival and WJAR-TV NBC 10 won the Community/Public Service Campaign award for a campaign entitled “Canisters.” The campaign consisted of two commercials written by Duncan Putney, produced by Demetria Carr, directed by William Smyth, and scored by Miraj Berry. George T. Marshall served as executive producer. The spots featured Richard Donnelly and Phyllis Kay of Trinity Repertory Company. They aired on WJAR in July and August.
“These classy, memorable spots have served to brand the festival and created quite a buzz when they were released last year,” said Marshall, the film festival’s executive director, who accepted the award. “They tell a story about the power and influence of the movies on each individual in our society.”
The film festival won the same Emmy in 2003 and 2008, and also was nominated in 2005. All four spots were created and directed by Smyth, who has been working with Marshall since 1986, when Smyth was a film studies major at Rhode Island College and Marshall was an assistant professor of communications.
The nominees for the 32nd annual New England Emmy Awards were announced in April.
The Boston/New England Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Additional information is available at boston.emmyonline.org.
