It’s been a very good Emmy season for indie documentaries on PBS.
The Television Academy gave NPR Music an Emmy for an online video featuring the composer-musician Moby, shot in the radio network’s recording studio. (Image: NPR.)
POV received four of the six statuettes credited to PBS in the National Academy of Television Arts and Science’s Sept. 26 Emmy announcement. Two went to Food Inc., putting it at the top of the documentary and long-form informational programming categories.
In a likely first for a Web-based service run by a radio network, NPR Music was honored by the Television Academy for the Project Song video “Moby” as one of two News & Doc Emmy winners for innovation in arts, lifestyle and culture coverage. The 16-minute video, distributed by NPR.org in May 2010, featured electronic musician Moby and singer Kelli Scarr sprinting toward writing and recording a multilayered song on a two-day deadline in NPR’s studio. NYTimes.com – also a new contender for Emmys – shared recognition in this category for its online magazine feature “14 Actors Acting.”
News & Doc Emmys were also presented to Independent Lens, the ITVS-produced series that launched its 10th season last week, and Frontline, the investigative documentary series from WGBH in Boston.
POV’s Emmy-winning documentaries were:
Food Inc., directed and produced by Robert Kenner. Also credited: Elise Pearlstein, producer; Eric Schlosser, Richard Pearce and Melissa Robeldo, co-producers; William Pohlad, Jeff Skoll, Robin Schorr and Diane Weyermann, e.p.’s; and Patricia Boero, e.p. for Latino Public Broadcasting.
“Presumed Guilty,” for long-form investigative journalism. Directed by Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith. Also credited: Layda Negrete, Roberto Hernández, Martha Sosa and Yissel Ibarra, producers; Ernesto Canales Santos, Ana Laura Magaloni, Harley Shaiken, Luciana Kaplan and Layda Sansores San Román, e.p.’s.
“Good Fortune,” for long-form business and economic reporting. Credited: Landon Van Soest, director and producer; Also credited: Jeremy Levine, producer; Benard Aulo Ohanga, field producer; Katy Chevigny, Judith Helfand, Diana Barrett and Andrew Herwitz, e.p.’s.
Emmys presented to these docs also credited members of POV’s production team, including Simon Kilmurry, e.p.
NPR Music tied for top Emmy recognition for new approaches to arts, lifestyle and culture. John Poole and David Gilkey produced the video with host Bob Boilen and Neil Tevault, audio engineer.
Independent Lens received the Emmy for arts and culture programming for “Art & Copy,”directed by Doug Pray. Also credited were producers Jimmy Greenway and Michael Nadeau with Mary Warlick, David Baldwin, Gregory Beauchamp and Kirk Souder, e.p.’s. Sally Jo Fifer is e.p. for ITVS.
Frontline won for its image campaign “Times Like These,” which topped the category for institutional promo. Missy Frederick wrote and produced the campaign with John MacGibbon, editor; Michael Frederick, designer; and Megan McGough, music research.