VCU news

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University’s VCU TV/HD won two regional Emmy Awards at the 51st Emmy Awards held on June 6 in Washington, D.C. The ceremony was sponsored by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

VCU TV-HD received an Emmy in the category of “Documentary-Cultural” for “VCU Qatar.“ Lisa Figueroa was senior producer and Jordan Rodericks was producer for the program. In the category of “Public/Current/Community Affairs – Program/Special,” VCU TV/HD received an Emmy for “Chop Suey,” which was produced by Alexander Germanotta.

Another VCU TV/HD program was nominated in the “Public/Current/Community Affairs – Program/Special” category. “VCU Inside Out: Gary Sange” was produced by Michael Bell.

“We are really excited about winning these awards,” said Dan Brazda, VCU TV/HD executive producer. “Being awarded the Emmys is especially gratifying because we are a college operation that is essentially competing against broadcast stations and production facilities.”

VCU TV/HD is one of the first student-run operations in the country to produce programming in a high-definition format. 

A partnership with Community Idea Stations, owned by Commonwealth Public Broadcasting, allows the programs to run on WCVW Richmond PBS channel 57 (cable channel 24 in the Richmond area.)

The programs can be downloaded and a complete schedule of broadcasts is available at http://www.vcutvhd.vcu.edu/shows/schedule.html. The programs can also be downloaded for free in iTunes in both the iPod and HD versions. 

The Emmy Award submissions, which totaled 645 this year, were broadcast between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2008, and judged by panels assembled by the Heartland, Mid-America, Mid-Atlantic, San Francisco/Northern California, Ohio Valley and Suncoast chapters.

The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was established in 1958-59 and is an organization composed of more than 700 television broadcast professionals dedicated to fostering and recognizing outstanding achievements in television production throughout the National Capital Chesapeake Bay region.