Tag: Emmy Time

It’s Emmy Time in New England

The Boston/New England Chapter of NATAS has their Emmy big nomination party listed on their website for tonight, April 5th. It’s the first night of Passover, so it seemed a strange time to have a party… and I was right. This afternoon I got an email telling me the celebration is tomorrow (when many people also have Passover Seders).

Either way, I’m already in worry mode. I have foolishly set myself up for disaster. Normally, I sour on my tape as the postman is taking it away. Not so this year.

The tape opens with a phenomenal animation by Chris Kirby, our art director. I told him what I wanted and he exceeded any possible expectation. With it, I was able to explain a strange weather event, with only a trace of frozen precipitation, that had half the state in traffic for hours.

Chris deserves the credit, but as the judges watched the tape, hopefully it reflected well on me. That’s my perception based on my judging experience of last summer.

See – I am setting myself up for disaster.

Helaine has already told me (and this is not the first time), if I’m nominated, she’s not going. The past few times, I didn’t either. The ceremony is very long. The chapter covers a huge geographic area – so many of us don’t even know the other nominees. With weather toward the tail end, it’s a tedious evening at best. And, odds are, most nights you get nothing for your wait.

I have been exceptionally lucky, winning 7 Emmys over the years. On a few occasions, I thought my winning tape was awful. I have won and then not even been nominated the next year. It’s a crap shoot, decided by strangers in a strange city, often enticed by nothing more than free pizza!

We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

It’s Emmy Time

You’ve probably seen the Emmy’s on TV. All of Hollywood’s glitteratti, decked to the nines, attempting to be humble or gracious (depending on whether you’re a winner or loser) in front of a worldwide audience.

As much as I’d like to go man-to-man in competition with Tony Perkins or Al Roker , I’m not eligible. NATAS, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences nicely compartmentalizes the Emmys with national awards (day, night and technical) and local ones. Here in Connecticut I belong to, and participate with, the Boston/New England Chapter.

Obviously, the statue I go after doesn’t have the same cachet as the one that goes to a David Letterman or Camryn Manheim. It’s smaller, lighter and has a rectangular base as opposed to the circular one on the national award. Still, it’s a great honor to receive one… and I have been lucky enough to get seven, all of which sit in a cabinet in our family room.

If you belong to NATAS, you get a chance to enter the Emmys and an obligation to judge them. I have taken my turn a few times, looking at tapes from broadcasters in other parts of the country. This year I held a judging session in my home, looking at weather tapes from the Midwest.

It takes skill to be nominated and luck to win. It’s a trite phrase but it’s true.

Judging usually takes place over pizza, maybe some beer, and lots of shop talk. You try to be a good and fair judge, but it’s tough. Does tape 8 get the same shot as tape 1? How long do you let a tape that has no chance play? My fear is that some winners are arbitrary winners. That’s not because of a bias but because of human nature.

This year, while I judged, I noticed a ‘syndrome’ among the entrants. They often confused a ‘good’ weather situation with a good weather presentation. In fact, talented broadcasters should be able to get by with a tape from a day with nothing doing… though none ever have the guts to send that. I certainly don’t.

Helaine and I used to go to the Emmy awards religiously. Unfortunately, it tends to be very Boston-centric and the weather category is at the very end. So recently, we haven’t gone. And, over the past few years I haven’t always submitted a tape.

Part of that is because of the ceremony, but it’s probably more because of my scatterbrained, non-organized personality. In order to enter, you have to save some of your work… and I hardly ever do. Then, you have to meet the deadline. Hello! Deadlines are my enemy. I’m terrible when it comes to getting myself motivated and started.

Still, this year I wanted to try. We have two new guys in the weather department, both with a real chance of winning. I’d kick myself if everyone entered but me.

So, last night I pulled together a few airchecks. This morning, I digitized them on the computer in my office and edited together a 7:30 presentation. It’s now on a DVD, but tomorrow it will be dubbed onto a VHS tape and FedEx-ed to Boston – just in time for Friday’s deadline.

Since I have this website at my disposal, I thought I’d throw a copy here too. If you have a Real player and DSL or cable modem, click here and take a look. If you’re on dial-up, don’t even bother – it won’t work.

Later, I’ll let you know if I’m nominated. No promises. There’s more competition than ever before.