APT WINS FOUR REGIONAL EMMY AWARDS

Alabama Public Television has received four Southeastern Regional Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Arts & Sciences for documentaries produced on the Montgomery Bus Boycott and on contemporary Alabama artist Thornton Dial.

Earning awards for excellence in Documentary Production was “Justice Without Violence,” a 30-minute documentary on the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 -1956, produced and directed by APT Executive Producer Amanda Shaw Newsome. Newsome also earned an Emmy for her script for the film, which was underwritten by Alabama Power, the City of Montgomery, the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, the Montgomery Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, Montgomery County and the Alabama Department of Tourism

Celia Carey, APT’s Director of Documentary Productions, received an Emmy for a seven-minute promo for “Mr. Dial Has Something to Say,” a feature-length documentary underwritten by Alabama Power that is slated to run on APT on October 16.

“Thornton Dial,” a 19-minute short underwritten by the Houston Museum of Art and Alabama Power, received an Emmy for producer/director Carey in the directing category. The film previously won at the 2006 San Francisco International Film Festival in the Best TV Documentary Short Form category and earned an Audience Choice Award at Birmingham’s Sidewalk Film Festival.

APT Executive Director Allan Pizzato notes, “We’ve said that APT is uniquely positioned to be Alabama’s storyteller. Thanks to the talented people at APT who have made it possible for us to receive nine Emmy nominations and five Emmy Awards over the past three years, we can say we are Alabama’s award-winning storyteller.”

APT earned a 2005 regional Emmy with “The Quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend” and a 2006 regional Emmy nomination for “Alabama Ballet: The Making of Romeo and Juliet,” both of which were produced and directed by Celia Carey.