By Haley Bianco

Helen Bieber with students: Marilyn Miller, David Youndt and Emmanuel Metayer Photo courtesy of Bieber

KU’s Electronic Media Department received its second and third Mid Atlantic regional Emmy awards on Sept. 20. KU brought back two Crystal Pillars and four nominations, presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).

KU competed in the college and university categories against schools in the Mid Atlantic region, covering New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Out of the eight college and university production categories, KU swept the Live Sports Production category with two nominations. KU also received two nominations in the Arts and Entertainment/Public Affairs category.

Last year, KU won the Crystal Pillar for the Arts and Entertainment/Public Affairs category with their production of “Eastern State Penitentiary.” This year, they have done it again.

“St. Peters Village” claimed the regional Emmy award in the Arts and Entertainment/Public Affairs category. Marilyn Miller served as producer, director and videographer for this production, alongside David Youndt as videographer, Emmanuel Metayer as editor and Professor Helen Bieber as executive producer.

“We were up against Duquesne and Temple University in that category so walking away with the Crystal Pillar is tremendous,” said Bieber.

In the Live Sports Production category, “Kutztown University Football vs. Edinboro University” was announced the winner. For this production, Angela Newton served as director, Calvin Spohn was assistant director, Ryan Hill was technical director and Professor Cara Cotellese was faculty advisor. The previous electronic media truck was used to create this production. As of this semester, the department has a new, updated mobile production vehicle they will use when shooting and documenting sporting events.

“It certainly says a lot about the amount of hard work and effort these students put into quality productions,” said Bieber. “They already do a fabulous job and I know that it’s only going to get better.”

2014 marks the fourth year of the regional college Emmy awards. In that time, KU’s electronic media

Left to right: Ryan Hill, Cara Cotellese, Angela Newton, Calvin Spohn
Photo courtesy of Bieber

department submitted entries for the past three years, received 10 nominations and took home three Crystal Pillar awards.

“I think it validates what we’ve always known—that we may be a smaller school than a lot of others, but we provide a quality, top-notch program that we can be very proud of,” said Bieber.

Electronic media productions air on Service Electric channel 24, Hometown Utilicom channel 28, and Service Electric 266 in the Lehigh Valley.