WCTE has received three Mid-South Emmy nominations for the documentaries Tennessee Tornado: Putnam Strong and Bitter Pill: Youth At Risk.
WCTE CEO Becky Magura was nominated, along with Demetria Kalodimos for best documentary writing on Tennessee Tornado. Tennessee Tornado also received a nomination for best topical documentary, a story Magura said spotlights the Putnam County community.
“It is such a testament to our community and to the people who survived, but were also lost,” Magura said. “So many people, who supported so many during that time period… That documentary is our love note to this community.”
Bitter Pill: Youth At Risk also received a best documentary writing nomination.
Magura said there were a record setting number of entries this year. She said it is an honor having three nominations in 2020, when there were so many national stories.
“They had 900 entries, if you think about also topically… All of the things that our country went through that commercial stations and independent producers worked on,” Magura said.
“If you think about tornadoes, hurricanes, the racial unrest and COVID, there were a lot crisis, literally within our country that were being documented… So, we were in competition with all of that.”
Magura said specials and documentaries that go national from WCTE, still started here in the Upper Cumberland. She said she hopes expanding the WCTE Film Festival will encourage more locals to share their stories and interests.
“We have taken so much content out nationally and it’s because someone had a vision or someone had a dream or someone had a story they wanted to share,” Magura said. “Yes, we don’t always have the resources to be able to do it without working with that person to try and find those resources but you would be surprised how many things have gone national.”
The Mid-South Emmy winner will be announced in February 2021.
Tennessee Tornado: Putnam Strong was also nominated for a National Educational Telecommunications Association award. Magura said that is among three finalists, winners will be announced in January 2021.
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