Dr. Phil Hoffman
Faculty at The University of Akron’s School of Communication picked up three Emmy awards on June 19 during ceremonies held in Cleveland by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) to honor programs produced in 2009.
UA’s Dr. Phil Hoffman earned two Emmys from the Lower Great Lakes chapter of NATAS. He has been nominated eight times for Emmys since 2001.
Hoffman’s film “Turn Blue: The Short Life of Ghoulardi” was honored with Emmys for Best Director-Non News and Best Editor-Non News.
“Turn Blue” tells the story of legendary Cleveland announcer Ernie Anderson’s three-year, on-air stint as “Ghoulardi,” the character that set the standard for horror movie hosts around the country. The film includes interviews with legendary Cleveland TV personalities Big Chuck Schodowski and Bob “Hoolihan” Wells, as well as perspectives from pop culture writers such as R.D. Heldenfels, Tom Feran, Mark Dawidziak and Professor Robert Thompson of the Center for the Study of TV and Pop Culture. "Turn Blue" has garnered multiple awards since its debut in October 2009, including Telly, AVA, Communicator and Videographer awards.
UA’s Paul Jacoway and Dr. Kathleen Endres also won an Emmy in the Nostalgia Program category for “Final Edition: Journalism According to Jack and Jim Knight,” which details the lives of Akron publishing giants John S. and James L. Knight, the development of the Beacon Journal newspaper, and the rise and fall of Knight-Ridder. This was the first Emmy award for Jacoway and Endres and their first nomination.
Three years in the making and narrated by David Lieberth, deputy mayor of the city of Akron, the documentary film features interviews with popular local newspaper writers Abe Zaidan and Michael Douglas, Beacon Journal Editor Bruce Winges, and Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibarguen.
Both films aired on Western Reserve Public Media, PBS 45/49 in Northeast Ohio.
Media contact: Cyndee Snider, 330-972-5196 or cyndee@uakron.edu.