The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) hosted its 63rd annual Northwest regional Emmy Awards this past weekend, and among the many winners of the student awards were a group of CWU students who had their hands in both film production and PULSE magazine, a quarterly student life magazine published at the university.
Collectively, Tyler Diltz, Keaton Weyers, Emmett Giaccio and Grace Thompson took home three Emmy awards at the event, two for CWU Student Film projects, “Bringing Fish Back — MCF’s Story” and “Bedford’s Blind Date,” and one for a PULSE magazine multimedia story, “Boots & Boogie.”
“Bedford’s Blind Date” was also nominated at the event for the Promotional Video category, landing Tyler Diltz, Keaton Weyers, Gurdil Dardi, Emmett Giaccio, Javier Angulo, Madisyn Joyner and Frank Purpura an additional nomination on top of the other awards.
Diltz, a fourth-year Film major, talked about what the awards and nominations have meant to him. “Being recognized means a lot to me,” Diltz said. “It was one of my goals when entering college, but that isn’t the only reason. I have made some amazing friendships with my peers, who also turned out to be some of the best collaborators I could ever ask for. In all of these projects that were nominated, my friends made the experiences phenomenal.”
“It was a great deal of fun and to be able to share that recognition with the people that I truly believe deserve it,” Diltz continued. “It just feels so rewarding.”
Weyers, a transfer student and Film major, shared his feelings of pressure as a creative to put out his best work, even when he knows it’s turned out well. These awards, Weyers said, have meant a lot to recognize that effort.
“As a creative person, even if I am super proud of a piece of work or think it’s some of my best work. It still feels daunting to put it out to the world because I don’t know how it will be received by others,” Weyers said. “So getting an award and recognition on this scale is definitely a huge confidence booster and helps validate the thought that I can produce good quality work.”
Weyers credited his time at PULSE magazine toward most of the learning that led to the awards, stating, “My time at PULSE helped improve my ability to collaborate and work in different mediums and media types. It also provided deadlines for work on stories that I wasn’t necessarily coming up with on my own, and those deadlines and scheduled releases helped me get used to putting out my work into the world and community more comfortably.”
“Bringing Fish Back — MCF’s Story,” took home the award for Non-fiction, Short Form, while “Bedford’s Blind Date” won the Photographer Craft Award. Both productions were created within the CWU Film program’s Production IV Corporate Media course.
“Boots & Boogie,” which was written and recorded for PULSE magazine, took home the award for Arts/Entertainment/Cultural Affairs.
Grace Thompson, who reported the story for “Boots & Boogie,” said that the recognition is “incredibly meaningful,” stating, “It’s rewarding to know that a story you poured so much time, effort and passion into resonated with judges on a national level.”
“More than anything, it validates the importance of community-centered storytelling and reminds me why I got into journalism in the first place, to tell stories that matter and connect people through shared experiences,” Thompson continued. “Attending the awards ceremony and representing PULSE on that stage was an experience I’ll never forget.”
