Emmy Awards and the LDS Church have not been exactly strangers and foreigners over the years. In the past, however, Bonneville International has handled the operation and worked the controls for the award-winning LDS television spots.
At a ceremony in Arizona recently, however, the church itself garnered a regional Emmy for a general public service announcement called "Rise Above the Blues.""We've been working on a piece we call `Center Street,' " says Quinn Orr of the LDS Church's audio-visual division. "It's a series of thoughts for teenagers, with accompanying posters. We were nominated for four Emmys in all, and won with `Rise Above the Blues.' As it ended up, we were competing against ourselves."
"It's a new thing for the church to be doing. We've done 10 so far, and they've done very well," adds Chance Thomas, who did the music.
The new PSA announcements - including "Rise Above the Blues" - can be seen on Center Street on KSL Ch. 5 and on the VISN cable network. The spots air in 25 markets and in a dozen places overseas.
Orr did the writing, Gary Esterholdt produced the winning segment, and Brian Wilcox handled the photography.