5 October 2009 - 14:51UA Faculty and Students Win Big at Emmys

Prof. Larry Foley (left) won an Emmy for “Buffalo Flows,” edited by colleague Prof. Dale Carpenter.

Two University of Arkansas professors and a team of students captured Emmy Awards Oct. 3 in St. Louis from the Mid-America chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Journalism professor Larry Foley, who wrote and produced the documentary film “The Buffalo Flows,” won an Emmy for best writer for a TV program. Music professor James Greeson won for an Emmy for his musical composition for the film. The team of Hayot Tuychiev, Kelley Miller and Nikki Wise won the award for outstanding student production for their documentary film, “KURM Radio-Soapbox of the Air.” The students produced their program while enrolled in Foley and Professor Dale Carpenter’s documentary film classes.

The Emmy is the third for Foley, who has also received eight nominations. “It just blows you away,” Foley said. “These people do good work. They don’t just throw these things out there.” This was Foley’s first Emmy award in the category of writing. “As a broadcast and journalism professor who teaches writing, it was a great, great honor to receive a writing award,” he said. The professor has long emphasized the importance of strong scripts and story composition in his courses. Demonstrating how much he prizes strong writing in film work, Foley routinely lists his writing credit before his production credit. The filmmaker’s other previous two Emmy’s were for production work.

Another student program, produced by students in Foley’s Advanced TV reporting class, received a nomination for a news magazine show, “On the Hill,” which reported on the reunion of the Razorbacks’ 1994 NCAA championship basketball team, held last spring.

Trey Marley of the Pryor Center for Oral and Visual History, was nominated for his photography for The Buffalo Flows. The film also received a nomination for cultural documentary.

Capenter, who edited the film, contributed to Greeson’s Emmy by composing and singing an original song. Professor Kim Smith of biological sciences served as technical advisor on the documentary.

The Buffalo Flows will air nationally on PBS, Tuesday, October 6, at 9 p.m.