Five ITVS Programs Receive Nominations for the 31st News and Documentary Emmy® Awards

(San Francisco)— Independent Television Service (ITVS) announced today that five of its films are among the nominees for the 31st Annual News and Documentary Emmy® Awards. Among the nominees are three documentary features from Independent Lens, the weekly series airing on PBS jointly curated by ITVS and PBS, and two programs that were broadcast on the PBS series P.O.V. The awards recognize outstanding achievement in broadcast journalism during the 2009 calendar year.  

Independent Lens nominations included the acclaimed documentaries Tulia, Texas; No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos; and Crips and Bloods: Made in America. Tulia, Texas, directed by Cassandra Herrman and Kelly Whalen, received a nomination in the Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story—Long Form. The documentary depicts how America’s war on drugs and its overzealous law enforcement have exposed deep-seated animosities, racial divisions, and stark injustices. Crips and Bloods: Made in America, directed by Stacy Peralta, received a nomination for Best Documentary. Narrated by Forest Whitaker, the documentary combines in-depth interviews with current and former gang members, educators, historians, family members, and experts with historical and present-day footage to graphically portray the rivalry between African American gangs in South Los Angeles. No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos received a nomination in the Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming category. Directed by James Chressanthis, the documentary profiles legendary cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond and the ways they reinvented Hollywood moviemaking for an entire generation. 

Two Emmy® nominations went to ITVS productions: The Way We Get By and The English Surgeon, both of which broadcast on the PBS series P.O.V. this past year. The Way We Get By, by director Aron Gaudet, received a nomination in the Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story—Long Form. The documentary profiles three senior citizens who have made history by greeting nearly one million U.S. troops at a tiny airport in Maine. ITVS International production, The English Surgeon, by director Geoffrey Smith, received a nomination in the Outstanding Science and Technology Programming category. The documentary follows a British neurosurgeon as he confronts the dilemmas of the doctor-patient relationship on his latest mission to the Ukraine. The nominations come on the heels of a primetime Emmy® Awards nomination announced last week for Blessed is the Match, directed by Roberta Grossman, which broadcast on Independent Lens in April 2010. The film earned a nomination for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie, or a Special. 

Below is a full list of ITVS Emmy® Nominations: 

OUTSTANDING CONTINUING COVERAGE OF A NEWS STORY—LONG FORM
Tulia, Texas 
Producer/Directors: Cassandra Herrman, Kelly Whalen Executive Producer: Sally Jo Fifer
This film premiered on February 10, 2009, on Independent Lens on PBS. 

OUTSTANDING ARTS & CULTURE PROGRAMMING
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos 
Director/Producer: James Chressanthis Producers: Zachary Kranzler, Kian Soleimanpour, Tony Frere,  Executive Producers: Jimmy Conroy II, Dr. David Kaminsky, Sally Jo Fifer
This film premiered on November 17, 2009, on Independent Lens on PBS. 

BEST DOCUMENTARY  
Crips and Bloods: Made in America 
Producer/Director: Stacy Peralta Executive Producers: Steve Luczo, Quincy “QD3" Jones III, Sally Jo Fifer Producers: Baron Davis, Dan Halsted, Shaun Murphy, Gus Roxburgh, Cash Warren
This film premiered on May 12, 2009, on Independent Lens on PBS. 

OUTSTANDING CONTINUING COVERAGE OF A NEWS STORY—LONG FORM
The Way We Get By 
Director: Aron Gaudet Producer: Gita Pullapilly Executive Producers: Warren Cook, Sally Jo Fifer, Simon Kilmurry
This film premiered on November 11, 2009, on P.O.V. on PBS. 

OUTSTANDING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMMING
The English Surgeon 
Director/Producer:  Geoffrey Smith Co-Producer: Rachel Wexler Executive Producers: Simon Kilmurry, Sally Jo Fifer, Nick Fraser, Greg Sanderson
This film premiered on September 8, 2009, on P.O.V. on PBS. 

To view the full list of nominees, visit: visit http://www.emmyonline.tv/mediacenter/news_31st_nominations.html 

About ITVS 
The Independent Television Service funds and presents award-winning documentaries and dramas on public television, innovative new media projects on the Web, and the Emmy® Award-winning weekly series Independent Lens on Tuesday nights at 10pm on PBS. ITVS is a miracle of public policy created by media activists, citizens, and politicians seeking to foster plurality and diversity in public television. ITVS was established by a historic mandate of Congress to champion independently produced programs that take creative risks, spark public dialogue, and serve underserved audiences. Since its inception in 1991, ITVS programs have revitalized the relationship between the public and public television, bringing television audiences face-to-face with the lives and concerns of their fellow Americans. For more information about ITVS, visit itvs.org. ITVS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. 

CONTACT: Voleine Amilcar, ITVS: voleine_amilcar@itvs.org, 415-356-8383, ext 244