Local media companies take home Mid-Atlantic Emmy awards

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FireRock Productions of Emmaus, ASR Media Productions of Bethlehem, eMediaWorkshop of Upper Saucon Township and WFMZ-TV 69 News were the Greater Lehigh Valley winners of the 2015 Mid-Atlantic Region Emmy awards.

FireRock Productions of Emmaus was the big winner, taking home four Mid-Atlantic Emmys. The video production company was awarded in the categories of human interest, craft achievement, public/current/community affairs feature and lifestyle program.

Before this year’s Emmy nominations and awards, FireRock received eight Emmy nominations and won a 2013 Emmy for “Happiness is Always an Option,” a feature on Bethlehem-native Shane Burcaw, who is battling muscular dystrophy.

The Peak TV, a community lifestyle program on WFMZ-TV 69, earned a Mid-Atlantic Emmy in the health/environment/science program feature segment.

The award recognized ASR Media Productions for the segment titled “Temple/St. Luke’s Medical School Clinical Simulation Center.” One of the five nominees in the category was Bethlehem’s WLVT PBS 39.

“We are incredibly grateful to share stories of hope and inspiration from across the Lehigh Valley,” Ashley Russo, president and executive producer of ASR, said this morning.

For ASR, this is its second Mid-Atlantic regional Emmy. In 2013, the company won in the human interest category for its piece “Laughing at My Nightmare.”

Upper Saucon Township’s eMedia Workshop won a Mid-Atlantic region Emmy award in outstanding public service announcement for its piece, “Tri for Inclusion.” The educational media production company also had two nominations in the children’s program category for “eWisdomWorkshop: True Vocation” and “eWisdomWorkshop: Wisdom.”

The 2015 Emmy for eMediaWorkshop brings its total to eight Emmy awards and 20 nominations since its formation in 2007.

WFMZ-TV 69 News won two Emmys – one for outstanding newscast for the company’s Berks County news edition’s report on a Maidencreek Township accident at Dunkin’ Donuts that left two people dead. Reporter Jamie Stover and photographer/editor Lee Jenkins won in the human interest category for their report, “Rising Above Disability,” on 2014 Parkland High School graduate Jared Brown, who struggles with cerebral palsy.

“To me, it means that we have a phenomenal staff and hard-working people,” Brad Rinehart, assistant general manager of WFMZ-TV 69 News, said this morning. “It’s nice to be recognized by your peers and acknowledged for the hard work that we do.”