Student part of team that captured regional Emmy

By Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Nathan A. Babian, a sophomore in Southern Illinois University Carbondale's radio-television program, was part of a production team that captured an Emmy last month at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-South Regional Chapter Emmy Awards in Nashville.

Babian, the son of Edgar and Julie Babian of Germantown, Tenn., earned an Emmy for his work on a show in connection with the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital Dream Home Giveaway. Working with Universal Productions of Southaven, Miss., Babian, 19, said he was co-editor and did audio for the field shoots.

There were two versions of the award-winning show, which captured the Emmy in the "Special Event/Edited" category. The television shows — a one-hour show and a half-hour show — included interviews with builders and companies that donated supplies for the home, along with interviews and information about the hospital, Babian said.

Babian currently works in post-production at WSIU. He watched the ceremonies by Web cast.

"I was pretty excited and a little surprised," he said. This is his first professional-level Emmy. In high school, Babian was part of a team that won a National High School Emmy, and several regional Emmys.

Babian got his start in television at Germantown High School, working with Germantown Community Television — the community access station for Germantown, "and one of the top high school TV stations in the country," he said. Among his duties were directing news shows and local access programming, including live coverage of town hall meetings. He credits his high school teachers, including Frank Bluestein, who chairs the high school's fine arts department and oversees the school's $3 million educational television facility, with getting him interested in attending SIUC.

The reputation of SIUC's radio-television department attracted Babian to SIUC. In addition, several other several Germantown graduates attended SIUC. One of those graduates is Courtney Smith, who teaches at Germantown High School.

The Department of Radio-Television is within the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.

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