Southeastern students honored by Emmys
Friday, March 26, 2021 
by: Tonya Lowentritt
SOUTHEASTERN STUDENTS HONORED BY EMMYS - Southeastern Channel students were recently honored by the Suncoast Emmys of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with three Student Production Awards. Shown is student John Williams of Denham Springs, who won in the “News: General Assignment: Light News” category for his production, “July Fourth in Baton Rouge.” Also winning (not shown) were John Sartori of Mandeville in the “Talent” category and John Williams of Denham Springs for “News: General Assignment: Light News.”
HAMMOND – Students at the Southeastern Channel have been honored by the Emmys
with three college division Student Production Awards given by the Emmy Awards’ Suncoast
Region of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
John Sartori of Mandeville won in the “Talent” category, while John Williams
of Denham Springs won for “News: General Assignment: Light News.” Also receiving a
student Emmy honor was the Southeastern Channel’s October 12, 2019 football broadcast
of Southeastern vs. Incarnate Word in the “Sports-Live Event” category.
The students and their productions were honored in the Emmy Suncoast Region comprised
of television stations and production companies in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana
and Puerto Rico. Students at the Southeastern Channel have now been named Emmy winners
20 times with 67 nominations.
“Being recognized by the Emmys is the highest honor you can receive in television,”
said Southeastern Channel General Manager Rick Settoon. “These student awards are
measured against the Emmy standard of excellence. If no productions in a category
achieve that standard, then no award is given. Since so few are given, we’re absolutely
thrilled that John Sartori, John Williams, and our entire football game broadcast
crew are deservedly joining such elite company with this highest reward for their
talent, creativity and hard work.”
“It’s a very special honor, and it validates the hard work I put into my broadcasts,”
Sartori said. “Winning an Emmy award goes far beyond simply being a newscaster or
a sportscaster. It’s a universal language of excellence in our field, and it means
a lot to have my name attached to such a prestigious honor.”
Sartori won Emmy recognition for the second time in two years for “Talent” with
his composite of on-camera work at the Southeastern Channel.
Sartori’s composite included anchoring and reporting for the “Big Game” sportscast,
hosting and producing the “Lion Tracks” coaches’ talk show, and play-by-play announcing
of live Southeastern game broadcasts.
A May 2020 graduate of Southeastern, Sartori is now a sports anchor-reporter
for KTAL-TV Ch. 6 (NBC) in Shreveport, where he reports on sports in Louisiana, Arkansas
and Texas.
“The Southeastern Channel rounded me into a sports broadcaster who could do it
all and gave me real-world experience in a collegiate setting,” Sartori said. “We
had deadlines and had to produce broadcast quality stories and segments. I did live
shots, live anchoring, reporting, and live play-by-play. If you are a student interested
in broadcast journalism, there is no better place for you in this country than in
Hammond, La., at the Southeastern Channel.”
Williams won for his news feature story, “July Fourth in Baton Rouge,” produced
for the channel’s student newscast “Northshore News” the summer before the Covid-19
pandemic hit.
“Winning an Emmy is a surreal feeling, especially while being a college student,”
Williams said. “This places me in a category of individuals who have displayed a level
of talent unmatched by most. I am forever grateful to receive that honor and will
cherish it for a lifetime.”
Williams researched, wrote, reported, shot and edited his July 4 production that
featured dazzling cinematography and captured the sizzling energy and atmosphere of
Baton Rouge’s annual celebration on the Riverfront, Settoon said. Williams has also
won Associated Press College Broadcasters, WorldFest International Film Festival,
and College Broadcasters, Inc. national awards for his videography and cinematography.
“I decided to shoot the story with a more cinematic film-style as opposed to
the typical ‘news look’ we usually see on television,” Williams said. “I wanted the
audience to feel like they were actually there experiencing the event instead of viewing
it on a screen as an outsider.”
“As a Baton Rouge native, I’ve attended numerous July 4 celebrations downtown,
and I’ve always left with a feeling of togetherness, pride, and admiration for the
city,” he explained. “This was the driving force that led me to produce the story.
Those not from the Baton Rouge area are generally unaware of this event, and I wanted
to spread awareness to a wider audience of a celebration all Louisiana citizens should
attend at least once.”
Both Williams, as high end zone camera operator, and Sartori, as play-by-play
announcer, played key roles on the crew of the Southeastern Channel’s winning live
game broadcast of the October 12, 2019 Southeastern-Incarnate Word football game.
The broadcast was produced and announced entirely by students and streamed live on
ESPN+.
Dylan Domangue of Houma produced and directed the live broadcast, while the announcers
were Sartori, Richie Solares of New Orleans as color analyst, and Gabrielle Cox of
Hammond as sideline reporter.
“An Emmy award is what everyone in television strives for in their career,” Domangue
said. “Some people work a lifetime trying to achieve the goal of winning this award,
and I was part of a broadcast that won an Emmy while still in college.”
Other crew members contributing to the game broadcast were Jermaine Kelly of
Shreveport, Ross Chauvin of Houma, Lily Gayle of Greensburg, Tyler Thomas of Bogalusa,
Taylor Tabb of Luling, Richie Cruz of New Orleans, and Logan Graffia of Slidell.
“We had great graphics and replays, tremendous announcing and camera work. The
entire broadcast from start to finish on all levels was technically sound, and that’s
why I think the judges were so impressed,” Domangue said.
In addition to its three winning entries, the Southeastern Channel was nominated
for an Emmy Student Production Award in the “Sports Program” category for the November
21, 2019 live sportscast, “The Big Game.” Sartori and Cox co-anchored the episode,
while Solares served as a guest anchor. Domangue produced and directed the show that
featured contributions from students Graffia, Tabb, Chauvin, Lauryn Jackson of Baton
Rouge, Josh Hodgeson of New Orleans, and Angela Imbraguglio of Destrehan.
“The Southeastern Channel has given me opportunities I would not have had anywhere
else,” Williams said. “I was a part of collaborative real-world productions, had individual
projects of my own, and worked alongside other students who shared similar passions.
Credit for my Emmy award and preparation for my first job, I happily attribute to
this establishment.”
In its 18 years of existence, the Southeastern Channel has won over 400 national,
international and regional awards. The channel can be seen on Charter Spectrum 199
in Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Livingston and St. Helena parishes and on mounthermonTV.com
for viewers in Washington Parish. The Southeastern Channel’s live 24/7 webcast and
video on-demand are available at www.thesoutheasternchannel.com. The Southeastern Channel can also be seen on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube,
Roku and AppleTV.
