UM Athletics Receives Two Emmy Nominations

Oct. 30, 2009

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – For the second straight year, video productions produced for the University of Miami Athletic Department have been nominated for Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards. The awards will be announced at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando on the night of December 5.

Nominated for the 2009 Awards were “Alex Rodriguez Park” in the Outstanding Commercial category and “It Begins Here” in Outstanding Sports Program. “Alex Rodriguez Park” was created to commemorate the dedication of UM’s baseball facility of the same name which officially opened on February 13, 2009. “It Begins Here” is a video which highlights all 17 departmental sports and is a complete history of Hurricane athletics and playing facilities.

Stewart Cramer, Coordinator of Video Services for the Athletic Department, and Michael O’Leary, a 2009 UM MBA graduate, spearheaded both projects. Also involved in “Alex Rodriguez Park” were Heather Baldwin and John Garry. Brett Pels assisted in the “It Begins Here” project.

At the 2008 Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards, Cramer and O’Leary were nominated in two categories. They received an Emmy for “Mosaic”, a 30-second commercial featuring UM’s tennis, swimming and diving, track and field, soccer, volleyball and golf programs.

Commenting on the nominations O’Leary and Cramer said, “We are very happy to see `It Begins Here’ nominated for an Emmy. Being nominated in the Outstanding Commercial for the second year in a row is a great feeling and speaks volumes about the marketing material that UM can produce internally.”

O’Leary was also nominated for two other Emmys–Outstanding Writer for the video “Climb” and Outstanding Photographer for “It Begins Here”.