NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIF.: The production home of “I Love Lucy” will be awarded one of the top prizes of the evening during the upcoming 62nd Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards.
The first Philo T. Farnsworth Award goes to Desilu, the production company created by the late Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball. Desilu is being recognized for innovating the multi-camera film setup before a live studio audience.
“Desilu also used conventional film studio materials, production and processing techniques which made ‘I Love Lucy’ immediately available for production and distribution of prints when the series went into syndication at local stations around the country,” the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said. “In addition, the honor is bestowed to commemorate the upcoming 60th anniversary of ‘I Love Lucy’s’ debut.”
The second Farnsworth award goes to Digidesign, described by the Academy as “a pioneering digital design technology company founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks that later became a part of Avid Technology.”
The award “commemorates Digidesign’s historic role while recognizing its ongoing industry importance.”
The 62nd Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards ceremony will be held Saturday, Aug. 14, at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. It will be hosted by Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar, cast members of “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS.
Separate Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Awards will be given to Robert Seidenglanz and Ron Estes. Seidenglanz will be honored for inventing and developing early the newsgathering production truck used by local TV stations. The vehicle is said to have “drastically improved local news gathering.”
Estes, a long-time sound mixer for “The Tonight Show,” will be recognized posthumously as a pioneer in television audio.
“He is widely regarded as the first mixer to transition television broadcast sound from mono to stereo and later to surround and 5.1,” the Academy said.
Other winners include Nexus Digital Audio Routing, Showtime Sports Interactive, pCAM application, Apple Final Cut Studio and Avid Media Access.
The 62nd Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards are overseen by Stephen A. Jones, chairman; and John O’Brien and Geoff Katz, vice-chairmen of the Engineering Awards Committee. Committee members include Philip Angerhofer, Stuart Bass, Eileen Horta, Geoff Mark, Don McCuaig, Frank Morrone, John Nachreiner, Michael Olman, Lowell Peterson, Jason Rosenfield, Lori Schwartz, Brian Sheesley, Cristy Trembly and Steve Venezia.
-- Deborah D. McAdams
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