Last month, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Michigan Chapter presented the 48th Emmy Award Gala at the Fillmore Detroit, in Detroit, Michigan. This year, the Duderstadt’s Video and Audio Studio Teams had the pleasure of attending the event as many were nominated for their work on “How Do We Begin,” a feature film produced at the Duderstadt Center.
The film was brought to the Digital Media Commons (DMC), housed in the Duderstadt Center on North Campus, by the CRLT Players, or the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Players, whose mission it is to use theater to advance equity in teaching, learning, and institutional climate. Between both University departments, the film boasts four wins from six nominations, with the range of winners including both student and full-time staff.
The first winners of the night were Catherine Miller and Patterson McKinney, both currently working as full-time staff for the Duderstadt’s Video Studio, as Assistant Managing Producer and Managing Producer respectively. The two won together for Photographer for Long Form Content (longer than 10 minutes).
“It’s very nice that we won, but for us it really is a celebration of just how massive this project was,” said Miller. “At least since I have been here, we have never taken on something [this] narrative and creative that was just as expansive.”
“We brought the trophies in so other people in the building could celebrate with us,” said McKinney. “We see it as a victory for the DMC as a whole, and are excited to share the win with our colleagues.”
The next winner of the night was DMC student staff member Renata Schmult, for her role of post-production sound on the film. She won for Audio Recording, Mixing and Design. Schmult’s nomination was unique, as she was the only nomination in her category. Therefore, the notification of her nomination doubled as the notification of her win.
“I found I was nominated while at work,” said Schmult, a recent Performing Arts Technology graduate. “I think we were nominated for everything we submitted for, so it was a feel-good moment for everybody.”
The other two Emmy winners of the night were CRLT Players staff. Jonathan West won Writer for Long Form Content (longer than 10 minutes), and Jacqui Blue won Director for Long Form Content (longer than 10 minutes; Post-Produced). Blue also had the honor of presenting a section of the awards the night of the Gala.
“At first, I thought they had invited me to present just to make sure I was there to get the prize,” said Jacqui Blue, CRLT Players’ Casting and Directing Specialist, and Director for ‘How Do We Begin.’ But then another girl who was presenting lost. So I was like, ‘Oh, so that’s not it.’”
Blue continued, “I got back and they were just announcing the winning project for Director [for Long Form Content longer than 10 minutes; Post-Produced]. I was checking my purse, looking for Chapstick, trying to pretend to be distracted, so I don’t have to be ‘oh, congrats,’ you know? I was just shocked when they said ‘How Do We Begin.’”
“How Do We Begin” is a feature length film that educates its viewers about the University of Michigan’s historical tension with racism. The idea for the film started back in 2020, after a few of the Players read Undermining Racial Justice, a book by Matthew Johnson that explores how University of Michigan leaders responded to racial issues since the 1970s. By 2021, the Players began developing the idea into a play. By early 2023, the Players decided to turn it into a film.
“By the time I got here in 2022, it had been piloted and a Zoom play,” said Blue. “From 2022 or early 2023 we decided to apply for money to turn it into a film. We had long meetings about how to adapt it and how to make it film ready. Jonathan [West] wrote the screenplay, and it just was the perfect writing of it. I could just see it based on what we had talked about in that meeting.”
Eventually, the Players decided to use the Digital Media Commons’ resources, specifically the Duderstadt’s Video and Audio Studio Teams, to film and edit the project.
“The Duderstadt was our last but best collaboration,” said Blue. “And once we landed with them, it was like, ‘Ok, we are going to keep coming back.’”
The project was shot in the Winter term of 2025. In just two weeks, the cast and crew were able to configure prerecordings of both music and dialogue, multiple shooting locations, and many crew schedules including hair, makeup, costumes, actors, along with film and audio crews to create many hours of content, later boiled down to a 49-minute-long feature film.
“We were eager to participate with [CRLT],” said Stephen (Steve) Eberle, the Associate Director of the Media & Studio Arts Team. “We actually set extra time to work with them on our project to make sure we did a good job and did not rush things.”
Eberle continued: “And, this [film] really stretched the team to use new tools and techniques that we don’t always get to employ on student productions, more of a classical film-style shoot, so it was a good experience for the team to try these new ideas.”
Matthew (Matt) Girard, who worked as the Managing Producer, recordist, and led quality control for the Audio Studio on the project, considered this film to be the biggest yet in terms of scale.
“It’s certainly the biggest thing I worked on here, as far as scale and scope, and just the sheer number of internal and external collaborators,” said Girard, “CRLT had widely different roles, the types of roles we don’t have the type of staff to do: a dramaturg, (or a script supervisor), hair, makeup, wardrobe, and craft services. It was also nice because it felt pro. When you’re dealing with all these disparate people, everybody has to be on the ball and efficient. This really was a project that showed that we were able to quickly allocate those roles and responsibilities.”
Finally, after the months-long pre-production discussion and two-week long filming production, it was then time for post-production. The post-production step was championed by two student staff, Coltrane Gilman and Renata Schmult, and both were nominated separately for their above-and-beyond efforts.
“Constructing a feature-length narrative using only single-cam footage was not something I had done before, which certainly presented a unique, but exciting challenge with this project,” said Gilman, a recent Performing Arts Technology graduate, who worked on this project for his job as the Lead Video Editor in the Duderstadt’s Video Studio. “The amount of media management and organization that comes with the territory of a feature-length project was also something I had not previously encountered, which really developed my skills as an editor.”
Gilman, along with full-time staff member Catherine Miller, were nominated for Editor of Long Form Content (longer than 10 minutes), though the award eventually went to Brendan Martin for his work on “The Calling”.
“I learned [‘How Do We Begin’] was up for nomination a couple months ago and was thrilled to be even remotely included in such a prestigious event,” said Gilman. “I had no idea when we all started this project that it could lead to so much success for the Duderstadt team, which was a perfect way to end my college experience having been so involved in the Duderstadt for the past three years.”
Both Gilman and Schmult have secured post-graduation jobs in their chosen fields. Gilman is currently working as a production intern in New York City, and Schmult is currently interning for a post-production animation sound company located in Burbank, California. They hope that having “Emmy Nominated” or “Emmy Award Winner” next to their names will help the beginning of their careers.
“While I secured this position before I was nominated for the Regional Emmy, I do hope that this nomination will help me as I search for full-time work in this incredibly competitive field and daunting job market,” said Gilman. “I’m super grateful for this entire experience and loved working with everyone on the Duderstadt and CRLT teams to make this project come to life.”
In addition to the post-production work completed by the Video and Audio Studio Teams, CRLT’s budgeting for the film allowed for the hire of professional supplemental editors. One type of editor hired was for color correcting. The company, FotoKem, is a California based company that has worked on correcting for major Hollywood productions: like parts of Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer” or Disney’s “The Mandalorian”.
“This was the first time we had our footage sent out and worked with a professional color grading post house,” said Catherine Miller, who worked on both cinematography production and post-production. “It was fun for us to venture out of our comfort zone of what we typically do and get to work with creatives in the industry who are doing it all the time. It also feels like we’re bringing this project to life even more than just us finishing everything in-house, because as much as we are capable of doing, that’s why there are people who have careers doing this one thing.”
Additionally, a VFX artist, or an artist specializing in visual effects, was hired for “How Do We Begin.” The company, Spitshine VFX, is local to Detroit and the Video Studio has continued their relationship even after the project.
“We’ve continued to use them even this past year for other VFX things,” said Miller. “They did everything we needed them to do. It was a really awesome experience.”
After starting as just an idea more than three years ago, in the end it was eventually Patterson McKinney who encouraged both the DMC and CRLT teams to apply for nominations at the Michigan Chapter of the Regional Emmy Awards.
“It was important, not for our own accolades, but for the piece as a whole,” said McKinney. “There was some uncertainty about what the project’s life would be beyond its initial premiere, so one of our main motivations for submitting it for a Regional Emmy was to help ensure that the project, which CRLT, the student crew, and the cast had all invested so much in, received the recognition it deserved.”
The Gala was held June 13th, 2026. The Video and Audio Studio Teams sat together and celebrated together, the project that won them four awards and five total trophies.
“It was really great to see our team and our partners in CRLT come together for a celebration of our work and of the community that we’re part of, and I think it was inspiring for us as we kind of look forward to next year and future projects,” said Eberle, Associate Director of the Media & Studio Arts Team. “I’m extraordinarily proud of the Studio Teams and our students who either were nominated or received awards.”
Schmult, one of the students invited and award winner at the event, agreed.
“It felt celebratory,” said Schmult. “Having just recently graduated and moved, it felt like a final hurrah just to be in person and celebrating the work that everyone did.”
McKinney attributes their success to the team and the ideas people bring to the space.
“Matt [Girard] and Jim [Roll], our full-time audio staff, were heavily involved throughout the entire production and post-production process,” said McKinney. “Even though they weren’t part of the submission, they absolutely deserve recognition for their contributions to the project. I’d also like to thank the CRLT Players for bringing this piece to us and trusting us with something so important and meaningful to them. It’s always exciting when people bring us projects they’re passionate about. This studio is a really cool space, but what makes it special is the opportunity to bring meaningful projects like this to life.”
Though the film is not currently available to the public, more information can be found about the CRLT Players projects and mission.
Photo Credits: Duderstadt Center Visualization Studio
Article by Emma Powell