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Documentary ‘Parsons’ nominated for Emmy Award
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FAIRFIELD – The documentary film “Parsons: The School That Changed the Rules” about Fairfield’s former college has been nominated for an Emmy Award.
Dick DeAngelis, producer and director for Fair Field Productions that produced the film, announced the good news earlier this month. “Parsons” is among just four films to receive a nomination in the category Historical Documentary for the 48 th Annual Mid-America Regional Emmy Awards. The documentary explores the 98-year history of Parsons College, which called the north side of Fairfield home until its closure in 1973.
To qualify for this award, films in this category had to be broadcast in some form, and “Parsons” was shown on Fairfield’s public access cable channel. DeAngelis said he’s thrilled to see one of his documentaries recognized in this way, and has his fingers crossed that “Parsons” will take home the award.
“The winner will get an Emmy Award, and it won’t be a little replica either,” he said. “We can honestly say that we’ve made an Emmy-nominated film. My team can take a lot of pride in that.”
DeAngelis’ production team from the film included Director of Photography Jason Strong (who co-edited the film with DeAngelis), Assistant Director Ariel Sewall, Director of Research Lawrence Eyre and Sound Director Tim Britton.
“It takes a lot of people to accomplish what we’ve accomplished, and I’m so grateful for those people,” DeAngelis said.
The film “Parsons” is the fifth in Fair Field Productions’ Fairfield History Series, which will include eight films when it’s done. DeAngelis said local teachers have asked him about using portions of his films to teach history in their classrooms, so he and his production team have been making “shorts” from the documentaries that these teachers can incorporate into their lessons.
“One was about Louden, and one was about the Honey War, one was about the Underground Railroad and another was about the Ioway Tribe,” DeAngelis said.
These “shorts” are three to six minutes long, and some of them are taken from segments that were edited out of the final documentaries. For instance, DeAngelis said “Parsons” initially included a segment on one of the first teachers in Fairfield. Though DeAngelis opted not to use that portion in the final cut, he decided to turn it into a short after a teacher inquired about the subject. The short includes actress Josie Overmyer portraying the teacher Clarissa Sawyer, and was filmed at the one-room schoolhouse at Jefferson County Fairgrounds.
“We’ve found that teachers can do 3-6 minute segments, which leaves time for discussion and meets the needs of the teachers,” DeAngelis said.
DeAngelis said his plan is to release a new short once a week on Fair Field Productions’ Facebook and YouTube pages.
“It makes our work come alive,” he said. “This has been part of our goal from the beginning, to have this taught in classrooms.”
Those who are interested in learning more about the Fairfield History Series or in donating to the production of the films can visit fairfieldhistoryseries.com.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
