Fayetteville recycling video wins regional Emmy award

Douglas Bankston (left), video production technician, and Fritz Gisler, the city’s director of media services, received a regional Emmy Saturday for their 30-second video which promotes recycling in Fayetteville.

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A Fayetteville public service announcement took top honors in its category at last weekend’s Mid-America Emmy Awards.

Fritz Gisler, the city’s director of media services, and Douglas Bankston, video production technician, won a regional Emmy for best PSA at the 38th edition of the annual awards ceremony, presented by the Mid-America chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The video, called “Recycle Something ‘Playground,'” shows how recycled packaging can be used to make other products. The 30-second spot uses child actors shown sorting and hauling plastic bottles at a recycling facility before transitioning to a scene showing kids having fun at a playground constructed using recycled materials.

“We are beyond proud,” said Mayor Lioneld Jordan. “The awarding of an Emmy is a national honor and it reflects the amount of hard work and dedication this staff shows on a daily basis.”

Other nominees in the category were KCTV Channel 5 in Kansas City for its “Closed Captioning PSA Campaign” and Coolfire Studios in St. Louis for their “Saint Louis International Film Festival” spot. A total of 15 videos were submitted in the Community/Public Service category, according to the chapter’s website.

“This is truly an honor,” said Gisler. “As a television producer, there is no higher honor than receiving this recognition from your peers. Just to have been nominated was great, but to receive this award is absolutely tremendous.”

Bankston, who was also recognized with an Emmy nomination for his editing of the spot, said the award was validation for the time and effort the staff, crew and talent put into the campaign.

“A PSA of this scale had not been produced previously by the city in house, and to work on it alongside the dedicated city staff was a privilege,” Bankston said.

The Recycle Something campaign has garnered nine other international and national awards, including three Communicator Awards and three Telly Awards for outstanding work on the “Playground” video and another spot called “Recycle Team Six.”


Recycle Something “Playground”


Recycle Something “Recycle Team Six”