Twiggs wins regional Emmy award for documentary on Montana photographer

By Lacey Hawkins
J-School Web Reporter

An idea out of the small eastern Montana town of Terry led Professor John Twiggs to a black-tie affair in Seattle where he received the Northwest Regional Emmy for his production of "Evelyn Cameron: Pictures from a worthy life."

The awards ceremony took place this past June at the Jonas Jenson Production Studio. It was attended by many successful people in broadcasting, including emcee Joel Mchale, host of E! Talk Soup, which pokes fun at celebrities.

Twiggs, an adjunct professor at the University of Montana School of Journalism and producer for KUFM-TV, beat out seven other contestants in the Best Cultural/Historical Documentary category.

This was the first Emmy award for Twiggs, who has submitted more than a dozen other entries. "But I felt good about this one."

Twiggs' project is the story of Evelyn Cameron, a British woman who came to Terry, Mont., in 1889. She tried to start a business raising polo ponies, but it failed. Then she started a photography business, leaving "behind a pretty impressive collection," said Twiggs.

The idea for the documentary has roots in a 1991 book of Cameron's photography and story by Donna Lucey. The book sparked the interest of Twiggs, who was a producer for “Backroads of Montana” on KUFM-TV. The Backroads crew arrived in Terry for a segment on Cameron in 1996.

After that, Twiggs wanted to do a documentary, but the media rights to Cameron's photographs and diaries were owned by Lucey and were supposed to be sold to a feature-film company.

After about five years nothing had come of the movie so Twiggs investigated again. In 2001, he contacted Lucey, who agreed to the documentary and became the senior consultant on the project.

"Evelyn Cameron: Pictures from a worthy life" took more than two and half years for Twiggs to produce. Others who worked on the project were Alison Perkins, associate producer, and photographers Ray Ekness and Gus Chambers.

"This documentary undoubtedly sets itself apart from others because her story is so compelling," said Twiggs.

Besides Cameron’s photography, there are letters and diaries from her entire life. "I don't think she missed a day in her diary," Twiggs said.

These elements gave the documentary vivid detail. For instance, she took some “really poignant” photographs of children, Twiggs said, even though she hated taking pictures of them. She found them "a bit bothersome" because they would move while she set up the camera. Then the photo would be blurry and she wouldn't get paid.

The documentary aired on Montana PBS in November 2005. It was then broadcast nationally in April 2006. "This was definitely my highest profile project," said Twiggs, whose Emmy statuette is on display in Terry.

Though the award was an honor, the "real pay-off is the audience response," he said. People from all over the country e-mailed about how they had learned about Montana and the people here.

The Northwest Regional Emmy Awards include Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. The entries are judged by other documentary producers in different regions of the country.

The documentary was also awarded the national Cine Golden Eagle Award, which not as many people recognize because it doesn't have the word “Emmy” in it, Twiggs said.

He said Cameron’s photography is “just so familiar.”

"You can tell she lived with and knew the people in her photos."

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