Rich Cooper has won his second and third Emmy Awards.
Cooper, an Anchorage-based film producer who grew up in Haines, was director of photography and editor for two productions that won awards at the 51st annual Emmy Award ceremony of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Northwest Chapter.
The films were part of “The Ketchikan Story Project,” a six-part series of promotional films for the municipality started in 2008. “Regional” Emmys are for films not distributed nationally.
Cooper previously won a 2009 regional Emmy for a promotional travel documentary titled, “There’s No Place Like Nome.”
“Ketchikan: Bush Pilots” was nominated in the documentary-cultural category. The film won for director-post production, with Cooper as the director. Cooper said this week that on larger films, “post-production” refers to the work of a staff, but because this was a small film, he was the only person to do that work on it.
“Ketchikan: The Timber Years” won in a category for historical documentaries. The films were nominated for a total of nine awards.
The series installment, “Our Native Legacy,” previously won two Emmys. It is credited to Kyle Arameuro, who is a partner in Cooper’s company, Hybrid Color Films of Anchorage. Cooper is executive producer and director of photography for the company. Travis Smith is a third partner.
Cooper said he was thrilled to have his wife, Stephanie, along at the awards ceremony June 7 at the Sea-Tac Hilton. Mom Marge Conzatti and sister Jodi Kennedy also were on hand.
Cooper said his awards were a team effort, and credited help from second camera operator April Frame and assistant cameraman Ken Fankhauser.
Work is ongoing on, “Ketchikan: A Pioneer Town,” the sixth film in the series. The films were funded through the Ketchikan Borough by a cruise passenger vessel grant, according to a story in the Ketchikan Daily News, and will be shown aboard cruise ships. The “Ketchikan Story Project” in 2013 also won six Telly Awards, according to the newspaper.
Cooper said he’s excited about an upcoming film by his company, “Winter Project,” which documents backcountry, extreme snowmachining, including backflips and jumps spanning hundreds of feet. The film, which features X-Games athletes and was funded by Kickstarter, will premiere in Anchorage soon. After that, he will begin looking for a distributor.
Cooper said the Ketchikan films can be seen at http://www.ketchikanstories.com. His company’s website is http://www.hybridcolor.com.