During the live broadcast of the 25th annual Mid-South Regional Emmy Awards, the presenter was about to announce the winner in the Informational/Instructional series category. A few moments later, Bryce Lane heard his name called, and he and his team stepped up onto the stage to accept their award. Everything in Lane’s world “felt surreal.”
Bryce Lane, distinguished professor of horticultural science, is the host and main content coordinator of “In the Garden with Bryce Lane”, an entertaining and educational public television program aired on Saturdays at noon on UNC-TV. The show is entering its ninth season and represents a joint effort between Lane, producer Sonya Williams Harris, videographer and editor Simone Keith and graphics specialist John Vanaman. The entire team works at N.C. State.
Lane has received a number of awards throughout his thirty years of teaching, but according to the professor, it’s “nothing quite like this.”
Although winning the award was an amazing moment for Lane, it wasn’t altogether unexpected.
“I thought we had a good chance [at winning the Emmy], because the show we do is very unique, because it is a hybrid of entertainment and education,” Lane said.
Lane was sure to recognize those people who contributed to the success of the program, including State faculty and the team’s families, during his acceptance speech.
“When things like this happen, it isn’t just a reflection of yourself, but of people who helped to put you in that position, which is a reason why it is so humbling,” Lane said while accepting his award.
Lane said he does not think he would be continuing to film “In the Garden with Bryce Lane” today if it wasn’t for the relationship he had with his talented team.
”I’m just some guy who gets really excited talking about plants,” Lane said. “But, they really help make it happen.”
The Mid-South Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Regional Emmy Awards were held at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
“The four of us flew out Saturday morning from Raleigh to Nashville, and we enjoyed Nashville for the afternoon,” said Lane. “I was chosen to be the presenter for three awards in different categories, so I had rehearsal at two to get used to the teleprompter, so that was kind of cool.”
Lane gained some insight about how the award shows work.
“I never ever saw an Emmy before,” he said. “Onstage what they give you is just a prop. You go off the stage and back into this room, and there’s a box with your real Emmy inside it, and then they take your picture.”
The nominees for the regional Emmys are chosen through a submission process. Submitters could chose to send in an excerpt from a number of different shows that had aired, or submit one show in its entirety.
“We chose to submit one whole show. We decided to submit a show called ‘Children and Gardening’, and all three of my grandsons were on that show. We brought in the neighborhood kids and Sonya’s little kid was in it, too,” Lane said.
The team also went to Ravenscroft Elementary School to talk to the students and teachers there.
“It was about what you could do in the garden with children,” Lane said.
The National Association of Television Arts and Sciences was in charge of the awards ceremony, which is the similar to the Hollywood Emmy Awards broadcasted nationwide. Submissions are accepted from November to June, and then the submissions are judged by another region. The nominees are selected from those submitted.
“It was an honor just to be nominated,” said Lane. The television program was used in its first three years to be video for the distance-education classes for HS100, Home Horticulture.
“[The win] added energy not only to continue the show, but to be the best teacher I can be,” Lane said.
The Emmy statuette of the winged woman holding an atom weighs in at four and three-quarter pounds and is made of nickel, silver, copper, and gold.
”It is kind of cool to be recognized for something like this,” said Lane. “For other people to look at our show and see it as being valuable.”
