DEP Receives Telly Award For Organic Land Care DVD

HARTFORD — The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has won a national award for a DVD it produced to encourage organic land care of municipal playing fields and parks.

The DEP’s Organic Land Care DVD received a bronze Telly award in the national competition. The Telly Awards honor outstanding local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as video and film productions. The DVD was produced in cooperation with Middlesex Community College’s Corporate Media Services in Middletown, and to date, more than 800 copies have been distributed.

DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy was thrilled to learn the DEP received a Telly Award for the second year in a row.

“This DVD has been a successful tool to help municipalities get started with organic land care and avoid the use of pesticides and conventional fertilizers. Many Connecticut towns and cities are looking to organic land care as the way to manage their playgrounds and athletic fields and to best protect both the environment and the health of everyone who comes in contact with the land,” Ms McCarthy said. “The DVD shows local officials how this can be done and the success some towns in our state, like Cheshire and Granby, have already had with the organic approach.”

The Organic Land Care DVD represents the second collaboration between DEP and Middlesex Community College’s Business and Industry Services. Middlesex Corporate Media Services Coordinator Dan Nocera directed and edited this most recent project. This is the fourth Telly he has won in recent years.

DEP won its first Telly award, also bronze, for the Connecticut Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act interactive training DVD. Steve Tessitore and Darcy Winther from DEP’s Inland Wetlands Division were the executive producers on the project.

DEP distributed this DVD to provide information and training to volunteers who serve on local inland wetlands agencies.

Judy Prill, environmental analyst with DEP’s Office of Pollution Prevention, produced “Organic Land Care.

“Judy Prill’s next stop may be Hollywood,” Commissioner McCarthy said. “She has played a key role in the DVD’s success and is helping us pioneer a new and innovative approach to providing important information to people we serve. This DVD is the first that can be downloaded for viewing from the DEP website.”

The Telly Awards program was founded in 1978. With more than 14,000 entries from all 50 states and around the world, this year’s competition was the most competitive and successful in the history of the program.

This year’s winners include companies, agencies, and organizations of all sizes, from large multinational media companies to small advertisement agencies and local production houses.

To learn more about DEP’s Organic Land Care DVD, call 860-424-3297.

To learn more about Middlesex Community College’s Corporate Media Services, call 860-343-5812.