From Princeton to the Emmys
Two PHS grads awarded at the same show
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| Princeton graduates Keith King (left) and Devin Vaughn celebrate their Emmy wins Oct. 3 at the 2009 National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-America Chapter. The two men met after one of Vaughn's instructors heard King say he was from Princeton. (Photo contributed) |
PRINCETON — It really is a small, small world.
Keith King, Princeton High School graduate, Class of 1982, was at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis Oct. 3, for the 2009 National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-America Chapter Professional Emmy Awards.
King is an investigative reporter at NBC Action News in Kansas City, Mo., part of the market included in the Mid-America chapter, which includes the television markets primarily in Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois.
King won an Emmy, his third, for a story which exposed crimes and thefts inside area nursing homes, but he was surprised to discover he wasn’t the only PHS graduate to win an Emmy that night.
In 2005, Devin Vaughn also graduated from PHS, and he also won an Emmy Oct. 3, for the Best Student Production - Non News Program.
The two men were introduced when one of Vaughn’s instructors heard King mention his hometown.
“We came across each other by accident at the after party following the awards ceremony in downtown St. Louis,” Vaughn said. “I had no idea he was going to be there, plus I don’t believe we had ever met before.”
“When I met Devin, we started talking about home,” King said. “Turns out, he’s good friends with my niece, Stephanie, and even knows her dad/my brother Jim. Devin said Steph used to act in his high school movie projects.”
King had no intention of going into television journalism when he was a student at PHS.
“In fact, I still have bad memories of speaking in front of Mr. Martinkus’ speech class back at PHS,” he said. “I was painfully shy back then.”
After high school, King attended Eastern Illinois University where he majored in speech communications. After graduation, he worked in several TV markets before moving to Kansas City in 1996. Five years ago his station expanded and added an investigative unit, and King has been working full-time in that unit for about a year.
After Vaughn graduated from PHS, he attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale and graduated in May with a degree in cinema and photography, with a specialization in film production. The project he won his Emmy for was a short 16mm film he directed/produced/shot/edited during the spring 2008 with another SIUC student, Adam Slutsky.
“It was a comedy about two inept criminals trying to break into someone’s house,” Vaughn said. “Adam and I pretty much made it up as we went along, and we were very pleased with how well it turned out. Actually, I had forgotten that Adam had submitted it, so getting the nomination, and then winning, was a pleasant surprise.”
Vaughn is moving to Chicago next week to begin an internship with Fig Media.
“I want to do film and video-related work and see where that takes me,” he said. “One day, I would like to direct my own feature film, but that’s not likely to happen for a good while.”
King said Vaughn is getting into the business at a time of huge transition, in part because technology has changed so much in the past few years.
“For old timers like me, that means additional training to stay up to speed,” he said. “For young guys like Devin, it’s a great time to get into the business since they have grown up around technology. I see interns come into our station who are able to shoot and edit stories faster than me!”
King said times are tough for all forms of media, particularly with so much competition due to the Internet. But he expects Vaughn to have a great time.
“For the next crop of journalists, this is an exciting time to start their career,” he said.
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