KOCE Snags an LA Emmy for Bloody Thursday

Bloody Thursday, a documentary about the struggle
of
the West Coast dockworkers during the Great Depression, has won a Los Angeles
Area Emmy Award.

The one-hour
film debuted on Huntington Beach-based KOCE public television (channel 50).
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“I am extremely proud
that we have won a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award,” said Brenda Brkusic, executive producer of Bloody Thursday and KOCE-TV's OC channel manager. “PBS
stations around the country are
currently airing Bloody Thursday, and I am thrilled that millions of people will
have the opportunity to experience
this inspirational and powerful moment in American history.”

The historical documentary explores the Pacific Waterfront Strike
of 1934, in which longshoremen
up and down the West Coast fought for their rights against the forces of
shipping companies, politicians and
police.

“In the depths of the Great Depression, facing corrupt hiring practices
and deadly working conditions, they
went out on strike in a last-ditch effort to turn their fortunes around,” reads a KOCE statement about the piece.
“Throughout the strike the longshoremen
endured withering attacks from the media and police in port cities along the
West Coast, yet their courage allowed
them to overcome these mountainous obstacles and win the strike.”

Their story is told through archival footage, insightful interviews with historians, and actor readings
from transcripts.

Bloody Thursday debuted nationally in February.

“Bloody Thursday is the kind of
film that makes us at KOCE proud of our public television heritage,” KOCE
President Mel Rogers says in the release. “Brenda
Brkusic, our OC channel manager, who is an award-winning film maker in her own
right, was able to bring her
special talent to what was already an excellent concept for telling a very
important story. All involved in this project
deserve kudos for making an excellent film.”