Newton Wins Third Emmy, 10th MBA

The National Academy of Television Arts and Science Northwest Awards were held on June 9, in Seattle, Wash., Glasgow's own Shawn Newton walked the red carpet and brought home an Emmy for his work on the storytelling series "Under the Big Sky," from the Montana Television Network.

Newton won an Emmy in the category Promotion – Program – Campaign, which was one of four categories he was personally nominated for, while the series itself was nominated for a total of six awards. This was not Newton's first Emmy as he also won two in 2015, one for directing, along with his co-director Carley Rainey, and one for Historical Documentary, both for the documentary he produced on the Lady of the Rockies statue in Butte called "On the Mountain."

"I love the work that we do, and I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished with 'Under the Big Sky.' The Emmy awards really are the pinnacle of the television industry in terms of recognition. To have won is really amazing and I take a lot of pride that work produced in Montana can be recognized in this way," said Newton in a statement to the Courier.

Television professionals and industry leaders attended the ceremony to support and recognize the nation's outstanding television producers and content creators. According to Newton, this year's event took place in a very large studio where everyone was dressed in their finest and the venue was impeccably decorated.

Following the Emmys, Newton was also recognized during the Montana Broadcasters Association's 2018 E.B Craney Awards ceremony on June 16, in Whitefish. He brought home the Outstanding Public Service Campaign award, which recognized his work on suicide prevention. This award marks his 10th Montana Broadcasters Association award.

In collaboration with the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, Newton and his co-producer/editor Dillon Davies created a series of television commercials with the focus revolving around the idea that the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing at all and encouraging people in specific at-risk categories, family and friends to use the suicide prevention hotline or the Montana text line. "This recognition is special to me because our state struggles with suicide and is consistently in the top five nationally for suicide. Any work that helps combat this epidemic is work that I am more than willing to do."

After an eventful month, Newton is finishing up the next episode of "Under the Big Sky," which will premiere in July, and the final episode of the season will premiere this fall. This summer the crew will hit the roads of Montana and start filming the stories for season two. "This is truly my favorite part of the process, hitting the road with our incredibly talented crew, meeting incredible people and soaking up Montana beauty during the summer," said Newton.

In addition to filming this summer, Davies and Newton are also currently working on a new series of commercials that should go out this fall which will expand on the current messaging and addressing more at-risk categories.