Movement highlights The Food Depot’s efforts to distribute an average of 10 million pounds of food — by bag, forklift, truck and bus — each year within its nine-county region, which stretches from the organization’s Santa Fe headquarters to Clayton and Chama.
Alax, the intergalactic ambassador of care and host of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department's informative live-action online series for children, speaks to a group in the Capitol Rotunda in 2023.
Movement highlights The Food Depot’s efforts to distribute an average of 10 million pounds of food — by bag, forklift, truck and bus — each year within its nine-county region, which stretches from the organization’s Santa Fe headquarters to Clayton and Chama.
One thing about the Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy awards: The statuettes are heavy — as a handful of winning New Mexico filmmakers now know.
In addition to honoring broadcast news teams across New Mexico, the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences on Saturday awarded Emmys to two projects connected to Santa Fe.
The Early Show with Alax — a family-friendly program produced by the state’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department — earned an award in an education content category. The team of the nonprofit DocuFilms in Santa Fe, which included producer Michael Campbell, director Zac Cornfield, photographer Dwight Harrison and editor Alberto Madrigal, received a long-form branded content award for Movement, a short film featuring Northern New Mexico’s Santa Fe-based food pantry, The Food Depot.
For those behind the camera, the regional Emmy awards served as welcome recognition — and a push to keep doing their work.
“This award is an encouraging message to keep going, keep creating something that matters and has the potential to support more families and help more ‘tiny humans’ grow up with all the support they need,” said Sommer Betlej of MediaDesk, The Early Show with Alax’s founder, executive director and lead writer.
“The Emmy recognition validates the importance of this critical organization’s work,” Campbell said in a news release of The Food Depot. “I hope the film inspires even more people to join The Food Depot’s mission to end food insecurity.”
Movement highlights The Food Depot’s efforts to distribute an average of 10 million pounds of food — by bag, forklift, truck and bus — each year within its nine-county region, which stretches from the organization’s Santa Fe headquarters to Clayton and Chama.
The DocuFilms team spent a week in August 2023 immersed in The Food Depot’s operations. Movement premiered in February 2024 at the Violet Crown Cinema in Santa Fe.
“I’m thrilled that DocuFilms chose to emphasize The Food Depot’s movement,” Jill Dixon, executive director of The Food Depot, said in a statement. “The film beautifully highlights our programs and hunger-relief partners. This Emmy is a well-earned recognition for the team who told our story.”
Alax, the intergalactic ambassador of care and host of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department's informative live-action online series for children, speaks to a group in the Capitol Rotunda in 2023.
The Early Show with Alax, meanwhile, follows Alax, the series’ interplanetary puppet host, and guests as they learn to care for “little tiny humans,” without prior caregiving experience.
With support from the Early Childhood Education and Care Department, the show was created in partnership with New Mexico-based Film Nest Studios, MediaDesk and puppeteer Devon Hawkes Ludlow as a fun-forward way to share early childhood tips and resources with more than 11 million viewers since debuting in 2023.
“When we made our first season, success for us was sharing meaningful and helpful information with families in a way that connected. That is still the most important thing to us,” Betlej said.
She added, “Alax always says, ‘They say it takes a village,’ but I say it takes a galaxy!” And I think that’s true. We’re glad to keep on being that galaxy for New Mexico families.
