CREATIVE NOD
NM native gets 4 Emmy nominations for editing, producing docuseries
Moving pictures always fascinated Jarrod Burt.
From the time he was growing up in Alamogordo, Burt wanted to create films.
He and his brother, Aaron, used to run around making silly videos.
What was once a hobby has become a fascinating career in film and TV.
The former Alamogordo resident moved to Los Angeles in 2003.
This was after finishing his education at College of Santa Fe (now Santa Fe University of Art and Design).
He then worked for KOAT-TV for a year and then for Avista Video Histories Inc. before moving with his wife, who had graduated from University of New Mexico.
Today, Burt is a four-time Creative Arts Emmy nominee for his work as an editor and producer on A&E’s docuseries “Born This Way.”
He is nominated once for outstanding unstructured reality program and three times for outstanding picture editing, unstructured reality program.
The ceremony will air at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16 on FXX.
The docuseries highlights the outgoing personalities of seven young adults born with Down syndrome.
The Creative Arts Emmy Awards honor outstanding artistic and technical achievement in a variety of television program genres, guest performances in a weekly series, as well as exceptional work in the animation, reality and documentary categories.
“I really love the positive message of the show,” Burt says. “These are people who are living their live and just going with all of the obstacles. It’s amazing to see and produce something that has so much heart. I’ve been on this show since the first season, and it’s gets better. I am lucky to have such amazing and talented crew to work with.”
Burt has worked his way up the ladder in the industry.
Like many others, he started as a production assistant, which means he moved things around and got coffee for others.
Burt says he always longed to be a producer or an editor.
“There’s something about helping carve out a story that is fun for me,” he says. “I tell my children that Daddy sits in a dark room all day and edits. It’s very creative for me to be a part of the process.”
Burt says that the Emmy nominations are a surprise and that he is humbled by the recognition.
“The work I do isn’t to get nominations or awards,” he says. “But it is really nice to get the recognition. We’re a cable show, and to have people paying attention to us is great.”
Burt would like to try his hand at documentaries in the future.
“It’s crazy to think that in the late 1990s, I didn’t ever think of a career in film or TV,” he says. “I thought I would be working at the radio stations my dad owns. I want to grow more as a storyteller within film and TV.”
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